IN THE LAST FEW DECADES, RESEARCH GRANTS AT PENN STATE BERKS HAVE INCREASED EXPONENTIALLY. Sixty percent of the 115 full-time faculty members conduct research in addition to their teaching duties, and much of this research is funded through grants from external agencies. In the 2013/14 academic year, Penn State Berks had twenty active grants that totaled $1,053,865 in funding over the period of three years, from July 2011–June 2014.
A total of seven proposals were submitted between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014, requesting a total of $525,942. Of the seven proposals submitted, four are pending. Four new grants were awarded in fiscal year 2013/14. These grants include:
Joel Avram, The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board awarded Joel Avram, Police Services Officer, a $10,073 grant for his project titled “PLCB Grant to Reduce Underage and Dangerous Drinking.” This program was designed to educate Berks students on the social norms of alcohol consumption and offer students information on the consequences of underage drinking. The program includes first-year seminars, a mock DUI crash, increased police patrols on campus, and collaboration with neighboring jurisdictions for police patrols in off-campus housing areas. The goal of the project is to reduce the number of alcohol-related violations for Penn State Berks. The grant is effective from October 3, 2013 through June 30, 2015.
Dr. Michael Fidanza, The Scotts Company LLC awarded Dr. Michael Fidanza, Professor of Plant and Soil Sciences, a $90,000 grant for his project “Evaluation of O.M. Scotts Turfgrass Species and Cultivars for Pennsylvania.” This project is aimed at conducting field and laboratory experiments on the evaluation of turfgrass species and cultivars for their suitability as a residential/commercial lawn in the Southeastern Pennsylvania/Mid-Atlantic region. Through this research, turfgrasses will be established at Penn State Berks and evaluated for various plant health parameters including emergence and growth, winter survivability, and quality/performance under sustainable management practices. The grant is effective from September 1, 2013–February 15, 2017.
The Pennsylvania Turfgrass Council awarded Dr. Michael Fidanza a gift of $8,390 in support of his Turfgrass research. The gift award is effective from July 1, 2013–June 30, 2014.
Dr. Dale Litwhiler, Through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, Dr. Dale Litwhiler, Associate Professor of Engineering, received $10,000 for his project titled “24 VDC Microgrid Energy Flow Control System.” The grant was awarded to Penn State Harrisburg and Penn State Berks received funding as a sub-awardee. The project tested the feasibility of the ultrabattery and a charge controller for use with a 24-volt DC microgrid using solar power as the primary source of energy. The microgrid effort was organized by a consortium of industry and university partners. Faculty and students worked together on the energy storage phase of the project. Students involved with the project designed, fabricated, tested, and installed the required control electronics hardware. They also developed and published an installation and users manual for their component(s) of the system. The grant was effective from August 1, 2013–June 30, 2014.
Penn State Berks Mechanical Engineering student was awarded a Summer Discovery Grant from Penn State’s Office of Undergraduate Education. This grant provided him support for equipment and living arrangements during the summer for his project, “Computational Analysis of Learning Transference between the Dominant and Non-Dominant Hand in a Virtual Shuffleboard Game.” The aim of the study is to analyze how handedness affects the learning of physical tasks and the organization of the motor control system. Results of this work could be used to guide future experiments to aid in the diagnosis of degenerative neurological diseases. As part of the project, he will be testing human subjects by having them play on a custom-built virtual reality shuffleboard game. Dr. Joseph Mahoney, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, is his faculty research adviser.