Gannon University Engineering Professor Awarded Research Grant
Posted: May 23, 2013Erie, PA; Thanks to a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, a
Gannon University professor can pursue research into a promising
new technology for alternative power generation.
Lin Zhao, Ph.D., assistant professor, electrical & computer
engineering, has been selected to received funds totaling $7500 and
three credits of release time each semester for a two-year period
for her proposal entitled "Doubly-Fed- Induction-Generator (DFIG)
Modeling and Control for Wind Energy Harvesting."
The grant, NSF Award 1107015, is a five-year NSF ADVANCE
Partnerships for Adaptation, Implementation, and Dissemination
(PAID) grant and supports the goal of the University's TRANSFORM
(Teaching-Research-Advancement Network to Secure Female Faculty for
Organizational Retention and Management) initiative to increase the
recruitment, retention, advancement, and leadership development for
the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) female
faculty at Gannon.
Zhao's grant is the centerpiece of one of TRANSFORM's three
strategies: the advancement of female faculty through the rank and
tenure process, by establishing Research Initiation Awards for
early- or mid-career STEM female faculty to augment research
efforts.
"I am very grateful that as a female faculty member I was
provided with this wonderful opportunity," Zhao said. "I am also
grateful to the tremendous support and trust received from the
Research Initiation Award committee, the university, College of
Engineering and Business, and ECE department. Through future
publications, I wish to have Gannon known for wind energy related
electric drives research and to attract more female students to
Gannon's STEM programs.
"I think every female faculty member at Gannon in STEM areas
deserves this award."
Weslene Tallmadge, Ph.D., associate professor and chairperson of
Gannon's chemistry department and a co-principal investigator for
the Research Initiation Award, said, "We received six exceptional
proposals to consider. Committee members were impressed with
[Zhao's} qualifications, careful budget and detailed plans."
The other three objectives of the grant-funded TRANSFORM project
are the recruitment and retention of female faculty in the STEM
disciplines, preparation of female faculty to hold effective
leadership positions and the education of deans, department chairs,
and faculty leaders about issues affecting female
faculty.