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Posted: December 19, 2007

Science Foundation Arizona boosts ASU research
(Nanowerk News) Capping its inaugural year of funding several research initiatives, Science Foundation Arizona (SFAz) has been a major catalyst in enhancing ASU’s research portfolio. This statewide public-private partnership, made possible by an appropriation from the governor and Arizona Legislature, awarded more than $8 million to ASU research awards in 2007.
“The state Legislature has demonstrated economic vision by providing the resources to jump-start several high-merit, high-impact research programs that will benefit our region,” says Rick Shangraw, ASU’s vice president of research and economic affairs.
The investments by SFAz include:
  • Nearly $1.1 million in small-business catalytic awards to help Arizona-based research programs further develop existing research to the point of technology commercialization.
  • $1.75 million in competitive advantage awards to seed fund research with the greatest potential to secure significant federal grants.
  • $525,000 for a K-12 discovery program to create a world-class teacher work force for Arizona schools.
  • $1.85 million to support 37 ASU graduate student research fellowships.
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    In addition, SFAz’s Strategic Research Group program (SRG) granted nearly $3 million to four outstanding ASU research collaborations. The SRG program is designed to help build a world-class science, engineering and medical research infrastructure in Arizona by investing in highly innovative research programs.
    “In its first SRG effort, SFAz will foster, grow and cement research partnerships with significant industry leaders in the state, such as Honeywell, BP, Motorola and Intel,” says William Harris, SFAz’s president and chief executive officer. “These collaborations further anchor these industries to the state.”
    ASU scientists from the Biodesign Institute, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering will initiate several of the projects, which include matching funds from industry partners.
    The research projects touch upon three areas of strategic importance to Arizona: sustainability, information and communications technologies, and biosciences. A requirement of the program was that the industrial partners endorse the projects with a one-to-one match.
    “These are true partnerships, sharing talent and resources in a way that will ultimately benefit Arizonans economically, and also through the outcomes achieved in these collaborative programs,” Harris says.
    Adds Shangraw: “The significant investment that SFAz and several industry partners have made will bring together world-class scientific talent to tackle some of the major sustainability challenges that face our society.”
    The research collaborations are wide-ranging and have the potential to have enormous implications for the people of Arizona in the areas of biomedicine, communications technologies and renewable energy. The ASU projects are:
  • A two-year, $2.2 million grant to establish a research collaboration with British Petroleum (BP). The team will grow and harvest photosynthetic bacteria to create a renewable energy source. The project is led by Bruce Rittmann, director of the Center for Environmental Biotechnology at ASU’s Biodesign Institute, and a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering; and Wim Vermaas, a professor in ASU’s School of Life Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
  • A one-year “Discovery Award” grant of $500,000. This funding solidifies collaborations between ASU, the University of Arizona and several other highly experienced industry partners to establish a center for research and development to develop innovative semiconductor nanostructures for photovoltaic devices used in the generation of electricity. The project is led by Yong Hang Zhang, a professor in the Fulton School of Engineering’s Department of Electrical Engineering.
  • A planning grant of $50,000 for research to demonstrate controlled-environment production of biopharmaceuticals. The project is led by Chieri Kubota of the University of Arizona, and Guy Cardineau of ASU’s Biodesign Institute and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
  • A planning grant of $50,000 to strengthen existing partnerships with ASU and Motorola, with a goal of establishing a federally funded Photonics Research Center. The project is led by Cun-Zheng Ning of the Fulton School of Engineering’s Department of Electrical Engineering.
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    “At ASU, we have made a conscious effort to integrate the various SFAz award programs,” says Neal Woodbury, director of the Biodesign Institute’s Center for BioOptical Nanotechnology, who is coordinator of the BP biofuel collaboration and the lead scientist on an additional SFAz competitive advantage award. “You need three things to have a real impact on the Arizona economy: a good scientific program aimed at solving a real world problem; early stage industry involvement in the research project; and training the work force, particularly at the Ph.D. level, to take technologies into the commercial sector.”
    The rigorous review process for proposals to the SRG program, as in the other SFAz grant programs, was patterned after reviews conducted by federal agencies. Experts in the areas of each proposal conducted mail reviews, followed by the research partners presenting before a full panel of experts in the three strategic areas. The four ASU exceptional proposals were selected from 28 submissions.
    Additional information on all of SFAz’s programs can be found at the Web site www.sfaz.org.
    Source: Arizona State University