LU News: Research and Grants

The City of Beaumont has recently awarded the Lamar University Department of Communication and Media more than $700,000 to support the department’s plans for renovations, new equipment and relocating the widely known LUTV studio on campus.

For a decade, the Lamar University Office of Undergraduate Research has championed undergraduate research and creative activities efforts at Lamar University. As the program moves into the start of a new decade, Dr. Cristian Bahrim, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, reflects on the success of the program for the 2022 year.

In the third in a series of articles on the production of N*s for The Innovation Platform, Lamar University’s Professor Philip L Cole discusses the importance of using both high-intensity pion and electron beams for revealing the inner structure of excited protons (N*s) in the second and third resonance regions that decay through the two-pion channel.

A team of researchers at Lamar University have been awarded a $45, 000 grant to bolster the team’s outreach initiative on MIND –– mental health intervention, networking and diversion.

Junior civil and environmental engineering major Melissa Tan’s research was recently accepted into the 14th annual GCURS at Rice University.

The U.S. Department of Education recently announced that the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program has been renewed and will receive a grant in the amount of $259,198 each year for the next five years, totaling more than $1 million.

Dr. Evgeny Romashets, instructor of physics, has been awarded a $219,902 grant from the National Science Foundation’s Coupling, Energetics and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions program to study current streamlines and charged particles’ trajectories in the ionosphere, the upper atmosphere stretching from 50 to 400 miles above Earth's surface.

For the second time, the Office of Undergraduate Research will host the Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium from 2-4 p.m. on Friday, August 5 in the Reaud Executive Event Space.

Dr. Sylvestre Twagirayezu, assistant professor of chemistry, has been awarded a National Science Foundation LEAPS-MPS (Launching Early-Career Academic Pathways in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences) grant of $249,682 to develop detection technology for long-chain fluorinated compounds for environmental trace analysis.

Lamar University is one of 33 institutions that recently received funding from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board through the Accelerating Credentials of Purpose and Value Grant Program. A total of $420,000 was awarded to the LU College of Business making it possible for the college to launch a new Data Analytics Certification program for fall 2022.

On Tuesday, May 24, ExxonMobil donated $25,000 to the LU College of Engineering to fund a partnership with Beaumont ISD through our student organization, Robotic Cardinals.

Dr. Christina Gregory, assistant professor of political science, was awarded a Lamar University College of Arts and Sciences Dean's 2022 Summer Research Fellowship.

Dr. Cynthia Stinson and Dr. Ruthie Robinson recently received a TBOGNE award for their innovative research about nurses on the front line during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Center for History and Culture of Southeast Texas and the Upper Gulf Coast convened a symposium at Lamar University on April 19 to consider the many experiences and expressions of slavery, abolition and emancipation in the region's past.

The Office of Undergraduate Research has named the winners of the 9th annual Undergraduate Research & creative Activity Expo, which was held on Wednesday, April 18. The EXPO is an annual showcase of undergraduate research that includes poster presentations and talks, LU alumni guest speakers, awards and prizes for best poster presentations.

Lamar University is proud to announce 13 winners of the 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Dr. Qin Qian, professor of civil and environmental engineering, a total of $448,625 to use in the improvement of water quality in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Drs. Cynthia Stinson and Ruthie Robinson have been selected by the Texas Organization of Baccalaureate and Graduate Nursing Education to receive one of the organizations most prestigious awards in the state.

The National Science Foundation has awarded Dr. Zhe Fan, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, a total of $177,460 for his engineering research initiative in complex concentrated alloys.

Lamar University alumnus Dr. Keith Reeves discusses his life, work and the outstanding achievement brought about by his research and writing.

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship at Lamar University provides students with the resources to conduct research on a particular topic related to their area of study. As the program prepares to welcome a new cohort, 2021 SURF Research Fellows Alexander Bahrim, Kalen Baker and Melissa Tan reflect on their experiences with undergraduate research at Lamar University.

Why don't we teach students about plastic? That's the question Lamar University Assistant Professor Dr. Robert Kelley Bradley seeks to answer in his new article titled, "Education in Plastics Manufacturing: Aluminum mold making and injection molding."

Lamar University is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors of the International Pipe Line & Offshore Contractors Association has approved the LU Center for Midstream Management and Science’s application to become an academic member of the international organization. As one in four universities in the organization and the only academic member in the United States, LU joins Gubkin University (Russia), Ghent University (Belgium) and Cranfield University (United Kingdom).

The Office of Undergraduate Research at Lamar University thrives on giving undergraduates of all majors opportunities for research and scholarship. In the summer of 2021, sophomore and pre-med biology major Zaid Mohammed was afforded the opportunity to intern at the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine in Dallas.

Dr. Amber Adams ’15, instructor of nursing in the JoAnne Gay Dishman School of Nursing, recently presented at the EN21 National Emergency Nursing Conference. The conference is hosted annually by the Emergency Nurses Association and gives nurses the opportunity to network and learn about current practice changes occurring at other facilities and organizations.

Dr. Liv Haselbach, chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, along with Paola Passalacqua, R. Patrick Bixler and John Swartz of University of Texas at Austin and Hamed Moftakhari  of University of Alabama , has received funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for a project titled “Understanding current and future coastal flood risk: How do local governance networks shape resilience efforts in response to perceived hazards?” 

Senior chemistry and biochemistry major, Menna Elsaka, and senior biology major, Krystal Le, are heading to Orlando, Fla. to present their research at the 56th National Collegiate Honors Council Annual Conference on Oct. 27.

Dr. Selahattin Sayil, professor of electrical engineering, along with his project team, has received funding from the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) program for a 3-year term on improving the quality of electrical engineering online laboratories

Megan Wimberly ’12, deaf studies and deaf education doctoral student, was chosen as one of three presenters for the 2021 virtual Language First Deaf Disabled Students Mini Conference.

Drs. Eldre Beukes and Vinaya Manchaiah explore ways to offer an online self-help program for individuals with tinnitus, a condition that, according to Dr. Eldre Beukes, is characterized by hearing unwanted sounds, such a s ringing or buzzing that do not originate from a corresponding external sound.

The Office of Undergraduate Research is pleased to announce the winners of the eighth Undergraduate Research & Creative Activity Expo which was held on April 16.

The Office of Undergraduate Research has awarded Dr. Ozge Gunaydin-Sen its 2021 Faculty Mentor of the Year.