Six College of Engineering Faculty Collaborate on Five Research Teams Getting Interdisciplinary Research Grants

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Six researchers from the College of Engineering (CoE) are serving on UMass Amherst teams that have received 2023 Interdisciplinary Research Grants offered by Provost Tricia Serio in coordination with the Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement and the Deans. The participating CoE researchers are Professor Yossi Chait, Assistant Professor Meghan Huber, Assistant Professor Anuj Pradhan, Assistant Professor Shannon Roberts, Associate Professor Frank Sup of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department and Assistant Professor Christian Guzman of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.

The 2023 Interdisciplinary Research Grants were offered to 14 teams of UMass Amherst faculty and librarians, with the members from each team coming from at least two different schools or colleges. The goals of the grants include empowering creativity, strengthening the university’s areas of interdisciplinary excellence, promoting equitable collaborations, and attracting external funding and other forms of recognition across our colleges and schools. The grants are offered in two categories: up to $20,000 or up to $50,000.

The six CoE researchers are serving on five different teams that were awarded grants.

Huber is investigating a proposal titled “A Step into the Future: A Neural Investigation of Robotic Exoskeleton-assisted Walking” and collaborating with Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Douglas Martini of the School of Public Health and Health Sciences.

Chait is part of a team whose proposal is called “Individualized Blood Pressure (BP) Management Intervention for Underserved Adults at Community Health Centers: Use of Innovative BP Management Protocol and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)-based Lifestyle Modification Education.” He is working with Associate Professor Jeungok Choi of the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing and Christopher Martell, the director of the Psychological Services Center and a lecturer in the Psychological and Brain Sciences Department of the College of Natural Sciences. 

Roberts and Sup are collaborating with Professor Karen Giuliano of the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing on a project titled “The Use of Eye-tracking Technology to Measure Cognitive-behavioral Processes During Real-world IV Medication Administration.” 

Pradhan is part of a project called “Who’s Driving?: Multimodal Assessment of Driver’s Sense of Agency During Vehicle Automation.” He is collaborating with Assistant Professor Youngbin Kwak and Associate Professor Joonkoo Park of the Psychological and Brain Sciences Department in the College of Natural Sciences and Professor Daeyoung Kim of the Mathematics and Statistics Department in the College of Natural Sciences. Park is also associated with the Commonwealth Honors College.

Meanwhile, Guzman is investigating “SUELO (Sustainable Urban Agriculture for Environmental Justice and Landscape Observations of Carbon Cycling and Water Dynamics)” with Assistant Professor Rachel Hestrin of the Stockbridge School of Agriculture and the College of Natural Sciences. (July 2023)