Universities Go to Space: NASA Announces Early Career Faculty Space Tech Research Grants

Aug. 14, 2012

David E. Steitz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1730
david.steitz@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 12-280

UNIVERSITIES GO TO SPACE: NASA ANNOUNCES EARLY CAREER FACULTY SPACE TECH RESEARCH GRANTS

WASHINGTON -- NASA has announced the selection of 10 research efforts
from the agency's inaugural Space Technology Research Opportunities
for Early Career Faculty solicitation. NASA will provide grants of as
much as $200,000 per year for as long as three years in support of
these faculty and their research in specific, high-priority
technology areas.

The selected faculty will conduct research in areas closely aligned
with NASA's Space Technology Roadmaps and priorities identified by
the National Research Council. These priorities include extending and
sustaining human activities beyond low Earth orbit, exploring the
evolution of the solar system and potential for life elsewhere, and
expanding our understanding of Earth and the universe.

"It's an honor to announce this outstanding group of early career
faculty researchers, representing some of the most talented new
faculty from the best institutions of higher learning in America,"
said Michael Gazarik, director of NASA's Space Technology Program at
NASA Headquarters in Washington. "NASA will benefit from the work
these faculty researchers conduct in unique, disruptive or
transformational space technologies or concepts, while strengthening
America's continued global leadership in the new technology economy."


The selected Early Career Faculty researchers are:

--Chih-Hao Chang, North Carolina State University, Raleigh
--Nicolaus Correll, University of Colorado at Boulder
--Julia Greer, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
--Mary Lind, Arizona State University, Tempe
--Michele Manuel, University of Florida, Gainesville
--Jeremy Munday, University of Maryland, College Park
--Marco Pavone, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.
--Mina Raies-Zadeh, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
--Debbie Senesky, Stanford University
--Wei-Chuan Shih, University of Houston

Newly-selected early career efforts will develop technologies to
automate the production of food in space and investigate and test
advanced wastewater recovery technologies. These efforts also will
look to develop robust timekeeping technologies that enable more
precise landing and autonomous rendezvous in space, and formulate new
ultra-lightweight materials with properties that can be tailored.

NASA's Early Career Faculty efforts are an element of the agency's
Space Technology Research Grants Program. It is designed to
accelerate the development of technologies originating from academia
that support the future science and exploration needs of NASA, other
government agencies and the commercial space sector.

For more information about NASA's Space Technology Grants Program, and
a listing of the titles of the selected research topics, visit:

http://go.usa.gov/P31

The Space Technology Research Grants Program is a part of NASA's Space
Technology Program, dedicated to innovating, developing, testing, and
flying hardware for use in NASA's future science and exploration
missions. NASA's technology investments provide cutting-edge
solutions for our nation's future.

For more information about the Space Technology Program and the
crosscutting space technology areas of interest to NASA, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/oct


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