McConnell Awarded DEPSCoR Grant

by Diane Kukich; adapted from an article by Tracey Bryant (UDaily, 05-24-07); photo by Kathy Atkinson

May 24, 2007

CEE Assistant Professor Jennifer Righman McConnell is one of two Delaware researchers to receive funding through the 2007 Defense Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR).

McConnell and co-investigator John W. Gillespie Jr., Donald C. Phillips Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Center for Composite Materials, received $433,387 to develop blast-resistant materials that can be used in the construction of military shelters. The researchers will be working to devise lightweight panels from advanced composite materials that can deflect and absorb the energy generated during an explosion.

The other Delaware grant went to Fengshan Liu, Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Delaware State University (DSU), who will conduct research on wall-penetrating radar.

Delaware is one of nine states, out of 23 eligible states and territories, that are sharing $7 million in DEPSCoR awards. The program is designed to enhance existing or develop new research capabilities in support of the Defense Department's research goals.

UD's Delaware Biotechnology Institute is Delaware's EPSCoR office, coordinating these grant applications, as well as related research funding programs sponsored by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

For more information, visit the Delaware EPSCoR Web site at [www.epscor.dbi.udel.edu/].