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The Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering saw another record-breaking year for research funding. The department received more than $19.5 million for research in 2021, advancing ME’s commitment to impactful scientific breakthroughs.

This is the second year in a row that the department hit a new record. ME’s previous record for award totals was nearly $19.2 million in 2020. The department’s continued growth in research funding has contributed to a five-year upward trend across the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

ME’s funding in 2021 included 118 awards in all, signaling the wide range of the department’s meaningful research – from biomedical experiments to air quality studies and more. Here is a sampling of those research awards.

• Svenja Knappe and Cindy Regal received a two-year $1.83 million award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for “Integrated Vector-Scalar Atomic Magnetometer.”

• Shelly Miller and CO-PI Shivakant Mishra received a four-year $1.8 million award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for “SCC-IRG Track 1: Empowering Environmental Justice Communities with Smart and Connected Technology: Air and Noise Pollution, Wellbeing, and Social Relations in Times of Disruption.”

• Sarah Calve received a two-year $1.1 million award from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health/NIH/DHHS for “Defining the Mechanical Link that Unites the Musculoskeletal System during Limb Development.”

• Greg Rieker received a three-year $975,000 award from the Air Force Research Lab for “Accurate, Multi-parameter Scramjet Diagnostics Using Frequency Comb Lasers.”

• Debanjan Mukherjee received a three-year $584,000 award from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering/NIH/DHHS for “In Silico Mapping of the Heart-Brain Embolus Transport Pathway for Stroke.”

The College of Engineering and Applied Science received more than $150 million in research funding in 2021. Award money at the college comes from a variety of sources, including NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense and industry.

Header image: Kaushik Jayaram working in his Animal Inspired Movement and Robotics Laboratory