WASHINGTON, April 30,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA has awarded $3.9 million to 13 teams at under-resourced
academic institutions across the country, to support collaborative
projects with NASA that offer students mentorship and career
development in science, technology, engineering, and math.
This is the second round of seed funding awards given through
the agency's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Bridge Program,
which was established in 2022 to improve diversity, equity,
inclusion, and accessibility in the science and engineering
communities, as well as NASA's workforce.
"We are thrilled to welcome 13 new teams into our community,"
said Padi Boyd, director, SMD Bridge
Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We look forward to nurturing
these collaborations between faculty and NASA researchers, while
supporting the development of the next generation of
researchers."
NASA's SMD Bridge Program funds research projects at academic
institutions – including Hispanic-serving institutions,
historically Black colleges and universities, Asian American and
Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions, and
primarily undergraduate institutions – that build or strengthen
relationships with NASA. The projects offer hands-on training and
mentorship for students that will help them transition into
graduate schools, employment at NASA, or STEM careers.
In February, the program awarded a first round of seed funding
to 11 teams. This second cohort of grant recipients includes 13
teams with projects connected to seven NASA centers. A third round
of seed funding will be awarded this summer.
The following projects were selected as the second cohort to
receive seed funding:
"Bubble Trapping and Ullage Formation in an Acoustic
Field"
Principal investigator: Kevin
Crosby, Carthage College
This project, a collaboration between Carthage
College and NASA's Johnson Space Flight Center in
Houston, will offer undergraduate
students hands-on activities and training related to microgravity
fluids and liquid propellant transfer, as well as the opportunity
to work with high-school and middle-school students at
under-resourced schools.
"Expanding Heliophysics Scientific Discovery through
HelioAnalytics"
Principal investigator: M. Chantale Damas, Queensborough Community College
This project continues a collaboration between Queensborough Community College of the City University of
New York and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Maryland, to engage
students in research that emphasizes the use of computer science,
machine learning, and statistics to expand the discovery potential
of Heliophysics data, models, and simulations.
"Enhancing Ice Cloud Retrieval Through Multitask Machine
Learning"
Principal investigator: Leah Ding, American
University
This collaboration between American
University in Washington
and NASA Goddard will develop machine learning techniques for
analyzing satellite data to retrieve information about ice clouds,
with interdisciplinary research and mentorship opportunities for
students.
"Analysis of Abiotic/Primordial Peptides with Noncanonical
Amino Acids"
Principal investigator: Jay Forsythe, College of
Charleston
Student research and internship experiences through this project, a
collaboration between the College of
Charleston and NASA Goddard, will investigate how amino acid
diversity affects chemical analysis, in support of research into
the origins of life.
"Facilitating Undergraduate Research Through the Development
of Novel Gravity Gradiometers"
Principal investigator:
Charles Hoyle, Humboldt State University Sponsored Programs
Foundation
This collaboration between Cal Poly Humboldt and NASA Goddard will
support students with training, mentorship, and research in the
development of novel gravity gradiometers for Earth science and
fundamental physics investigations.
"Supporting Opportunities for Cooperative Climate Education
and Research at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College
(SOCCER @ FDLTCC)"
Principal investigator: Carl Lemke Oliver Sack, Minnesota State Colleges
and Universities
This project will strengthen relationships between Fond du Lac
Tribal and Community College, local tribal agencies, NASA Goddard,
and NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, to support students with
mentorship and training in snow research, including how to
accurately observe snow throughout the season in various
landscapes.
"Bridging NASA and Cal State LA Partnerships for Research
Capacity Building in Remote Sensing"
Principal investigator:
Jingjing Li, California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los
Angeles, will collaborate with NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Southern California
(JPL) in this project to strengthen research capacity and student
mentorship and training opportunities in the field of remote
sensing, including applications for pre- and post-wildfire
analysis.
"Fusion of Lidar 3D Vegetation Structure Measurements and a
Terrestrial Biosphere Model for Improved Predictions of Current and
Future Land Carbon Dynamics"
Principal investigator:
Wenge Ni-Meister, Hunter College
This collaboration, a project between Hunter
College of the City University of New York and NASA's
Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York (GISS), will offer student training
as it aims to link lidar remote sensing of vegetation with modeling
to improve our understanding of Earth's ecosystem change.
"Assessment and Development of Surface Coatings for
Multifunctional Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs)"
Principal
investigator: Josiah Owusu-Danquah,
Cleveland State University
This multidisciplinary project with Cleveland
State University and NASA's Glenn Research Center in
Cleveland will advance student
research and education in the field of advanced materials, focusing
on surface coating materials that satisfy requirements for space
systems and structures.
"Student Construction and Deployment of Low Cost Sensor
Network in Whittier,
California"
Principal investigator: Peter Peterson, Whittier
College
This project, a collaboration with Whittier
College and NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley, focuses on
hands-on learning for students in the use of low-cost sensors and
satellite-based measurements to study regional air pollution.
"High Density Capacitive Energy Storage Using Multi-Layered
Polymer-2D Nanofillers Heterostructure for Space
Application"
Principal investigator: Nihar Pradhan, Jackson
State University
This collaborative project between Jackson
State University and NASA JPL will offer undergraduate and
high-school students research and training opportunities in the
field of next-generation polymer-nanocomposites for energy
storage.
"Astrobiology Scholars Program Immersive Research Experience
(ASPIRE)"
Principal investigator: Andro Rios,
San Jose State University Research
Foundation
This project, a collaboration between Skyline
College, San Jose State
University, and NASA Ames, will give students an opportunity
to conduct research that contributes to two pillars of
astrobiology: origins of life and exobiology.
"Fire & Air: Burning Issues in the Central Valley:
Unraveling Fire's Influence on Air Quality, Fuel Mapping, and
Carbon Dynamics"
Principal investigator: Wing To,
California State University,
Stanislaus
This collaboration between California State
University, Stanislaus, and NASA Ames will offer a
multi-tiered mentorship and research program for students, as well
as a year-long undergraduate program, to study ground-based air
quality and wildfire fuel mapping.
Learn more about the SMD Bridge Program at:
https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/smd-bridge-program/
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SOURCE NASA