Two researchers with the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) have received research instrumentation awards from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Dr. Ibrahim Karaman, head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University and Chevron Professor I, received an award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research for his proposal, “Multi-material Bulk Deposition and Characterization System.” Dr. I-Hong Hou, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, received an award from the Army Research Office for his proposal, “Equipment for Research in Network and Systems.”
Collaborators on the project, "Multi-material Bulk Deposition and Characterization System,” included Dr. Miladin Radovic, associate professor and associate department head in materials science and engineering; Dr. Patrick Shamberger, assistant professor and undergraduate degree program director in materials science and engineering; Dr. Raymundo Arroyave, associate professor in materials science and engineering; Dr. Ji Ma, TEES assistant research associate, and Dr. Dimitris Lagoudas, University Distinguished Professor and senior associate dean for research.
The awards, made under the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program, totaled $50.1 million and were handed out to 176 researchers from 96 academic institutions across the United States. The program supports the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment that augments current university capabilities or develops new capabilities to perform cutting-edge defense research and associated graduate student research training.
The awards are the result of a merit competition jointly conducted by three DoD research offices: the Army Research Office, Office of Naval Research and Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Those offices will make the awards, which are subject to the successful completion of negotiations with the academic institutions.
The program is highly competitive, and the three research offices collectively received 622 proposals requesting $209 million in support for research equipment. The most meritorious proposals were selected to receive support. The Defense University Research Instrumentation Program awards will range from $53,000 to $1.4 million, and average approximately $300,000 per award.