Cohen Announces Nearly $900,000 in Funding for the University of Memphis

[MEMPHIS, TN] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) announced today that the University of Memphis and its faculty have been awarded a total of $895,398 in grant funding for three different projects. The funding announced today is from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

“This funding underscores the important role that University of Memphis scholars play in areas of national importance including science and education,” said Congressman Cohen.

The following grant awards are included under today’s announcement:

• The University of Memphis was awarded $464,800 in grant funding for the acquisition of a new high resolution (HR) field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The microscope, which is expected to be installed next spring, will be housed in the University’s shared research facility, alongside a recently opened materials fabrication and characterization lab and class 1000 clean room. In addition to supporting U of M researchers working in materials science, cell biology, geosciences, and civil engineering, the instrument will be accessible to other academic and industry researchers.
  
• Professor Andrew Olney was awarded $163,830 in grant to develop and evaluate a conversational computer program that learns from students while teaching them to read more effectively. The program is designed to work with any e-book and over time will learn enough to be able to tutor future students on the e-book topics. More information is available at the following link: https://www.memphis.edu/iis

• Earth Scientist Bob Smalley was awarded $266,768 in grant funding to study the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Using GPS and other technologies, Smalley’s team is working to understand how the Antarctic continent and its glaciers interact, how they are impacted by climate change, and the potential effects of that impact. More information is available at the following link: www.ceri.memphis.edu