SyracuseCoE has announced that eight research and innovations projects led by its faculty fellows were competitively selected to receive awards totaling $112,750. The projects engage a total of 17 faculty members from Syracuse University, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) and SUNY Upstate Medical University (UMU).

“The SyracuseCoE Faculty Fellows Program bolsters discovery and innovation, strengthening Syracuse University’s growing research portfolio,” says John Liu, vice president for research at Syracuse University. “These awards provide early-stage funding to support both individual faculty research and collaborative, cross-disciplinary projects that leverage our strengths in multiple fields.”

Projects were selected based on responses to a request for proposals issued by SyracuseCoE earlier this year. SyracuseCoE is New York State’s Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems, which is led by Syracuse University in collaboration with SUNY ESF, SUNY UMU, SUNY Oswego, CenterState Corp. for Economic Opportunity and dozens of industry partners.

Each faculty member who is involved in a project is appointed as a SyracuseCoE Faculty Fellow for a three-year term. Eleven faculty members are newly appointed, increasing to 38 the number of current SyracuseCoE Faculty Fellows.

“We are thrilled that the SyracuseCoE Faculty Fellows program has attracted a diverse community of faculty members from seven schools and colleges at Syracuse University, SUNY ESF and SUNY UMU,” says Edward Bogucz, SyracuseCoE executive director and associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University. “We look forward to supporting the success of the new round of faculty fellow projects, which are targeted to create innovations in environmental and energy systems.”

The projects, principal investigators (listed first), and their collaborators are:

Atmospheric Deposition and Trace Gas Exchange, and the Function of a Green Roof on the Syracuse Urban Landscape
Charles T. Driscoll, University Professor of Environmental Systems and Distinguished Professor, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms: An Overlooked Source of Carcinogenic Disinfection Byproducts
Teng Zeng, assistant professor, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Evaluating the Ability of Land to Replicate Indian Point’s Electricity Supply Profile
Tristan Brown, assistant professor, forest and natural resource management, SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry
Marie-Odile Fortier, assistant professor, forest and natural resource management, SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry
Mike Kelleher, senior research associate, forest and natural resource management, SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry
Robert Malmsheimer, professor, forest and natural resource management, SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry
Tim Volk, senior research associate, forest and natural resource management, SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry
Enabling Advanced Compression Ignition Engines through Modeling of Biodiesel-Gasoline Combustion Chemistry
Ben Akih-Kumgeh, assistant professor, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University
Theodore S. Dibble, professor and associate chair of chemistry, SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry

Impact Of Relative Humidity On Human Performance In Cold Climate Office Buildings—A Pilot Study
Usha Satish, professor, psychaitry and behavioral science, UMU
Suresh Santanam, associate professor, director of industrial assessment center, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Community Energy Dashboard: A Tool for a Community Energy Approach
Bess Krietemeyer, assistant professor, School of Architecture, Syracuse University
Tarek Rakha, assistant professor, School of Architecture, Syracuse University
Jason Dedrick, professor, School of Information Studies, Syracuse University

Development of Novel Quartz Crystal Microbalance Sensors for Environmental Signature Detection
James T. Spencer, Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor, College of Arts and Sciences, Syracuse University
Fred Schlereth, associate research professor, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Towards an All Solid-State Calcium Ion Battery
Ian Hosein, assistant professor, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

More information on these projects may be found on SyracuseCoE’s web site.

The projects were made possible by funding to support SyracuseCoE activities awarded by Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR). The next request for proposals for the SyracuseCoE Faculty Fellows Program is planned for in spring 2018 for projects beginning in summer 2018.