Research Funding
Hits Record Level
WVU has achieved the highest level of research funding in its
134-year history: $88.7 million for fiscal year 2000-01.
Sixty percent of the research funding came from federal sources,
24 percent from private funds, and 15 percent from the state,
with the School of Medicine and the College of Engineering and
Mineral Resources bringing in 41 percent of the total.
The figure is up 14 percent over the previous highest level,
$79 million in 1993 when WVU received funding to build the NASA
IV&V facility in Fairmont. Last year, WVU received about
$77 million in basic and applied research and sponsored awards.
"Maintaining and growing a major research university is
of great importance to this state and to this nation," said
President Hardesty, announcing the achievement. "We are
doing that at WVU."
"I attribute this increased level of funding to hard work
by a lot of people at this University," said John Weete,
associate provost for research and president of the WVU Research
Corp. "The faculty and administration are working across
discipline lines to build interdisciplinary programs and to form
government and industry partnerships that are mutually beneficial."
Weete cited key partnerships WVU has with the West Virginia Army
National Guard to collaborate in a national training center for
homeland defense and an expanding relationship with the National
Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in the development of carbon
materials from coal. He also noted research in biometrics and
forensic science and progressive work in the neurosciences as
hot new fields of exploration for faculty researchers.
"WVU's success in attracting funding for research initiatives
really translates into successes for the state, both in prestige
and economic development," Weete said.
Reducing
the High Cost of Highways
A WVU scientist is convinced that a method used for designing
cars, airplanes, and space shuttles could possibly triple the
lifespan of the nation's highways—from the current average
of 20 years to perhaps 50 or 60 years.
Samir Shoukry is using 3-D finite element modeling to identify
why some concrete slabs crack even before vehicles travel on
them. Until now, this has been a problem without a scientific
solution.
Shoukry, a WVU engineering research professor, says that pavement
failure is usually attributed to poor construction. Often, the
cause of cracks and other pavement deterioration is simply unknown.
However, using 3-D finite element modeling, scientists can understand
where stresses are greatest, analyze their effects, and design
more durable pavements.
Shoukry says that if this method were implemented nationwide,
millions of dollars could be saved every year. According to a
federal report, $44.8 billion will be spent on overall highway
maintenance through 2013. That cost does not include the lost
productivity of motorists caught in bumper-to-bumper traffic
that is backed up because of road work.
"We all know the frustration of being delayed because of
road repairs," he says. "The job of scientists like
me is to provide engineers with the tools to eliminate these
problems."
Partnership
Promises New Jobs
Organizers believe that a landmark private-public collaboration
will create hundreds of new jobs in West Virginia and help the
state maintain its status as a global energy provider.
An agreement between the National Energy Technology Laboratory
(NETL), the State of West Virginia, WVU, and the tenants and
developers of the Collins Ferry Commerce Center in Morgantown
calls upon the partners to work together in advancing energy
research and commercialization throughout West Virginia and the
region.
Located adjacent to the Morgantown campus of the NETL, the Collins
Ferry Commerce Center is a private research and business park
designed to support job growth in West Virginia. It was created
under the leadership of a Morgantown businessman, Patrick Esposito
Sr., to provide close proximity and collaboration between NETL
and energy-focused businesses.
"The strategic partnership and commitment to success witnessed
today will strengthen the state and region's economy and create
new jobs providing energy and environmental solutions for the
world," said Governor Bob Wise at a ceremony marking the
agreement.
President Hardesty noted that, through the University's "strong
research base in energy, environmental, and technology fields,
we feel confident that this new partnership will fuel economic
development in our state and nation and create new entrepreneurial
momentum."
Industries
of the Future Leader Honored
Carl Irwin, a WVU professor of mathematics and director of Industries
of the Future—West Virginia (IOF—WV), received the
Partner of the Year Award from the U.S. Department of Energy's
Office of Industrial Technologies.
The award is given to one who promotes energy efficiency as a
national goal, and who participates in innovative partnerships
between the public and private sectors. Irwin is also the director
of market enhancement and program development at the WVU National
Research Center for Coal and Energy.
IOF—WV is a consortium which includes WVU, state government,
and seven major industries in the state: aluminum, chemicals,
glass, metal casting, polymers, steel, and wood products. Through
partnerships which include WVU departments and divisions, IOF
encourages industries to develop technology-based plans for sustained
viability and growth.