Contact: Phil Hearn
Mississippi State collected a record total of more than $150 million in externally funded contracts and grants for a variety of major research and education programs during the past fiscal year.
Representing a significant increase over the previous year's total of $143 million, the FY2004 awards included $80.8 million from federal agencies, $36.9 million from Mississippi state agencies, and another $32.3 million from a diverse combination of private and other governmental sources.
"I'm very impressed by the excellence of the faculty and staff at Mississippi State University," said research vice president Colin Scanes. "Research at MSU is contributing to the economic development of Mississippi and service to the people of the state."
MSU engineering programs led the way with $46.3 million in external funding, followed closely by a total of $45 million collected through a variety of university centers and institutes. The university's Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences received $22.3 million during the year.
The record total of external funding supported more than 2,600 sponsored projects during the fiscal year. The $150 million figure does not include another $17.7 million in federal sponsored scholarships and other student financial aid.
Among the larger awards was $13.5 million from the U.S. Department of Defense to the MSU-led Program Environment and Training--or PET--program, which seeks to solve defense-related computer software issues in 14 highly technical areas running the gamut from computational fluid dynamics to signal and image processing.
"Through PET, we provide technical support on defense issues ranging from the simulation of terrorist events to environmental quality modeling," said Joe Thompson, PET's director and a Giles Distinguished Professor of Aerospace Engineering.
MSU leads a consortium of 10 universities and two private companies in matching high-performing computing expertise with specific research needs. The $13.5 million is the fourth installment of an eight-year, $108 million DoD allocation to MSU for the PET program--often called the largest competitive research grant ever made to a Mississippi institution of higher learning.
MSU's Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems received external funding totaling $8.8 million during the year--nearly tripling the $3 million collected by the automotive research center during FY2003. CAVS, created in 2001 as part of the state's successful bid to attract Nissan Motor Co., received $3.5 million in base state funding.
The center unveiled two state-of-the-art facilities during the year designed to reduce product development time, improve efficiency and increase safety in automobiles. A $9 million, 45,000-square-foot main facility officially opened Dec. 4 at the Thad Cochran Research Technology and Economic Development Park just north of the campus. A $6 million, 23,000-square-foot companion extension center was dedicated Dec. 15 near Canton and the Nissan manufacturing plant.
"One of the overarching goals of CAVS is to make Mississippi a competitive player in a global marketplace," said Donald Trotter, MSU's associate vice president for strategic initiatives and the research center's director.
Included in CAVS' research totals for the year were more than $2 million in DoD-related grants for two separate projects aimed at designing all-electric combat ships of the future and developing radar technology for smaller, lighter and more efficient early-warning mobile systems.
Electrical and computer engineering professor Marshall Molen is the principal investigator on both projects. One is funded by the Office of Naval Research through the Electric Ship Research and Development Consortium; the other by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command through the Army Radar Power Technology Program.
The university's College of Forest Resources and Forest and Wildlife Research Center received more than $6.2 million in external funding during the year. The FWRC is working with an Australian firm, TimTek, to locate an engineered-lumber pilot plant on the Starkville campus. Together, they hope to develop a commercial market for a process TimTek has developed to make high-strength engineered lumber from small diameter trees thinned from pine plantations.
The university opened a new 35,000-square-foot facility last January, the Franklin Center for Furniture Manufacturing and Management, as part of an effort to improve Mississippi's competitiveness in the furniture industry.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information, telephone Dr. Scanes at (662) 325-3570.