Stimulus package funds 12 projects at SDSU

Federal stimulus funds to recharge the economy are currently funding 12 projects totaling more than $2.2 million at South Dakota State University.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, or ARRA, is an economic stimulus package enacted by Congress in February 2009 largely in response to proposals by President Barack Obama.

SDSU Vice President for Research Kevin Kephart said most of the projects will enable scientists to move research projects forward.

Here’s a look at the specific projects that the stimulus package is funding at SDSU, according to SDSU’s Grants & Contracts Administration:

Associate Professor Jihong Cole-Dai in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry has received a $699,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to work on an Antarctica ice core project.

Assistant professor Venkateswara Bommisetty in the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science received $456,000 for development of a scanning probe microscopy tool to study photoactivated processes, or processes activated by light, at the nanoscale. The grant is from the National Science Foundation.

Assistant professor Qiquan Qiao in the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science received $75,000 for research into new full spectrum conjugated polymers that will harvest a wide range of sunlight in converting it to electricity. The money is from the National Science Foundation channeled through a private company with which Qiao is working.

Professor Gary Larson in the Department of Biology & Microbiology will use $14,000 in stimulus funds to help develop a multi-herbarium Internet-accessible database of vascular plants from the Missouri Plateau. The National Science Foundation funds are channeled to Larson through Black Hills State University.

Professor Bruce Berdanier, head of SDSU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and professor Delvin DeBoer, director of SDSU’s Water & Environmental Engineering Resource Center, received a grant of nearly $119,000 to help with the purchase of an inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer, or ICP-OES. The equipment allows scientists to measure concentrations of metals in water. The money is through the National Science Foundation.

Assistant professor Senthil Subramanian in the Plant Science Department obtained stimulus funding of more than $33,000 to study the use of microalgae to produce biofuels. This money is part of a research grant from the National Science Foundation to a private company with which Subramanian has established a research collaboration.

Associate professor Feng Li, who has a joint appointment in SDSU’s Department of Biology & Microbiology and the Department of Veterinary Science, received $100,000 in stimulus funds for research concerning inhibitors of the influenza A virus. The research is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Institutes of Health through its National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Assistant professor Weiping Zhang in SDSU’s Department of Veterinary Science has received more than $161,000 for the first year in stimulus funds for vaccine research against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli-associated diarrhea in humans by using a pig model that he and SDSU professor David Francis have developed. The research is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Institutes of Health through its National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Zhang is also to receive nearly $207,000 for the next fiscal year.

The projects also include some major purchases of research equipment, including a grant of nearly $553,000 to help SDSU assistant professor Brian Logue in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry purchase an ultra high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometer that can help scientists study the mass and make-up of various molecules. The grant is from the National Science Foundation.

Associate professor Kay Cutler, director of the Fishback Center for Early Childhood Education, and kindergarten out-of-school-time coordinator Laura Gloege received grants of $4,000 and $1,500, respectively, toward the purchase of a security camera system for the center. Outreach coordinator Gail Bultman of the Department of Human Development received $5,500 to provide supplemental infant toddler training to child care providers in the region. The funding for all three projects came from the federal Department of Health and Human Services through the South Dakota Department of Social Services.