Engineering School faculty members recently received three multi-million dollar grants from the Defense Department's Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative program.
According to Associate Dean for Research Barry Johnson, MURI is a program that seeks to develop "revolutionary ideas" in technology and areas that are significant to the future of the Defense Department. MURI awarded 36 grants to universities across the nation this year.
Each of the three grants will provide $7.5 million to fund a program for a five-year period, according to Johnson.
Pamela Norris, a mechanical and aerospace engineering professor, said she will lead a team of researchers to develop "approaches to reduce the microelectronic chip temperatures in complex microelectronic systems."
Materials Science Prof. Haydn Wadley said he and his researchers will investigate the use of cellular materials in lessening the effects of shockwaves from explosions "or other high-rate loading phenomena."
Computer Science Prof. John Knight will study "security aspects of computer systems including intrusion detection for computer-based systems," Johnson said.
The University of Virginia and the University of Maryland were the only two schools to receive three grants, Johnson said.
"All of the engineering schools are aggressively competing for these awards," Johnson said. "There's a lot of excellent work going on at the University."
Norris also commended the University for earning three MURI grants.
"These are very high-profile grants," Norris said. "The Department of Defense typically funds programs that have very high potential benefit and are usually very innovative. Typically, you have to have an established record of research productivity to be considered for these."
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