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Infrastructure Improvement 2004 - 2007, $9 million

In 2004, Nebraska EPSCoR received a three-year Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) grant from the National Science Foundation to continue development of research and education infrastructure. Dr. F. Fred Choobineh, P.E., Director of Nebraska EPSCoR was the Project Director. The grant (#0346476) included cooperation and collaboration among Nebraska's four major research universities: Creighton (CU); the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL); the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC); and the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO).

Grant funds were used to create the Metabolite Signaling Center (MSC) at UNL for studying molecular response to metabolites using primarily genomic technologies to better understand the influence of chemicals in food on human and animal growth and development, an emerging area of critical importance for Nebraska's economy. One goal of the research was the development of agricultural products with value-added compositional changes that have beneficial effects on human health. The MSC was among the first centers in the country to focus on effects of plant metabolites on gene expression and development in the consuming organism. Using genomics technologies such as microarrays, genome sequences, cell-based bioassays, and whole animal physiological studies, MSC scientists examined the influence of dietary molecules on human biology. Dr. Steve Ladunga was hired as a professor and bioinformatics director. With fifteen years of bioinformatics experience in industry and academia, Dr. Ladunga conducts his own research and collaborates with MSC faculty. Likewise, Dr. Ji-Young Lee's research was a welcome addition to MSC efforts to learn more about dietary molecules' effects on human physiology. Dr. Lee is an assistant professor of nutrition and health sciences. Her research focuses on better understanding cholesterol and fatty acids' effects on regulatory mechanisms of macrophages in order to reduce coronary heart disease.

Funds also were used to create the Nebraska Center for Cell Biology (NCCB) at CU, where researchers study the dynamic behavior of cells using sophisticated optical imaging instruments to develop expertise in applications that range from physics to cell biology and neuroscience. Additional information is available at here. The NCCB hosts an annual conference. The NCCB's outreach plan makes its advanced instruments accessible to remote users through Internet 2.

The grant supported planning for large-scale projects in nano-materials science to create a nationally competitive, multi-disciplinary research team in a new class of electronics and sensors: passively cooled high power/high temperature devices. Because the NCCB's Reflectance Mode Scanning Confocal Microscope could provide unique images based on the optical response of various nanostructures, nano-material researchers work closely with the NCCB in imaging these structures to complement those currently available with light and electron microscopy and spectroscopy facilities of the established UNL Center for Material Research and Analysis.

Consistent with emergence of Omaha as a top information technology hub, establishing strong educational and research programs in Mobile Computing (MC) was a high priority for Nebraska. MC stimulates economic development by forming partnerships with local industries interested in high-quality wireless networks and mobile computing applications. Researchers in computer science and engineering at UNL and UNO are developing MC infrastructure (hardware, software, and personnel). The current grant supports a center that is being established at UNO to develop more secure and robust mobile/wireless computer networks

Area leaders were:

  1. Michael Fromm, UNL ( Metabolite Signaling )
  2. Richard Hallworth, CU ( Cell Biology )
  3. N.J. Ianno, UNL ( Nano-material Science )
  4. Hesham Ali, UNO ( Mobile Computing )

The grant initiated the Research and Development (R&D) Partnership program to help solve a specific problem identified by a Nebraska company where no scientific/academic solution is currently available, encouraging faculty from the state's major research universities to work on scientific and technology-based industry R&D projects. Nebraska EPSCoR anticipates awarding competitive grants annually in the amount of $25,000 each (to be matched by the industry partner). Stephen Reichenbach (UNL) and GC Image, LLC received the grant in 2005 for the project "Advanced Informatics for Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography."

In addition to supporting R&D partnerships, the grant continued support for the Nebraska Engineering, Science, and Technology Internship Program (NESTIP). The technology, engineering, science, and math students, who serve as interns, provide technical expertise to Nebraska companies. For additional information, see the NESTIP page. With this award, Nebraska EPSCoR created a competitive FIRST Award grant program to assist Nebraska faculty members who are early in their academic careers in initiating their research programs. For more information, view the FIRST Awards page.