UMass Dartmouth Annual Research Report 2020 by UMass Dartmouth

UMass Dartmouth

Annual Research Report 2020

Vice Provost for Research and Academic Affairs

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Dear Colleagues,

Office of Research Administration

I am truly excited to provide this report as a celebration of scholarship that highlights the innovative research, scholarly and creative activities that were conducted on the UMass Dartmouth campus by students, faculty, and staff.

Office of Research Development Office of the Provost Office of Technology Commercialization and Ventures

PHOTOS COURTESY Levante Anderson Megan Balasubramanian Tailyn Clark Kindra Clineff Deidre Confar Elizabeth Friar Jonathan Hillyer PMC Media Group Kevin Stokesbury Lev Turkewitz Jennifer White

WRITERs Debra Hazian

Academic year 2019-20 was an important one for UMass Dartmouth research as we celebrated six researchers that were elevated as fellows of prestigious professional societies and UMass Dartmouth received the single largest award in its history, a $4.57M grant from the Office of Naval Research to the Marine and Undersea Technology program. This was followed by another $4.2M in September of 2020. These funds have supported 20 different research projects of Naval relevance involving 34 faculty members and 40 graduate and undergraduate scholars. Partnering with our faculty on these projects are researchers from five other universities, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC, Newport), and marine technology industry collaborators. Our campus continues to focus on establishing UMass Dartmouth as an important partner in the South Coast through discovery, applied research, and innovation for a better future. The stories and highlights in this report are but a sample of the scope and impactful work that was conducted since Fall 2019. Despite the challenges that we faced due to a global pandemic, UMass Dartmouth leadership remained steadfast in their commitment to supporting scholarship in every form through seed funding programs, increased supports for grant and faculty development. Supporting scholarship, like all successful ventures, is a team effort and I am deeply grateful for my team members in the Office of Research Administration, Environmental Health and Safety, Research Compliance, Research Support, and Office of Technology Commercialization and Ventures for everything they do to advance our campus.

Marissa Matton

Sincerely,

Ryan Merrill

Ramprasad Balasubramanian, PhD Vice Provost for Research and Academic Affairs

Elise Rapoza Adrienne Wartts

Designer Martha Abdella

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Director, Marine and Undersea Technology (MUST) Research Program Professor, Department of Computer and Information Science

A letter from the Chancellor

A message from Interim Chancellor Mark A. Fuller I am excited for you to explore the incredible research projects within the UMass Dartmouth Annual Research Report 2020. Research is integral to our mission as a public university, and both enlivens the education our undergraduates receive and benefits the South Coast region, the Commonwealth and our nation. In a year that was dominated by a pandemic and a renewed look at how scientific discoveries can help keep us safe, UMassD researchers showed they were ahead of the curve. Associate Professor of Biology Erin Bromage became an international expert on COVID safety protocols, appearing on CNN and in print articles – based on his ongoing research on vaccines and how the body reacts to viruses in different species. And last fall, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry Xiaofei Jia was awarded a National Institute of Health grant to develop new anti-HIV drugs by harnessing the power of our immune system. As a public research university, we not only educate the next generation, we also conduct research that has visible impacts within our larger community. Our experts at the School for Marine Science & Technology (SMAST) are working to find ways to support the fishing industry and the growing offshore wind industry. We are proud that our education researchers are working with teachers in nearby urban school districts to develop new pedagogies that promote STEM. Amid increasing awareness of the global impact of climate change, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Arghavan Louhghalam won a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER Award to develop a better system to evaluate how lifeline infrastructures like power, transportation, and water will stand up to natural disasters. These are just a few examples of the pathbreaking research, scholarship and creative work our faculty and students are undertaking on our campus. I hope you enjoy this report and come away with a new understanding of how UMass Dartmouth is making an impact locally, nationally, and globally through our research mission. Best, Mark A. Fuller, PhD Interim Chancellor

2020 Annual Research Report

School for Marine Science & Technology

NEW program earns largest grants in University history

Recently established Marine and UnderSea Technology research program (MUST) earns largest grants in University history UMassD’s blue economy ambitions took a giant leap forward in 2020 with help from the Office of Naval Research. The recently established Marine and UnderSea Technology research program (MUST) received two grants, worth $4.6M and $4.2M respectively, to support research and training collaborations with the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC). UMass Dartmouth is the second leading supplier of workforce talent to NUWC and offers the necessary program synergies to accelerate the growth of a highly-skilled science and engineering workforce in southern New England. The funded research projects touch upon the following areas: acoustics, signal processing, sensing, communications,

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autonomous underwater vehicles, batteries, acoustics, modeling of ocean dynamics, biofouling, composite materials, autonomy, machine learning, and marine robotics. MUST was formed to address a growing concern of the United States Navy - a lack of cutting-edge research and the scarcity of a highly trained workforce. MUST has identified areas of focus where the expertise of faculty can have the greatest impact, including research and training in the general areas of undersea technologies addressing acoustics, signal processing, sensing, communications, and autonomous underwater vehicles. With these areas in mind, MUST has developed research projects that leverage faculty strengths

to respond to the critical needs of the Navy. “This investment builds off of UMass Dartmouth’s long-standing specialization in marine science and technology fields by connecting our students and researchers to emerging technological challenges of regional and national significance,” said Vice Provost Ramprasad Balasubramanian, who leads the Marine and UnderSea Technology (MUST) research program. “MUST provides a wellspring of talent and technologies to the U.S. Navy and the companies they partner with, while further cementing the university’s role in the regional marine science and technology innovation economy.” This investment highlights UMass Dartmouth’s leadership in undersea technology research and training. Since 2015, the Navy has awarded the university with 21 grants worth nearly $14 million in investment.

MUST is growing its research enterprise to be able to continually assist research and development efforts as they evolve. In FY19, MUST began 13 new projects that brought together 23 faculty members, five collaborators from NUWC, and an external university partner. Key to the MUST mission is the inclusion of student researchers working alongside faculty. In FY19, 24 graduate and 14 undergraduate students were receiving training, education, and experience in these research areas. In FY20, seven new projects were added involving 15 faculty, eight NUWC colleagues, four external university partners, an industry collaborator, and the addition of five graduate and two undergraduate student researchers. Research gains within MUST programs have already generated 17 conference proceedings and 15 journal papers either published, under review, or in preparation. At this time, 10 external grant applications have been generated because of the ONR funding.

This investment builds off of UMass Dartmouth’s long-standing specialization in marine science and technology fields by connecting our students and researchers to emerging technological challenges of regional and national significance.” Ramprasad Balasubramanian Vice Provost for Research and Academic Affairs Director, Marine and UnderSea Technology research program (MUST)

2020 Annual Research Report

College of Engineering

NSF CAREER Award Recipient Arghavan Louhghalam, PhD Assistant Professor Civil & Environmental Engineering

Resilience is the capacity of a system to absorb a shock and recover from it without a significant loss of performance. For civil infrastructure systems subject to extreme events, this performance is the functional integrity of lifeline infrastructures (power, transportation, water, etc.) and other buildings and structures comprising the built environment. The National Science Foundation has awarded Arghavan Louhghalam, PhD, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, $524,940 over a five-year period, for her research titled “CAREER: An Integrated Framework for Resilience Analytics: From Physics-based Modeling of Building Components to Dynamics of Community-Level Recovery.” The project will address a significant knowledge gap, on how to rigorously define and quantitatively but efficiently evaluate damage and performance at different scales to systematically assess resilience. The frequency of natural hazards with great economic and social impact — such as tropical cyclones, severe storms, and earthquakes — has increased significantly in recent years. “Strategies that aim at evaluating the ability of a particular built environment to cope with these abnormal events are sought by policymakers and governmental organizations such as DHS, FEMA, and DOD,” Louhghalam says. “The goal is to develop a predictive framework that enables the next generation of infrastructure resilience analytics and addresses the complexities associated with multiscale, multifaceted, and probabilistic nature of resilience.” Louhghalam will achieve this through integrating statistical physics-based models of failure and damage, smart and optimal Bayesian learning in stochastic space, and system dynamics to address the kinetics of recovery.

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“My plan is to push the bounaries of infrastructure resilience modeling beyond the current conceptual approaches and ad hoc solutions by providing a systematic approach to defining and evaluating the “performance functions” while accounting for the underlying uncertainties in a multi-scale (from component to the community) setting,” notes Louhghalam. “The outcome of this research would provide a means for policymakers for risk-informed decision-making and facilitate devising strategies that enhance the ability of civil infrastructures to cope with the extreme

events and as such will lead to significant reductions in economic loss and negative social impacts of natural hazards.” Prior to joining UMass Dartmouth, Louhghalam served as a postdoctoral research associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Concrete Sustainability Hub. She holds a PhD and an MS in Engineering Mechanics from Johns Hopkins University, as well as an MS in Earthquake Engineering from the University of Tehran and a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology.

My plan is to push the boundaries of infrastructure resilience modeling beyond the current conceptual approaches and ad hoc solutions by providing a systematic approach to defining and evaluating the “performance functions” while accounting for the underlying uncertainties in a multi-scale (from component to the community) setting.”

College of Arts & Sciences

Professor gains international acclaim for COVID-19 expertise Erin Bromage, PhD Associate Professor

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Associate Professor of Biology Erin Bromage, PhD created a blog to help friends and family understand the practical ways that the virus can spread through a community. On May 6, 2020, Bromage posted “The Risks — Know Them — Avoid Them”, an explainer that showed how people breathing and talking spread particles in the air in common locations like restaurants, churches, and offices. As the world grappled with how to safely operate in society, Bromage’s post started to become widely shared on social media. Fast forward a week and the post had been viewed more than 13 million times and Bromage quickly became a fixture on national news shows. Bromage graduated from the School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences James Cook University, Australia where his research focused on the epidemiology of, and immunity to, infectious disease in animals. His PostDoctoral training was at the College of William and Mary, Virginia Institute of Marine Science in the Comparative Immunology Laboratory of late Dr. Stephen Kaattari. In 2007, Bromage joined the faculty at UMass Dartmouth. His research focuses on the evolution of the immune system, the immunological mechanisms responsible for protection from infectious disease, and the design and use of vaccines to control infectious disease in animals. He also focuses on designing diagnostic tools to detect biological and chemical threats in the environment in real-time. In the Biology program, Bromage teaches courses in Immunology and

infectious disease, including a course in the 2020 spring semester on the Ecology of Infectious Disease which focused on the emerging SARS-CoV2 outbreak in China. Bromage’s students tracked the emerging COVID-19 outbreak in China and beyond. These classroom experiences, informed by Bromage’s research, have given his students a real-world look at the topics they are studying and led to the creation of his now famous blog post. His blog post was featured in The New York Times for his “impressively clear explanation” of how COVID-19 can spread. Since the pandemic began, he has been a regular contributor to CNN’s coverage and can be found in print articles about health and safety around the world. Bromage is also an advisor to many nonprofit organizations, local governments, and schools across New England where his research is put into action. During the holiday season of 2020, Bromage worked with the Boston Lyric Opera to debut a recorded live performance that many thought impossible during the pandemic. These challenges make indoor live performances with an audience prohibitive in an atmosphere of rising positive cases nationwide. This is especially hard for opera since singing artists do not typically use microphones and therefore sing loudly and forcefully.

“While we had many layers of protection, masks, distance, limited duration, and testing, the most important safety factor was the continual replacement of air in the room. To accomplish this, we piped in large volumes of fresh air into the performing space from the other side of the building. By keeping the ventilation fans 100’s of feet away, we were able to keep them on all the time without adding noise. We also continually monitored the CO2 in the performance space to ensure we were getting the desired ventilation rates” said Bromage. Bromage also worked with state and federal court judges to plan how the judicial system could continue safely and in-person during the pandemic. A Public Service Announcement featuring Bromage has been distributed across the country and is widely used by the U.S. Marshalls. When he is not working with the media or helping nonprofits or teaching classes at UMassD, he is on movie and television sets as a health and safety advisor for the Morning Show with Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, and an upcoming movie titled The Tender Bar with George Clooney and Ben Affleck.

2020 Annual Research Report

School for Marine Science & Technology

Stock assesment Kevin Stokesbury, PhD Professor Fisheries Ocenography

Scholars at the School for Marine Science & Technology are known for employing groundbreaking techniques that help promote sustainable fisheries and an understanding of how marine life may be impacted by their surroundings. Stock assessment is one of the many key areas of research being conducted by several SMAST professors. Steve Cadrin, PhD, Pingguo He, PhD, and Kevin Stokesbury, PhD are assessing the potential impacts of wind farm construction on fish abundance and species composition, as well as the social and economic aspects of fisheries in response to the needs of the offshore wind industry along the East Coast and the historic New England fishing industry. Their efforts help characterize how offshore wind development interacts with the marine environment, including important fisheries and critical habitat. Their findings are also critical in advancing offshore wind in a sustainable manner while minimizing impacts to existing marine activities and resources. Various types of surveys are used to collect data, including trawl, ventless trap, plankton, and the drop camera method developed by Kevin Stokesbury. Stokesbury’s drop camera survey comprises innovative underwater video technology that counts and identifies fish while immersed in the ocean, which helps protect specific habitats, identify specific species in every image, and guide regulators on the management of fishery. This image-based survey has been pivotal in the revival of the scallop industry, and has helped the city of New

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Bedford maintain its position as the nation’s No.1 fishing port for two decades. In an article published in joVE Journal (July 2, 2018) titled “Methods for Image-based Surveys of Benthic Macroinvertebrates and Their Habitat Exemplified by the Drop Camera for the Atlantic Sea Scallop,” Stokesbury and co-author N. David Bethoney explain that image-based surveying is an increasingly practical, non-invasive method to sample the marine environment. “We present the protocol of a drop camera survey that estimates the abundance and distribution of the Atlantic sea scallop,” said Stokesbury. “We discuss how this protocol can be generalized for application of other benthic macroinvertebrates.” He further explains image-based surveys allow for initial samples to be revisited and are non-invasive compared to traditional survey methods that typically involve nets or dredges. “Protocols for image-based surveys can vary greatly but should be driven by target species behavior and survey objectives. To demonstrate this, we describe our most recent method for an Atlantic sea scallop drop camera survey to provide a procedural example and representative results.” The procedure is divided into

three critical steps that include survey design, data collection, and data products. “The influence of scallop behavior and the survey goal of providing an independent assessment of the U.S. sea scallop resource on the survey procedure are then discussed in the context of generalizing the method.” Stokesbury was awarded a total of $2,651,053 in FY20 by various organizations to conduct stock assessment research using the drop camera method and other survey types. Clearwater Seafoods has awarded him $302,173 for drop camera surveys of Browns Bank and the Canadian Portion of Georges Bank and $194,811 for a drop camera survey of Patagonian Scallop Management Unit

and sustainability

We present the protocol of a drop camera survey that estimates the abundance and distribution of the Atlantic sea scallop,” said Stokesbury. “We discuss how this protocol can be generalized for application of other benthic macroinvertebrates.”

B. The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries has awarded him $350,000 to further develop a groundfish survey that combines traditional fisherman’s knowledge. He has received $278,592 from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center for a lobster larval survey for regional fisheries monitoring in Southern New England. Vineyard Wind has awarded him $253,568 for a drop camera survey as well as $283,944 for a ventless trap survey. Additionally, Stokesbury has received funds from NOAA Fisheries Research Set-Aside Programs, which are competitive grants awarded to scientists who have a demonstrated track record for supporting applied research that informs fishery management decisions and improves stock assessments. NOAA

has awarded $329,584 to Stokesbury for a high-resolution drop camera survey examining the scallop recruitment event; $304,191 for a seasonal video-trawl survey to assess the population size of yellowtail; and $229,178 for a high-resolution drop camera surveys to track scallop and predator population in Nantucket Lightship, and examine the effects of increase quadrat sampling. He also received $129,012 for a drop camera survey to track scallop aggregations in closed area II access. This summer, Design Art Technology Massachusetts (DATMA) will showcase Stokesbury’s drop camera method with “Sea Scallops: Sentinels of the Deep.” The exhibition will consist of scientific archival photography capturing

the region’s seafloor, the technology used to collect data from our ocean’s diverse ecosystems, and the women in fisheries science who conduct this important research. It will be displayed on downtown New Bedford storefront windows along Union Street between Acushnet Avenue and North 2nd Street from June 17 – October 17, 2021. Stokesbury earned his PhD in Marine Ecology at the Université Laval in 1994 and joined SMAST as a faculty member in 2000, where he has also served as chair of the Department of Fisheries Oceanography.

2020 Annual Research Report

College of Arts & Sciences

STEM Education Professor Receives $2.1M NSF Grant to Help Educators Empower the Digital Generation Chandra Orrill, PhD Professor, STEM Education

The skills needed to empower digital literacy are now fundamental and constantly evolving parts of the curriculum for young students. To aid in this growing field of study, Professor of STEM Education & Teacher Development Chandra Orrill was awarded a $2,116,315 grant by the National Science Foundation to help elementary school teachers integrate problem-solving skills common for computer programming into their math and science classes. The initiative is entitled “Computational Thinking Counts in Elementary Grades: Powerful STEM Teaching and Learning for the 21st Century.” Orrill, who is the Principal Investigator, is also the Director of the Kaput Center for Research & Innovation in STEM Education. Co-Principal Investigators are Vice Provost for Research & Academic Affairs and Professor of Computer and Information Science Dr. Ramprasad Balasubramanian, and Associate Professor of STEM Education and Teacher Development Dr. Shakhnoza Kayumova. The research team seeks to help elementary school teachers engage their students in computational thinking, the kind of thinking that computer programmers use. For example, students will be challenged to think about problem solutions in ways that would allow a computer to solve them; create solutions that require a series of ordered steps to carry out; identify, analyze, and implement solutions that are efficient, effective, and creative; and use models and simulations to represent data.

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“These thinking skills are important for students because they will build confidence in tackling complex problems,” Orrill said. “Students prepared with computational thinking skills will be better equipped to persist when faced with any challenging problem. They will learn to deal with ambiguity and use creativity to solve problems, and they will learn to communicate and collaborate with others in their problem-solving. This is a unique and critical endeavor that allows elementary teachers, who are considered generalists in the field, to work with content and pedagogy experts to develop their professional knowledge and skills.”

tools to enhance and accelerate student learning in key STEM concepts in ways that students are already utilizing,” Balasubramanian said.

One way to help students is to help their teachers. This project will create professional development opportunities for educators to incorporate more computational thinking into their more traditional science and mathematics curriculum. Orrill’s team plans to implement a three-year professional learning model that includes summer workshops and support throughout the school year. One outcome of the professional development is for teachers to design lessons that incorporate design-thinking projects to help students use computational thinking in their science and math activities.

“While at the 2018 American Education Research Association conference in New York, Chandra and I noticed there was a critical gap of strong professional development programs for elementary teachers to engage their students in computational thinking,” Kayumova said. “We sat down right then and developed a vision and plan for this project.”

“The digital generation has already been exposed to thinking a certain way about daily problems they encounter. We need to ensure their teachers have the

When designing their research project, Orrill and her team choose to partner with schools in an urban district and they also wanted to work closely with a small group of teachers to examine and refine their professional development models. For Orrill, it is important to engage children in computational thinking and disciplinary content and practices early in their academics through project-based and design-thinking projects and activities because of livelong benefits.

Though computational thinking has been taught to college-level students for years, the research team has been exploring how these approaches can be extended to K-12 students. With backgrounds in math, science, and computer science education and pedagogy, the team will be working in three New Bedford elementary schools over the next four years.

College of Engineering

University named a National Center of Academic Excellence in cybersecurity

The National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security designate UMass Dartmouth as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity—Cyber Research (CAE-R) through academic year 2025. UMass Dartmouth received this prestigious classification through the demonstrated success and commitment to prepare students to address national challenges related to cybersecurity as well as advanced faculty research in the field. UMass Dartmouth has poised itself to be a leader in cybersecurity education and research. In 2019, UMass Dartmouth signed an agreement with the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Air National Guard stationed at Joint Base Cape Cod to develop education and workforce training in cybersecurity for personnel at the base and university students. The partnership has allowed 102nd Intelligence Wing staff and UMass Dartmouth faculty to collaborate on the development of cybersecurity undergraduate and graduate programs, certificates, and concentrations. Base staff engaged in cybersecurity efforts serve as mentors

for university students and create awareness of cybersecurity career opportunities with the Air National Guard. Identifying the growing federal, state, and local needs, the University established a Cybersecurity Center for cybersecurity education, training, and research. Under the leadership of Electrical and Computer Engineering Associate Professor Lance Fiondella, the Center’s mission is to support the needs of industry and government partners by establishing long-term partnerships and collaboration among industry, academe, and government. The Center is composed of faculty who conduct research in a variety of areas alongside graduate and undergraduate students. The College of Engineering offers an undergraduate concentration, two minors, and a graduate certificate in cybersecurity. “The university has made significant investments to become a leader in education and scholarship in cybersecurity. Since 2018, the College of Engineering has hired six new faculty to become part of a team of approximately one dozen faculty overall who are working collaboratively to address challenges in the security engineering of complex systems. This designation recognizes our commitment to research and education in cybersecurity,” said College of Engineering Dean Jean VanderGheynst.

2020 Annual Research Report

College of Arts & Sciences

Doctoral student awarded 2020 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Akira Harper NSF Fellow and Doctoral Candidate

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced that UMass Dartmouth doctoral student Akira Harper was awarded a 2020 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. A STEM Education student, Harper’s selection as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow is a highly significant national accomplishment and places her amongst an elite group of fellows who have gone on to distinguished careers in STEM or STEM education. “This National Science Foundation award means that I have begun to desettle spaces in STEM. When I stay desettle, I mean shifting everyone’s perspective, in the STEM field, on who these awards are traditionally given to,” said Harper. “In my life I grew up with more hardships than blessings, so this award and working with my mentor, Dr. Kayumova, in this graduate program is affording me with the opportunities to affect change for my community for generations to come.” This award provides three years of financial support for Harper to engage in a research project with her advisor, Assistant Professor Shakhnoza Kayumova, PhD (STEM Education & Teacher Development). Harper’s proposal to the NSF was based on her research on science identity development among culturally and linguistically diverse learners. “Using my experiences as my foundation, I hope to gain a powerful and critical voice to enact change within communities that have been marginalized. For instance, I want to better understand how students, who look like me, can enter the spaces of STEM education and excel beyond K-12 and continue during their undergraduate and graduate careers. Our STEM field needs critical scholars to question and challenge what a socially just and equitable education looks like, for students of color, in terms of resources, funds, and opportunities.

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I hope that by researching and trying to understand the perspectives of students of color, while also considering my own, as a black woman who is a first generation doctoral STEM candidate, will allow me to intellectually contribute to the STEM Education field in ways that have not been critically challenged before,” said Harper. Harper’s proposed study will examine the role of engagement, race, and language in science identity through the experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse learners within the context of science learning spaces in Kayumova’s ongoing research project. Harper earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from UMass Dartmouth and was recruited to the STEM Education Ph.D. program by her current advisor

and mentor, Kayumova, two years ago. Additionally, she earned her Master’s of Science Education degree last spring and is coming up on her first year as an NSF Fellow. The NSF fellowship puts Harper amongst the top graduate students nationwide. The Graduate Research Fellowship Program is NSF’s oldest program, dating to the Foundation’s first fully funded year in 1952. Since then, GRFP has supported over 50,000 U.S. citizens, nationals, and permanent residents to pursue advanced degrees in science and engineering. Among its alumni are over 40 Nobel laureates, over 450 members of the National Academy of Sciences, thousands of science and engineering faculty, and many notable individuals in industry, government, and the nonprofit sector.

I want to better understand how students, who look like me, can enter the spaces of STEM education, and excel beyond K-12 and continue during their undergraduate and graduate careers”

College of Arts & Sciences

Exploratory Research Grant Award (R21) NIH Awarded grant to develop antiHIV drugs Xiaofei Jia, PhD Assistant Professor Chemistry and Biochemistry

In the winter of 2020, Assistant Professor Xiaofei Jia (Chemistry and Biochemistry) was awarded a $426,200 grant from the National Institute of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop novel anti-HIV drugs through inhibiting a therapeutically underappreciated target. Jia, a biochemist, and a structural biologist, believes that if successful, such drugs may revitalize powerful immune mechanisms to better combat or even eliminate HIV. Jia’s project titled “High-Throughput Screening for Multifunctional Nef Inhibitors: Targeting HIV through Revitalizing Immune Defense Mechanisms” is based on his prior research in how viruses dominate their host by evading immune attacks as well as co-opting cellular machineries. His lab works on revealing the molecular details of crucial biological events involved in the virus-host interplay, using techniques such as molecular biology, protein biochemistry, X-ray crystallography, and cryo-EM. In the battle between HIV and the immune system, Jia focuses on specific mechanisms using his expertise in structural biology and protein biochemistry. According to Jia, current antiretrovirals control HIV infections but do not cure the disease. That is why his research is focusing on an underdeveloped area in anti-HIV drug discovery: revitalize and harness the power of the immune system to combat and even eliminate HIV.

To Jia, a promising target is the HIV-1 Nef protein is the HIV-1 Nef protein which modulates host immunity to promote disease progression to AIDS. Two of the most significant functions of Nef are surface downregulation of CD4 and surface downregulation of class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC-I). Nef’s action on CD4 ensures proper processing of an important component of the virus, the viral Env protein. Jia and his team propose to identify inhibitors capable of binding

to this multifunctional site on Nef. Their innovative approach ensures the proper formation of the substrate-binding pockets on Nef that involve the targeted multifunctional site. Successful completion of this work will yield dual-functional inhibitors of Nef, which may serve as drug candidates to be further developed into novel, real-world antiretrovirals with unparalleled therapeutic potentials. Jia earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Michigan State University under the guidance of Drs. James Geiger and Babak Borhan, where he studied the wavelength regulation mechanism in color vision. Before joining UMass Dartmouth, he completed his postdoctoral training in Dr. Yong Xiong’s lab in the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University, looking at the mistrafficking of host immune proteins by HIV-1.

Jia’s project is based on his prior research in how viruses dominate their host by evading immune attacks as well as co-opting cellular machineries. His lab works on revealing the molecular details of crucial biological events involved in the virus-host interplay.

2020 Annual Research Report

College of Engineering

Dietary trajectory patterns to clarify our understanding of the relationship between diet and disease Hua (Julia) Fang, PhD Professor Computer & Information Science

Development of pattern analysis tool will help to formulate dietary guidelines and enable more personalized dietary strategies. Dietary patterns constitute one of the largest modifiable risk factors for a range of chronic diseases, and they vary both between and within individuals over time. Understanding human food intake behavior and related health risks will help to prevent and manage many chronic conditions, promote well-being and safety, and improve lifelong healthy habits, according to this study. With a $452,178 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Professor of Computer & Information Science Hua (Julia) Fang, along with co-investigator Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering Honggang Wang and their national collaborators, is researching the development of a Visual-Valid Dietary Behavior Pattern Recognition (VIP) tool. The VIP tool will use harmonized dietary data from comparable local and national trials to identify dietary patterns and clarify our understanding of diet-disease relationships for a range of people over time and across geographic regions.

institutes, including the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Massachusetts Medical School to conduct this nationwide project. The project will harmonize dietary data across four longitudinal NIH randomized controlled trials in Massachusetts and 44 clinic centers across the U.S., spanning up to 35 years. Up to 160,000 subjects in clinical and community health centers across the western, southern, and midwestern regions of the U.S. will be studied.

“These temporal and spatial spectrums are well covered and, if successful, the findings can better facilitate our understanding of the dietary habits of Americans and prevent diet-related diseases,” said Fang. The researchers acknowledge that chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular issues are among the most common, costly, and preventable of all health problems in the U.S., but a healthy diet can reduce the risk of these conditions. The ultimate goal of the study is to create a data management platform that supports near-realtime pattern analyses and adaptive interventions. According to Fang, “Methods are underdeveloped for characterizing longitudinal diet-quality variations and remain rudimentary for validating diet-quality

“Our work will help to grow more valid evidence for formulating dietary guidelines and enable more personalized, adaptive dietary strategies,” said Fang. In this research project, titled VIP: Visual-Valid Dietary Behavior Pattern Recognition for Local-National Trials, UMass Dartmouth serves as the leading research site while Fang and Wang collaborate with national research

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Dr. Hua Fang with in her computational statistics and data science lab with Shaad Mahmud, PhD ’18 and Zhouzhou Li, PhD ’19. Both earned PhD’s in electrical and computer engineering at UMass Dartmouth. Mahmud is now a tenure-track assistant professor at UNH and Li is a tenuretrack assistant professor at Southeast Missouri State University.

patterns that describe these dynamic variations. This leads to unclear evidence for assessing diet-health relationships and formulating dietary guidelines. With genetic studies and our study, precision nutrition would be best achieved.”

Our work will help to grow more valid evidence for formulating dietary

By developing an innovative statistical learning tool, this investigative team will provide a new multi-view of diet-quality trajectory patterns and examine the relationship between patterns and associated chronic disease outcomes from longitudinal studies. According to this study, their work will contribute to the infrastructure for diet-related research, advance pattern-recognition methods, assess dietary health risks, and help scientific communities and the public compare local and national diet-quality guidelines. “We hope to see our future artificial intelligence (AI)-based behavior trajectory pattern recognition system help users better understand their diet quality patterns, variations, and their risks for chronic diseases in order to better manage their diet and health,” said Fang. “Also, doctors could benefit from this system for nutrition precision health implementation in order to better implement personalized and adaptive dietary strategies for a range of people over time and across geographic regions.” Since the grant was awarded last year, the team has generated over 20 harmonized data sets that are under cross-verification across sites. “We are developing harmonization protocols and testing the algorithms for generating the diet quality scores across all included

guidelines and enable more personalized, adaptive dietary strategies”

studies by referencing a vast amount of diet and chronic disease literature which has been developing for a very long time,” Fang said. “A successful completion of this task will lay a solid foundation for our AI and precision nutrition work.” Fang’s interest in this research topic is twofold, she said. “I am eager to test my belief that our current behavior trajectory pattern recognition method can better identify diet quality trajectory patterns and uncover more complex and subtle relationships among patterns and chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. Meanwhile, I would like my team to study the value of more emerging Al algorithms along with our method. “I hope to see more people—general users and doctors—benefit from this system by understanding their diet quality patterns, variations, and their risks for chronic diseases, and then better manage their diet and health conditions,” Fang added.

2020 Annual Research Report

Center for Scientific Computing & Visualization Research

Faculty Accomplishments Elevate Prestige CSCVR incorporates faculty researchers from across campus and academic disciplines, focuses on computationally-driven research that addresses the pressing needs of modern engineering, mechanics, fluid dynamics, and electromagnetics.

The Center for Scientific Computing and Visualization Research (CSCVR) is co-directed by Professor Sigal Gottlieb (Mathematics) and Professor Gaurav Khanna (Physics), the Center investigates modern research problems. There are currently more than 35 participating faculty members that represent the Departments of Physics, Mathematics, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer and Information Science, Fisheries Oceanography, and more. The Center currently supports 38 students enrolled in the Engineering and Applied Science Ph.D. program. The combination of world-class faculty and computational resources makes the Center a vibrant and productive environment for collaborative research efforts. In 2020, the Center continued to evolve its mission and enhance its reputation through the work of its world-class faculty and their research, accomplishments, and dedication to teaching. Assistant Professor Arghavan Louhghalam (Civil & Environmental Engineering) won the first-ever Excellence in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Award from the UMass Dartmouth College of Engineering. The selection committee noted Louhghalam’s initiative to design and participate in workshops to increase participation of junior high and high school girls in civil and structural engineering, her involvement in the society of women engineers, and leadership in an effort funded by the National Science Foundation to support panels and workshops on approaches to increase

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diversity and inclusion in the field of engineering mechanics. Associate Professor Alfa Heryudono (Mathematics) and Associate Professor Mehdi Raessi (Mechanical Engineering) received a $200,000 award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for their three-year project “PUMAVOF: Partition of Unity Multivariate Approximation for the Volume of Fluid Method.” Heryudono, who is the PI, aims to understand the process behind the wetting and spreading phenomena of a droplet landing on a complex shape surface through numerical simulations has risen dramatically since the start of the era of scientific computing and high-speed/definition video camera. The most common application is in understanding the process of administering an eye drop on top of the tear film on the human cornea.

Heryudono_Raessi - Graduate student David Markt Jr. (Mechanical Engineering) and his advisor Associate Professor Mehdi Raessi (Mechanical Engineering) won the Milton van Dyke Award at the 2020 American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting for their Gallery of Fluid Motion video. Their work, focused on the splashing of fuel drops, was also featured in Physics magazine. Black holes are perhaps the most mysterious astrophysical objects in the universe. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Professor Gaurav Khanna (Physics) a $75,393 grant

for his project “Studies of Black Hole Binary Systems Using Time-Domain Perturbation Theory”. This newly funded NSF project continues the development of the model that Khanna has been building for well over a decade on gravitational waves. Gravitational waves, predicted by Albert Einstein’s general relativity theory 100 years ago, are “ripples” in the fabric of space-time that travel at the speed of light. LIGO made the first-ever direct detection of a gravitational wave signal from a binary system of two, near 30-solar-mass black holes located over a billion light-years away. In 2016, gravitational waves became directly observable due to the enormous investment in hardware, theory, and data analysis methods, into the National Science Foundation’s LIGO laboratory. The founders of LIGO were awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics. Since then, several other detections have been made, more detectors have become operational, and the future space-borne observatory plans may be accelerated. The strongest sources of this radiation are the mergers of highly massive and compact astrophysical objects, such as black holes and neutron stars. Khanna’s research makes use of Einstein’s general relativity theory to estimate properties of the gravitational waves produced by one of their strongest sources — the collision and merger of two black holes. “This is very important to the success of the above-mentioned observatories because theory-based, waveform templates are required to develop a matched-filter for successful detection of these waves,” says Khanna. A National Science Foundation (NSF) grant that will prepare students

for the nation’s high-quality STEM workforce was awarded to Associate Professor Yanlai Chen (Mathematics) and colleagues from the Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Engineering. The $650,000 grant will provide awards averaging $5,000 to 80 promising low-income students while ensuring computer-aided problem-solving in authentic settings is taught in core STEM courses. The S-STEM scholars will be selected from the departments of biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, and physics. The grant, Implementation of a Contextualized Computing Pedagogy in STEM Core Courses and its Impact on Undergraduate Student Academic Success, Retention, and Graduation, is also known as the ACCOMPLISH grant. In addition to financial assistance, the grant aims to provide multi-faceted and near-peer mentoring, social support, and a contextualized computing-centered education framework for eligible STEM students to prepare them to compete successfully in graduate school and careers in high-demand fields. “The grant will provide financial scholarships directly to qualified students who have an unmet need following the regular aid provided by UMass Dartmouth,” said Chen. “This gap is currently close to $5,000; the grant can assist 80 students over five years.

Oak Ridge National Lab’s Summit supercomputer is the fastest in America and Professor Sigal Gottlieb (Mathematics) and Professor Gaurav Khanna (Physics) had a chance to test its power. The system, built by IBM, can perform 200 quadrillion calculations in one second. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Summit supercomputer consists of 9,216 POWER9 processors, 27,648 Nvidia Tesla graphics processing units, and consumes 13 MW of power. Gottlieb and Khanna, alongside their colleague Zachary Grant of Oak Ridge National Lab, were awarded 880,000 core-hours of supercomputing time on Summit. They received the maximum awarded Directors’ Discretionary allocation which is equivalent to $132,200 of funding according to the Department of Energy. Their research project titled “Mixed-Precision WENO Method for Hyperbolic PDE Solutions” involves implementing and evaluating different computational methods for black hole simulations. Photo: Supercomputer-850x680 Assistant Professor Alireza Asadpoure (Civil & Environmental Engineering) was the PI on a National Institutes of Health $58,447 grant award. Asadpoure will develop a data-driven Quantitative Systems Pharmacology software for personalized cancer treatment.

2020 Annual Research Report

School for Marine Science & Technology

local offshore wind industry Faculty research supporting growing local wind industry while preserving fishing industry

The waters off of Massachusetts have the greatest offshore wind potential in the Contiguous United States, with the potential to meet existing electricity demand 20 times over, and meet our predicted 2050 needs with full electrification of the utility sector 8 times over.*

a part, is a major focus of the university’s regional economic development efforts. Offshore wind is a mature industry in Europe, but it is just beginning to take off in the United States. As a result, many of the information needs regarding the unique environmental conditions are just starting to be understood. For example, in the U.S., there is a limited amount of offshore meteorological and oceanographic data to reduce the uncertainty associated with wind resources and operating conditions.

UMass Dartmouth’s proximity to several industrial ports capable of supporting the offshore wind industry and faculty researchers at the University are ideally situated to observe and engage with the development of this emerging industry. UMass Dartmouth’s legacy of excellence

in marine science and technology fields, including at its School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST), its College of Engineering, and other programs across campus, are well-suited to meet this opportunity head-on. The blue economy, of which offshore wind is

*environmentmassachusetts.org/feature/ame/offshore-wind-america

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Large-scale data collecresearch topics related tion and modeling to the development studies are required of new fishing gear, to cover all lease areas which could make it off the eastern coast easier to fish around of the country. Built offshore wind turbines on the Northeast and minimize interacCoastal Ocean Forecast tions with associated System (NECOFS), equipment and other the Marine Ecosystem marine species. Dynamics Modeling Laboratory (MEDML) SMAST to help guide regional Yet another unknown at UMassD developed offshore wind growth in the offshore wind a refined grid ocean equation is the seabed model covering Nantucket Shoals that the machinery is fastened to, (NS), Nantucket Sound, Buzzards Bay, which is unique from place to place. Narragansett Bay, Block Island, and Long The long-lasting 1980’s ban on offshore Island Sound (named NS-FVCOM). This drilling for oil and gas in many parts of model was produced for the Bureau of the Atlantic means there is a dearth of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) seabed data needed to properly secure and is now being used by the U.S. turbines to the seafloor, regardless Coast Guard. The Bureau of Safety and of whether a fixed foundation or Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has floating turbine. Marine geotechnical also contracted with MEDML to conduct engineering laboratory researchers modeling experiments to assess the have worked with the offshore wind possible impacts of future offshore wind developer Ørsted to study problematic energy facilities on small-scale coastal offshore soils, compliant geo-systems, and regional physical environmental anchoring systems for floating offshore processes. The evaluations help uncover renewable energy systems, and deep potential changes in ocean circulation foundations for offshore wind turbines. patterns throughout the water column Erosion over offshore wind cables and as well as influences on biological around foundations is another area ripe processes. for research. Another major unknown is the impact of offshore wind on the fishing industry. Unfortunately, baseline studies on the abundance of various marine life populations were never undertaken when offshore wind was first taking off in Europe and the United Kingdom, so there is a lack of data. SMAST faculty, who specialize in fisheries oceanography, are making sure this won’t be the case in the U.S.. The SMAST Fisheries Field Research Group studies the population dynamics of marine fish and invertebrates, including their spatial distribution, abundance, life-history parameters, and habitat. Offshore wind developer Vineyard Wind, BOEM, and the Massachusetts Lobsterman’s Association, among others, have engaged with SMAST to conduct baseline studies of the fish populations in and around the offshore wind lease areas to determine impacts of offshore wind farm construction. To date, this funding has supported over $4 million in research activity. SMAST faculty also

While much of the technology behind wind energy generation is well-developed, there are still ways to optimize current technologies and help develop new floating platform technologies. At the Laboratory for Fluid-Structure Interactions studies (FSI Lab) at UMass Dartmouth, researchers use both experimental and computational techniques in fluid and solid mechanics to study the interactions between fluid flow and offshore structures. Their projects have a wide range of applications, from dynamic stability and fluid-structure interactions analysis of offshore wind turbines to the development of bio-inspired ocean sensors. Research on offshore wind-related topics is not limited to just the physical sciences. Researchers at UMass Dartmouth have investigated an array of offshore wind policy and economic issues, such as the workforce needs of the emerging offshore wind industry, regional economic impacts, and federal rulemaking regarding offshore wind area leasing,

in partnership with businesses and organizations such as the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Vineyard Wind, and the U.S. Department of the Interior, respectively. In all cases, researchers aim to provide actionable policy guidance on how to maximize the public benefit of this emerging industry and the linkages between humans and coastal ecosystems for rapidly evolving issues of sustainable marine resource use. Looking forward, the University expects an increased interest in research related to marine technology peripherals for operations support. During the operations phase of an offshore wind farm, much of the monitoring, whether environmental, operational, or performance-based, will be carried out autonomously. For example, technologies such as surface gliders and underwater autonomous vehicles could be used to monitor the condition of the offshore wind farm, including its foundations and undersea cables. UMass Dartmouth professors are actively working to develop or improve a range of underwater technologies through the Marine and UnderSea Technology (MUST) Research Program. Research areas include such topics as solutions to biofouling, advanced materials, underwater unmanned communications, sensors, autonomy, and robotics. UMass Dartmouth is currently positioned to impact numerous facets of the offshore wind industry, especially given the University’s proximity to northeastern launching areas. Whether it is the development of autonomous monitoring apparatuses, innovative policy recommendations, or studying the effects on marine life, UMass Dartmouth faculty are ready to support and propel this growing economic sector.

2020 Annual Research Report

UMassD faculty earn prestigious fellowships in 2020 As the University’s academic offerings continue to grow in reputation and quality, one driving force behind this growth is the achievements of faculty. In 2020, six faculty received prestigious research fellowships.

Mark Altabet, PhD Professor, Estuarine & Ocean Sciences American Geophysical Union Fellow The American Geophysical Union (AGU) announced Professor of Estuarine & Ocean Sciences Mark Altabet, who also chairs the Estuarine & Ocean Sciences Department, was selected as a 2020 AGU Fellow. Altabet was selected due to his exceptional career in the field of marine biochemistry where his innovation, dedication, and contributions have advanced the geosciences. The AGU has selected less than 0.1% of members as Fellows and Altabet is just the second AGU Fellow within the UMass System. “I am grateful for the opportunities afforded me to participate in the creation of knowledge of the biogeochemical systems upon which the habitability of the Earth depends. I am honored by the recognition by colleagues from around the world of my contributions to this effort,” said Altabet. The award was for the sum of Altabet’s accomplishments over his research career. Altabet is internationally known for his research in marine

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biogeochemistry, using stable isotope techniques to study nitrogen cycling in our oceans. Since joining UMass Dartmouth, he has authored or coauthored 103 publications. Altabet’s research contributions include the first formulation of the primary framework for interpreting largescale variations in oceanic N isotope composition, present, and past and the demonstration that the N isotope ratio of sinking particles (and thus the signal reaching the sediment) reflects the new sources of nitrogen to the euphotic zone, thus paving the way for paleo-reconstruction of the oceanic nitrogen cycle. Many of the methods created by Altabet are now widely used for practical natural abundance N isotopic analysis. Rose Mary Botti-Salitsky, PhD Associate Professor, Art & Design American Society of Interior Designers Fellow Associate Professor Rose Mary Botti-Salitsky was named a Fellow by the American Society of Interior Designers. Botti-Salitsky has worked as an academic, design professional,

author, and advocate in the Interior Architecture + Design field for more than 30 years. She was at the forefront of the effort to recognize interior design as a profession in Massachusetts and across the country. She was the lead author of House Bill 4303, enacted by Governor Deval Patrick in 2014, recognizing the profession of interior designers to bid on state contracts. She has served as president of the Massachusetts Interior Design Coalition (MIDC) from 2005-2010, its Director of Legislative Affairs from 2011-2015, and currently the Director of Government Affairs ASID New England. Botti-Salitsky was Department Chair for the Interior Architecture + Design programs at Mount Ida College from 1991 to 2018. After the College’s abrupt closure in 2018, she worked to relocate the students and faculty to UMass Dartmouth, launching the only CIDA and NASAD accredited public program in New England. Botti-Salitsky published a textbook, Programming & Research: Skills and Techniques for Interior Design in 2009, and the second edition was released in 2017. The textbook is recommended reading to prepare for the National Council for Interior Design Qualifications (NCIDQ) certification exam and an integral part of Interior Architecture + Design undergraduate and graduate education

has resulted in many peer-reviewed publications in reputed journals. His most prominent work relates to damage sensing in carbon nanotubes embedded polymers and composites under various mechanical loads,” said the American Society of Mechanical Engineering in their announcement. Sigal Gottlieb, PhD Professor, Mathematics Association of Women in Mathematics Fellow

curriculums. Botti-Salitsky is contributing author of Infection and Disease Control Through Environmental Design to be released in spring 2022 to address issues with the built environment during the COVID global pandemic. She has spent her career expanding opportunities to underrepresented individuals by promoting an affordable and accessible education that will contribute to expanding diversity in the design profession. Vijaya Chalivendra, PhD Professor, Mechanical Engineering American Society for Mechanical Engineers Fellow Professor Vijaya Chalivendra (Mechanical Engineering) was named an American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) Fellow for his significant achievements and distinctive contributions to the world of engineering over the last decade and a half. “I am truly honored to be elected for Fellow of American Society for Mechanical Engineers,” says Chalivendra who joined UMass Dartmouth in

2005 as a professor at the College of Engineering. “I enjoy and take great pride in advising undergraduate students for research and publishing with them. This recognition indeed motivates me to keep going with my mission of exposing research on mechanics of novel materials to as many undergraduate students as possible,” says Chalivendra. Founded in 1880, ASME serves a wide-ranging engineering community through quality learning, certifications, research, conferences and publications, government relations, and other forms of outreach. ASME’s membership includes 100,000 diverse individuals in more than 140 countries and promotes collaboration; knowledge sharing, career enrichment, and skills development across all engineering disciplines, toward a goal of helping the global engineering community develop solutions to benefit lives and livelihoods, according to its website. “Dr. Chalivendra is an outstanding experimentalist who has established a reputed research program at the UMass Dartmouth. He takes a lot of pride in mentoring and training undergraduate students in his research laboratory. More than three dozen undergraduate students have worked under his direction on research projects and have published numerous peer-reviewed journal publications with him. Chalivendra’s research has been sponsored by the NSF, DOD, and other agencies and

Professor Sigal Gottlieb (Mathematics), founding Director of the Center for Scientific Computing and Visualization Research (CSCVR), was chosen as a Fellow by the Association for Women in Mathematics. “The AWM fellow status, and especially the citation, is deeply meaningful to me because it recognizes my efforts in promoting the success of colleagues in the mathematical and computational sciences,” said Gottlieb. “My dedication to fostering a positive research environment at UMass Dartmouth led to the creation of the Center for Scientific Computing and Visualization Research. The CSCVR supports over 30 faculty and their students who use and/or develop computational tools in their research. Through the CSCVR, I can engage in proactive outreach and mentoring of colleagues at UMassD and in other universities.” “I am very happy to announce the 2021 list of new AWM fellows. We recognize these individuals for their exceptional dedication to increasing the success and visibility of women in mathematics,” said Ruth Haas, President of the Association for Women in Mathematics. Gottlieb was chosen for this prestigious fellowship for her exemplary and lasting

2020 Annual Research Report

faculty continued work in forging an active and positive research environment, proactive outreach, effective mentoring, and promoting the success of women in mathematical and computational sciences.

and cognitive impairment, in decision making and in using those findings to develop interventions to improve self-care behaviors and timely treatment seeking in heart failure patients.

The Center for Scientific Computing and Visualization Research at UMass Dartmouth focuses on computationally-driven research that addresses the pressing needs of modern engineering, mechanics, fluid dynamics, and electromagnetics.

Past projects focused on the development of a reflective intervention

Established in 2012, the CSCVR aims to promote and conduct high-level interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research in scientific computing and to mentor students — undergraduate and graduate — with interests in scientific computing in a supportive, broad, and deep interdisciplinary research environment. Kristen Sethares, PhD Professor, Adult Nursing Heart Failure Society of America Fellow The Heart Failure Society of America selected Professor Kristen Sethares (Nursing) as a Fellow for her work in the field. Sethares is a Professor of Nursing and has taught at UMassD since January of 1997. Prior to that, she worked in several settings including home care and as a traveling nurse, primarily with the cardiac population. Her current research focuses on heart failure patients, a group with high mortality rates and disabling symptoms. Her program of research focuses on understanding the role of symptoms and other factors, including uncertainty, health literacy

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Honggang Wang, PhD Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Fellow The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) selected Professor Honggang Wang (Electrical & Computer Engineering) as an IEEE Fellow. Wang was chosen for his contributions to low power wireless for IoT and multimedia applications. Wang is a pioneer researcher in the field of Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN) and WBAN-related Internet of Things (IoT) m-Health applications. He developed an energy efficient and secure WBAN platform to support IoT mobile health applications that made a substantial impact in the field and greatly improved the lives of users. Wang accomplished this by developing an innovative new approach to employ resource diversity to support multimedia stream over low power wireless, which significantly reduces the latency of video delivery and achieve desirable network and energy efficiency. His work provides important operation guidelines for low power multimedia networked system design and deployment.

The IEEE is the world’s leading professional association for advancing technology for humanity. Through its 400,000 plus members in 160 countries, the association is a leading authority on a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics. Becoming an IEEE Fellow is recognized by the technical community as a prestigious honor and an important career achievement. Wang received the “Scholar of The Year” award in 2016 from UMass Dartmouth and has published more than 200 research papers. He has been serving as the Editor in Chief (EiC) for IEEE Internet of Things Journal since 2020. He is also named as an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer,

Message from the Office of Research Administration

While 2020 brought many challenges to us all, the Office of Research Administration (ORA) continued to provide dedicated, high-quality support to the UMass Dartmouth research enterprise. I was delighted to join UMass Dartmouth as Director of the Office of Research Administration in April 2020, and deeply appreciate the support received while onboarding remotely. The ORA team continued to provide quality full-service pre-award and post-award support to the UMass Dartmouth research community. As you will see in the pages ahead, the pre-award team of Michelle Plaud and Deborah Dolan processed a 14% increase in the number of proposal submissions to various federal, state, and other sponsors. During 2020, one of our post-award grant managers Paulette Deakin retired, and Rebecca Harrison provided seamless coverage of a funding portfolio that saw a 27% increase in awarded dollars. We are excited to welcome our new post-award grant manager Josette Cormier, who is in the process of being onboarded at the time of this publication. Grant accountants Nancy Correia and Sandra Rosa continue to manage all aspects of the important billing processes for grants and sponsored funding awards. During 2020, our financial systems and reporting manager Catherine Palmer was instrumental to the UMass system-wide implementation of the Employee Compensation Compliance system for effort reporting and certification. I am pleased to report that we again received 100% compliance with Principal Investigator certification of effort again this year. ORA looks forward to continuing to provide quality, customerfocused service to the UMass Dartmouth research community. I thank you for your continued partnership in support of the growing UMass Dartmouth research enterprise. Megan Hennessey-Greene, CRA Director, Office of Research of Administration

2020 Annual Research Report

Metrics

FY2016 - FY2020 Proposals Submitted and Percentage Awarded 250

60%

222

52%

214

214 48%

200

50%

198 45%

179 38%

39%

40%

150

30%

100 20%

50 10%

FY2016

FY2017

FY2018

Non Federal Department of Defense Other Federal Sources National Science Foundation Department of Health and Human Services

UMassDartmouth

FY2020

FY2021

Department of Commerce (NOAA) National Aero and Space Administration % Awarded Grand Total

29%

30%

Metrics

Funding Requested v. Awarded FY2016 - FY2020 (000’s) 25% 80,000

70,000

35%

20%

30% 29%

60,000

22%

30%

25%

25% 22%

50,000

20% 20%

40,000 15% 30,000

10% 20,000

10,000

2016

FY 2016

FY 2017

Requested $

FY 2018 Awarded $

% Awarded

FY 2019

% Awarded

FY 2019

FY 2020

2020 Annual Research Report

FY 2020

Metrics

New Awards FY2016 - FY2020 (000’s)

$25,000

$20,491 $20,000

$16,008 $15,000

$14,995

$14,908 $12,149

$10,000

$5,000

$–

FY2016

FY2017

FY2018

Non Federal Department of Education National Science Foundation Department of Health and Human Services

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FY2019

FY2020

Department of Commerce (NOAA) Other Federal Sources Department of Defense Grand Total

Metrics

Active Awards 5-Year Trend FY2016 - FY2020 (000’s)

70,000 70,000

54,670 54,670

61,458 61,458

60,000 60,000 50,000 50,000

300 300 60,143 60,143

59,122 59,122

250 250

47,025 47,025 200 200

40,000 40,000 272 272

30,000 30,000

280 280

150 150 268 268

255 255

215 215

100 100

20,000 20,000 5050

10,000 10,000

- -

2016 FYFY2016

FY2017 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY # AWARDS FY 2018 DOLLARS (000's)FY 2019 # AWARDS DOLLARS (000's)

FYFY2020 2020

2020 Annual Research Report

Metrics

Sponsored Research Expenditures FY2016 - FY2020 (000’s)

$13,942

$14,000 $12,920

$13,316

$13,391

FY 2018F FY2018

Y 2019 FY2019

$13,024

$12,000

$10,000

$8,000

$6,000

$4,000

$2,000

FY 2016F FY2016

Y 2017 FY2017

Non Federal Department of Education National Science Foundation Department of Health and Human Services

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FY 2020 FY2020

Department of Commerce (NOAA) Other Federal Sources Department of Defense Grand Total

Metrics

Top 10 Grant Award Recipients in FY 2020 Name

Sponsor

Amount

Ramprasad Balasubramanian

OFFICE OF NAVAL RESEARCH

$4,546,764

Chandra H Orrill

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

$2,116,315

Kevin D.E. Stokesbury

MA DIVISION OF MARINE FISHERIES

$350,000

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

$329,584

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

$304,191

MASSACHUSETTS CLEAN ENERGY CENTER

$278,592

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

$229,178

CLEARWATER SEAFOODS

$194,811

CLEARWATER SEAFOODS

$162,329

CLEARWATER SEAFOODS

$139,844

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

$125,012 Grant Total $2,113,154

Hua Fang

DEPT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

$452,178

Xiaofei Jia

DEPT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

$426,200

Walaa S. Mogawer

OHIO UNIVERSITY

$16,050

MA DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION

$200,632

MA DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION

$200,497 Grant Total $417,179

Brian L. Howes

TOWN OF BARNSTABLE

$184,221

THREE BAYS PRESERVATION

$61,500

AMT BIOPRODUCTS CORP.

$40,655

CDM SMITH

$36,360

TOWN OF MASHPEE

$14,450 Grant Total $337,186

David Robert Manke

CAAMTECH, LLC

$296,993

Wendell S. Brown

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

$280,342

Mehdi Raessi

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

$244,012

Grand Total:

For a complete list of awards please visit:

$11,230,323

umassd.edu/research 2020 Annual Research Report

Metrics

Award Amounts FYs 2018, 2019, 2020 20,490

25000000

16,013 12,642 20000000

15000000

Sum Amount Year

Total

10000000

2018

$12,642,110

2019

$16,012,706

2020

$20,490,214

Grand Total

$49,145,030

5000000

2018

2019

2020

Number of Awards FYs 2018, 2019, 2020 143

160

145

140

132

120 100 80 60 40 20 0 2018

2019 2020

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Year

Award Count

2018

143

2019

145

2020

132

Metrics Metrics

Federal Awards by Agency FY 2020

Department of Defense 2%

National Aero & Space Administration 1%

Department of Transportation 5%

Other 1% Office of Naval Fresearch 35%

Department of Education 7% Department of Health & Human Services 9%

Department of Commerce (NOAA) 14%

Natioal Science Foundation 26%

Agency Name Office of Naval Research

Amount

$5,442,224

35%

National Science Foundation

$4,068,605

26%

Department of Commerce (NOAA)

$2,199,073

14%

Department of Health & Human Services

$1,338,349

Department of Education

$1,015,193

Department of Transportation

$742,923

Department of Defense

$237,337

National Aero & Space Administration

$155,590

Other

$174,222

Grand Total

$15,373,517

100%

2020 Annual Research Report

Metrics

Awards by Purpose Awards by Purpose $20,000,000 18,243,616

$18,000,000 $16,000,000

10,521,761

11,216,620

$14,000,000 $12,000,000 $10,000,000 $8,000,000 $6,000,000

932,375

$4,000,000

3,872,911

1,187,974

923,175

1,022,102

$2,000,000

1,224,496

Research

2020

2018

Research Instruction/Training

2019

$1,187,9744

Research

$11,216,620

Other Sponsored Activities

UMassDartmouth

$932,375

Other Sponsored Activities

Instruction/Training

2020

$10,521,761

Research

$923,175 $3,872,911 $18,243,616

Instruction/Training

$1,022,102

Other Sponsored Activities

$1,224,496

Other Sponsored Activities

2019

Instruction/Training

2018

Other Sponsored Activities

Instruction/Training

Research

Other Sponsored Activities

Instruction/Training

Research

Metrics Metrics

Awards by Unit & Department FY 2020

UMass School of Law at Dartmouth 1%

Academic Affairs 4%

School for Marine Science & Technology 37%

College of Arts & Sciences 27%

Office of the Provost 1% Office of the Chancellor 2% College of Engineering 27%

College of Nusing & Health Sciences 1%

Unit Name

Amount

Awards

Academic Affairs

$880,552

College of Arts & Sciences

$4,522,661

College of Engineering

$3,544,681

College of Nursing & Health Sciences

$474,411

Office of the Chancellor

$207,054

Office of the Provost

$4,576,764

School for Marine Science & Technology

$6,184,090

UMass School of Law Dartmouth Grand Total

$100,0,0 $20,490,214

1 132

2020 Annual Research Report

Metrics

Awards by Units FYs 2018, 2019, 2020

$8,000,000

$7,000,000

$6,000,000

$5,000,000

$4,000,000

$3,000,000

$2,000,000

$1,000,000

Academic Affairs

Division of Student Affairs

College of Arts and Sciences

College of Engineering

College of Nursing & Health Sciences

FY18

$438,379

$3,013,760

$4,066,609

$461,756

FY19 FY20

$874,415

$276,660

$2,905,548

$2,631,518

$648,460

$880,552

$4,522,661

$3,544,681

$474,411

UMassDartmouth

Metrics Metrics

Office of the Chancellor

Office of the Provost

UMass School of Law at Dartmouth

School for Marine Science and Technology $4,647,106

$14,500 $855,243

$7,820,862

$207,054

$4,576,764

$6,184,090

$100,000

2020 Annual Research Report

Metrics

Proposals by College FY 2020

Office of the Chancellor 1% Office of the Provost 7%

Academic Afairs 1% Other 0%

School for Marine Science & Technology 18% College of Engineering 51%

College of Arts & Sciences 22%

Unit Name

Award

Amount

Academic Affairs

$880,552

College of Arts & Sciences

$4,522,661

22%

College of Engineering

$36,496,858

17%

College of Nursing & Health Sciences

$474,411

Office of the Chancellor

$207,054

Office of the Provost

$4,576,764

22%

School for Marine Science & Technology

$6,184,090

30%

UMass School of Law at Dartmouth

Grand Total

132

UMassDartmouth

$100,000 $70,822,062

0% 100%

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Proposals: Federal vs Non-Federal Agencies FY 2020

Non-Federal 15%

Federal 85%

Type

Proposals

Requested

Federal

131

$59,874,544

Non-Federal

$10,947,518

Grand Total

222

$70,822,062

2020 Annual Research Report

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Office of Undergraduate Research Fall 2019 grant awards

Devin Cannistraro, Computer & Information Science, Supervisor: Professor Iren Valova Title: “Improving the Learning Accuracy of Convolutional Neural Networks” Addi Catarina, Art Education, Art History & Media Studies, Supervisor: Professor Elena Peteva Title: “Objects of Grief” Dylan DeFlorio, Computer & Information Science, Supervisor: Professor Iren Valova Title: “Stochastic Based Optimization of Convolutional Neural Networks for Calcareous Sediments Classification” Gabrielle DeLeon, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Supervisor: Professor Maolin Guo Title: “Site-Directed Mutagenesis of a tRNA synthetase” Zachary Gemelli, Psychology, Supervisor: Doctor Heloisa Alves Title: “The effects of mindfulness on recognition memory: An Event-Related Potential (ERP) Study” Grayson Kelly, Computer & Information Science, Supervisor: Professor Iren Valova Title: “Evaluation of pattern identification properties of self-organizing maps” Sofia Nguyen, Biology, Supervisor: Professor Whitney Hable Title: “The effect of ongoing ocean acidification on polarization and early development in brown algae” Tracie Nguyen, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Supervisor: Professor Catherine Neto Title: “The effects of nonpolar phytochemicals from Vaccinium macrocarpon on bacterial growth” Sean O’Leary, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Supervisor: Professor Maolin Guo Title: “Mutagenesis of a Trp tRNA synthetase” Kaylie Owen, Animation/Game Arts, Supervisor: Shawn Towne Title: “Board Game Development” Samantha Snell, Biology, Supervisor: Tara Rajaniemi Title: “Allelopathic effects of Artemisia campestris on colonizing species Dactylis glomerate” Noah Tavares, Photography, Supervisor: Matthew Clowney Title: “Forester: An American Survey”

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Office of Undergraduate Research Winter 2019 grant awards Office of Undergraduate Research’s winners of the 2019 Winter grants. Aleksey Bourgoun, Mechanical Engineering, Supervisor: Professor Hangjian Ling Title: “An experimental study of the life-time of underwater super-hydrophobic surfaces” Stefan Bruendl, Computer & Information Science, Supervisor: Professor Hua Fang Title: “Researching 60 GHz communication with USRP machines” Sophia Costa, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Supervisor: Professor Shuowei Cai Title: “Towards understanding the neuronal protective effects of strawberries” Selines Diaz, Nursing, Supervisor: Professor Kathleen Elliott Title: “What are the benefits and barriers of seeking treatment for pregnant women with an addiction to drugs and the role of the healthcare support in this process.” Sarah Dulac, Mechanical Engineering, Supervisor: Professor Banafsheh Seyed-Aghazadeh Title: “Harbor seal vibrissa morphology inspires studying footprints left behind moving hydrodynamic objects for future development of underwater sensors” Benjamin Guan-Kennedy, Animation & Game Arts, Supervisor: Professor Shawne Towne Title: “Of two worlds: the cross-cultural experience of immigrant artists” Jonathan Lake, Bioengineering, Supervisor: Professor Milana Vasudev Title: “Electrical stimulation of neural progenitor cells on peptide nanotubes” Matthew Machado, Nursing, Supervisor: Professor Jennifer Viverios Title: “Reasons offered by heart failure patients for non-adherence with prescribed medication” Alana McGraw, Biology, Supervisor: Professor Mark Silby Title: “Exploring interspecies social spreading: analyzing the behavior of P. fluorescens and Pedobacter sp. V48 cocultured on plant roots” Grant Mooney, Political Science, Supervisor: Professor Robert Darst Title: “American Nightmare: Examining American Dystopias” Joshua Nickandros, Nursing, Supervisor: Professor Maryellen Brisbois Title: “Supportive therapy targeting depression and emotional distress in cancer patients” Nicholas Olson, Biology, Supervisor: Professor Kathryn Kavanagh Title: “Developmental mechanisms in the evolution of vertebral number” Maxwell Shangraw, Mechanical Engineering, Supervisor: Professor Hangjian Ling Title: “Study of the anti-biofouling properties of super-hydrophobic surfaces” Jennifer Woehl, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Supervisor: Professor Patrick Cappillino Title: “Bio-inspired, high-stability, non-aqueous redox flow battery active material”

2020 Annual Research Report

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UMass Dartmouth Internal Grant Awards FY 2020

FY 2020 Graduate Research Fellowships

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