UMass president provides $1.4 million in grants

By Kristin Palpini
Staff Writer

Published on August 29, 2008

A project to record the oral histories of Pioneer Valley women artists, research to improve implants used in knee and hip replacement surgery and a program to teach Springfield high school students about architecture are among the proposals funded by $1.4 million in grants recently awarded by the University of Massachusetts President Jack M. Wilson.

Wilson gave out 20 grants ranging from $10,000 to $175,000 to UMass faculty working on initiatives in the sciences, engineering, arts, humanities and social sciences. Of the 20 grants awarded, seven went to Amherst professors.

Money to support these grants came from the UMass President's Innovative Faculty Science & Technology and Creative Economy initiatives.

"Faculty scholarship and research are at the core of a world-class university - these 20 projects represent the breadth and depth of academic inquiry at the University of Massachusetts," Wilson said in a statement.

"Through these funding programs, we continue to strengthen our research enterprise, enrich our students' learning experiences, apply our faculty's intellectual resources to efforts that will enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the Commonwealth and beyond," he said.

UMass president grants act as seed money to grow new programs and research as well as attract additional grants from outside the university. For example, in 2004, James Watkins, a professor of polymer science and engineering, parlayed work he did through a $200,000 Science & Technology grant into a $40 million National Science Foundation grant for the UMass nanotechnology center, UMass officials said.

Winners from the Amherst campus include Wayne Burleson, an electrical and computer engineering professor; Alfred Crosby, a polymer science and engineering professor; Paul T. Kostecki, vice provost for research; James Manwell, professor of mechanical and industrial engineering; David Glassberg, professor of history; Laura Lovett, also a history professor; and Stephen Schreiber, a professor of architecture and design.

Schreiber will use the grant money to start an after-school architecture program for Springfield high school students at risk of dropping out.

"In western Massachusetts there is so much about developing this creative economy (which includes the arts, literature and design), but a large part of the population has no access to the key parts of this creative economy," Schreiber said.

"We wanted to help provide an introduction to one of the more vibrant and visible creative industries - architecture," he said.

The program, which will begin in the spring and target students who live in the Mason Square community of Springfield, will be a collaborative effort between the UMass architecture and design program, Dunbar Community Center in Springfield, Springfield public schools, Springfield Technical Community College, and the Western Massachusetts American Institute of Architects.

UMass graduate school students will act as teachers to the 12-24 Springfield teens who are accepted into the program. As a culminating project, the teens will design buildings or other structures that could aid the Springfield community.

Other Valley projects funded by the president's grants include:

* Lovett's project to collect oral histories, produce an historical narrative and develop an online database that will detail 40 years of Pioneer Valley women's contributions to the creative economy of western Massachusetts.

* Burleson's project to establish a multi-campus research consortium focused on integrated payment systems (IPS), an electronic commerce technology. The consortium will bring together complementary research activities in radio-frequency ID technology, embedded security systems, and intelligent transportation systems.

* Crosby's project to develop improved and new implant materials for knee and hip replacement surgery. The research plan focuses on the development of both polymeric and metallic materials and more robust antibiotics.

Kristin Palpini can be reached at kpalpini@gazettenet.com.