In This Issue

Meet CSU's New Faculty

Kevin Mueller, Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences

Dr. Kevin Mueller is an assistant professor in the Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences (BGES). His research centers on the functional ecology of temperate grasslands and forests. In collaboration with CSU students, local land managers, and scientists from other Cleveland-area institutions, he is developing new research avenues in urban ecology and the ecological impacts of shifting precipitation patterns.

Dr. Mueller joined CSU in fall 2016 after two appointments as a postdoctoral research associate, one with the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the other with the University of Minnesota. He has worked with chemists, ecologists, and geologists to pursue both basic and applied research, often with a focus on environmental change and the role of plants in mediating beneficial ecosystem functions. In the classroom, Dr. Mueller has focused on re-designing an introductory environmental science course to build students’ skills in information literacy and to embrace learning opportunities afforded by the new active learning classroom on campus.

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Featured Researcher Video Series

Zhiqiang Gao, EECS

Research by Dr. Zhiqiang Gao, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and Director of the Center for Advanced Control Technologies (CACT), is the focus of this month’s Featured Research Video. Dr. Gao is developing advanced control methods for industrial applications. Click here to watch.

Research Funding Opportunity

NASA Glenn Fellowship

NASA has announced a funding opportunity for a summer residency at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC). The ten-week 2018 NASA Glenn Faculty Fellowship Program (NGFFP) is a residential research program which is open to full-time STEM faculty members who are U.S. citizens teaching at accredited U.S. universities and colleges. Proposed faculty research must align with NASA mission goals and GRC’s technical competencies.

The fellowship will provide a stipend of up to $19,000 to support the faculty researcher. Details of the program, including NASA GRC’s core competencies, can be found in the application form. Applications must be submitted by January 16, 2018.

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CSU Scholar News

Joan Thoman, Nursing

Dr. Joan Thoman is an associate professor in the School of Nursing. Her research is focused on diabetes with comorbid conditions, community health, home health, hospice and problem-based learning using simulation. She has been a registered nurse for over 25 years, with clinical experience in hospital medical surgical units, public health, visiting home care, and as a diabetes program coordinator.

Dr. Thoman is co-leading the Improved Health Outcomes and Programs through Education (I-HOPE) program, funded by the Medicaid Technical Assistance and Policy Program (MEDTAPP). I-HOPE empowers low-income residents with a high prevalence of chronic disease by creating a sustainable support network of community health workers. In addition, through the support of the McGregor Foundation and other philanthropic funding, she and her colleagues are developing interactive online simulation environments using problem based learning for home health and hospice care. In 2016, Dr. Thoman received the CSU Distinguished Faculty Award for Service for her work with these initiatives and their impact on the community.

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Inspired Creativity

Caryl Pagel's Essays and Poetry

Twice Told, by Prof. Caryl Pagel

Caryl Pagel, an assistant professor in the Department of English, was awarded an artist’s residency at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito, California last summer in support of her collection of essays in process, The Reality of the Unseen. These essays explore contemporary and outsider art, travel narratives, regional vacancies, Midwestern politics, and twice told tales, and have appeared in AGNI, Entropy, The Mississippi Review, Wave Composition, and Essay Press’ chapbook series. She received an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award in support of her nonfiction, and an essay from the collection was recently listed as a “notable” work in the 2016 Best American Essays anthology.

Prof. Pagel is also the author of two full length collections of poetry, Twice Told (H_NGM_N Books, 2014) and Experiments I Should Like Tried At My Own Death (Factory Hollow Press, 2012). She is the co-founder and editor of Rescue Press, a poetry editor at jubilat, and the Director of the Cleveland State University Poetry Center.

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News from the Technology Transfer Office

I-Corps@Ohio 2018 Request for Proposals

The Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) has announced the release of the 2018 Request for Proposals for the fourth year of the I-Corps@Ohio Program.

I-Corps@Ohio incorporates Lean Startup, Customer Discovery, and Business Model Canvas methodologies to accelerate commercialization of technologies from Ohio universities and colleges while expanding the business acumen and networks of faculty and students across the state. The resulting companies will drive sustainable, technology-based economic development in Ohio. The registration deadline is January 16, 2018.

For more information on applying to the I-Corps@Ohio Program, contact Jack Kraszewski.
 

Password Protection in Augmented Reality

The Technology Transfer Office (TTO) is processing the invention disclosure for a three dimensional password scheme based on augmented reality. The password scheme will authenticate a user of an augmented reality platform through a series of common item moves by the user, such as pouring a specific cream into a coffee mug then filling it with coffee. The disclosure was submitted by Associate Professor Ye Zhu from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). The invention is titled: A Multi-Dimensional Authentication Scheme Based on Augmented Reality.

Treating Autism with a Virtual Coach

The TTO has also reviewed the invention disclosure for an avatar based virtual life coach software platform to enhance communication with autistic children. Different from other systems, the invention proposes that the life coaching materials be aligned closely with the intense interests of individuals with autism. The disclosure was submitted by Professor Wenbing Zhao from EECS, and Associate Professor Xiongyi Liu from the Department of Curriculum and Foundations. The invention is titled: Buddy: A Virtual Life Coaching System for Children and Adolescents with High Functioning Autism.

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Internal Research Awards

Internal Funding Deadline is February 1

The Office of Research is pleased to announce the call for proposals for the 2018-2019 internal funding programs.

Strategic changes have been made to several programs and to the proposal guidelines. Of particular note, the Dissertation Research Award (DRA) is now the Graduate Student Research Award (GSRA). Students who are pursuing a doctoral dissertation or a master’s thesis may apply for GSRA support.

To assist in the preparation of successful applications, the forms that will be used to evaluate the proposals are included at the above web sites. For more information please contact Joy Yard, 687-9364, j.yard@csuohio.edu or Dan Simon, 687-5171, d.j.simon@csuohio.edu.

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Research Events

Multidisciplinary Research Seminar with Geoff Vince

Dr. Geoffrey Vince, the Virginia Lois Kennedy Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute, will be featured at the next Multidisciplinary Research Seminar, hosted by the Office of Research on Friday, December 8, 2017. Dr. Vince will explore the importance of close interaction of creative minds and the positive effects of combining ideas from many points of view in his presentation Innovation Occurs Where Fields Collide. The seminar will take place from 12:00-1:15 pm in PH-104. Lunch will be provided.

Upcoming Research Seminars Across Campus:

Tuning Ion Solvation, Conduction And Charge Density Of Ionic Liquids For Electrochemical Energy Storage Devices, Dr. Burcu Gurkan, Case Western Reserve University
   November 16, 3:20-4:20 pm in FH 103

Smart Cities for Promoting Global Sustainability, Dr. Mohammad Shahidehpour, Illinois Institute of Technology
   November 16, 2:30-3:30 pm in MC 201

Polyelectrolyte-Based Soft Materials for Wet Adhesion, Controlled Release And Beyond, Dr. Yakov Lapitsky, University of Toledo
   November 30, 3:20-4:20 pm in FH 103

Undergraduate Digital Research Showcase, Digital CSU
   December 5, 11:30 am-1:00 pm, Location TBD (updates here)

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Undergraduate Research News

NSF REU Students Disseminate Research at National Conferences

Alonte Garnett, Dr. Dan Simon, and David Maher: RE@CSU

This summer, CSU hosted the first student cohorts for two National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites: the Synthesis, Assembly and Characterization of Soft Matter Systems (Soft Matter REU) Site and the Rehabilitation Engineering at CSU (RE@CSU) Site. Participants for these REUs were recruited from across the nation, including CSU undergraduates Tony Dobrila and Alonte Garnett.

Tony Dobrila: Soft Matter REU

Tony Dobrila was selected by the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) to present his work at the CUR’s REU Symposium in Alexandria, Virginia. Tony was advised by Associate Professor of Physics Kiril Streletzky, who leads the Soft Matter REU Site, and Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Physics Petru Fodor.

Alonte Garnett and David Maher from Duquesne University won 2nd place in the Undergraduate Student Poster Competition at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE) in Tampa, Florida. They were supervised by CSU doctoral student Curt Laubscher, Mechanical Engineering Professor Jerzy Sawicki, and EECS Professor Dan Simon.

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