Two ɫҹ University professors have received Farris Family Innovation Awards for their research projects.
Min-Ho Kim, Ph.D., assistant professor in the College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability and Technology, won the award for his project titled “Targeted Nanothermotherapy Combined With Antibiotics Against Biofilm Infection in Diabetic Wounds.”
David Singer, Ph.D., assistant professor of geology in the College of Arts and Sciences, received the award for his research project titled “The Impact of Trace Element Incorporation During Iron Sulfide Precipitation on Gas Extraction Potential and Flow-back Water Quality From Shale-gas Deposits.”
“I feel really honored to be selected as a recipient of this award,” says Kim. “I am also excited in that this award recognizes the significance of my research work.”
Kim says the theme of his project is “to develop effective therapeutics that can noninvasively target and destroy antibiotic resistant bacterial biofilm based on concept of nanobiotechnology.”
“I was very pleased and proud to receive a Farris Family Innovation Award,” says Singer. “I am incredibly grateful that ɫҹ, through the generosity of the Farris Family, supports young faculty, and I am glad to be getting positive recognition early in my career here.”
The focus of Singer’s project is on the fate and transport of metals and radionuclides in the environment. In particular, he says, “I am interested in the geochemical and biogeochemical processes that occur at mineral surfaces which can limit or promote contaminant transport.”
The Farris Family Innovation Award rewards faculty members who combine scholarship of teaching, discovery and application in new and effective ways.
Both professors were nominated for the Farris Family Innovation Award by ɫҹ Senior Vice President and Provost Todd Diacon. After recommendations by the provost, applicants are reviewed by the Provost's Advisory Council and then sent to the president for final approval.
Beginning in the Fall 2013 Semester, the recipients receive $8,000 for up to three years while they continue their projects and remain untenured faculty members. The funds from the grant covers expenses in undergraduate research, graduate student stipends, equipment expenses and travel associated with faculty projects.
Singer says the funds from the Farris Family Innovation Awards will help him facilitate an X-ray portion of his project, as well as enhance the stand of ɫҹ’s reputation in the scientific community.
For more information about the professor’ projects, email Kim at mkim15@kent.edu and Singer at dsinger4@kent.edu.