Auburn Engineering posts banner year in research

The Auburn University Samuel Ginn College of Engineering posted a banner year for externally sponsored research awards in fiscal year 2019, bringing in $59.6 million in awards from Oct. 1, 2018 to Sept. 30, 2019.

“I give full credit to our faculty. They are helping us compete against the best research institutions in the country,” said Christopher B. Roberts, dean of engineering. “Their outstanding research and scholarship are driving our college and Auburn University forward, and I am confident that their continued work will sustain us among the nation’s top engineering research institutions.”

In addition, Auburn Engineering’s research expenditures have placed the college in the top 10% of engineering institutions for the past 15 years, according to data from the American Society of Engineering Education.

Notable research awards from this year include: 

• A $5.2 million NASA contract for the Rapid Analysis and Manufacturing Propulsion Technology project (principal investigator: Nima Shamsaei)
• A $1.9 million National Institutes of Health grant for rapid immune diagnostics (principal investigator: Pengyu Chen)
• A $700,000 National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation award to study non-equilibrium plasmas (principal investigator: Nicholas Tsolas)
• A $315,000 National Science Foundation Faculty Early CAREER Development award for improving simulation of mineral reaction rates (principal investigator: Lauren Beckingham) 

Auburn Engineering has five strategic research areas that form the heart of the college’s research portfolio: advanced manufacturing and materials; cybersecurity and intelligent systems; energy and environment; infrastructure and transportation; and biomedical and health systems engineering. 

Read more about Auburn Engineering’s research at eng.auburn.edu/research.

BY CHRIS ANTHONY