05/12/2022
By Julie Chen

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development is pleased to announce the recipients of the UMass Lowell internal seed awards for fiscal year 2022 below. This year, we are awarding more than $88,000 for projects led by faculty from all five colleges.

The goal of this program is to support faculty:

  • in developing multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary collaborative efforts leading to sustainable research and scholarship;
  • in generating preliminary results and supporting innovative ideas leading to external funding and long term success; and
  • in generating high quality scholarship and creative work leading to external recognition and long term success.

In addition to the internal seed awards, we will announce a second round of awards in partnership with Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) soon.

If you have any questions about specific projects or ideas for collaboration, please contact the PI directly or email VCRI@uml.edu.

Congratulations to all the grant recipients:

PI: Ertan Agar, Mechanical Engineering, Francis College of Engineering
Co-PI: Jianqiang Wei, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Francis College of Engineering
Project Title: Decarbonization of Cement Manufacturing via Flow-Assisted Electrochemistry
Award Amount: $10,000


PI: Sukesh Aghara, Chemical Engineering, Francis College of Engineering
Co-PI: Erin Bertelsen, Physics & Applied Physics, Kennedy College of Sciences
Co-PI: Valmor de Almeida, Chemical Engineering, Francis College of Engineering
Project Title: Zr-89 production using PETtrace 800 Cyclotron
Award Amount: $9,105

PI: Joseph Gonzales, Psychology, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Co-PI: Jill Portnoy, School of Criminology and Justice Studies, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Co-PI: Annabelle Frazier, Committee for Public Counsel Services
Project Title: Validation of the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Paradigm for the Study of Violent Behavior
Award Amount: $9,940

PI: Shannon Kelleher, Biomedical & Nutritional Sciences, Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences
Co-PI: Jonghan Kim, Biomedical & Nutritional Sciences, Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences
Co-PI: Steven Hicks, Pediatrics, Penn State College of Medicine
Project Title: Got Milk? Using genome scale modeling to identify molecular targets underlying insufficient milk supply
Award Amount: $10,000

PI: Rachel Melamed, Biological Sciences, Kennedy College of Sciences
Co-PI: Tingjian Ge, Computer Science, Kennedy College of Sciences
Co-PI: Dan Berlowitz, Public Health, Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences
Project Title: New methods to identify causal effects of common drugs on disease risk
Award Amount: $10,000

PI: Mengyan Shen, Physics & Applied Physics, Kennedy College of Sciences
Co-PI: James Reuther, Chemistry, Kennedy College of Sciences
Project Title: Combustion study of Al/CuO quantum nanparticles using single laser pulse ignition
Award Amount: $10,000

PI: Neil Shortland, School of Criminology and Justice Studies, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Co-PI: Nicholas Evans, Philosophy, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Project Title: Validation of the EXperimental Test of Radical EMotional Engagement (EXTREME) Inventory
Award Amount: $9,760

PI: Frank Sousa, World Languages & Cultures, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Co-PI: Christopher Carlsmith, History, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Co-PI: Marie Frank, Art & Design, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Project Title: History and Cultural Preservation in a Portuguese Neighborhood in Transition: Challenges and Opportunities in Lowell's “Back Central”
Award Amount: $9,975