President Elmira Mangum, Ph.D. announced Friday that the United States Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Agency has awarded Florida A&M University two grants worth $6 million over three years.
According to the press release released Friday, the grants will support the Consortium on Materials and Energy Studies and the Consortium for Research on the Science and Engineering of Signatures.
Lewis E. Johnson, Ph.D., assistant dean of the College of Science and Technology, said that the grant would be used to increase the number individuals that can enter into the physics, chemistry and engineering disciplines.
“We are going to make available summer research opportunities and learning assistant opportunities for students,” Johnson said. “This grant is also going to be used to increase faculty development, as far as teaching to help make science classes better.”
FAMU will provide leadership in the research efforts, including the characterization, investigation and the improvement of novel energy materials, science and engineering.
In addition to leading the Consortia’s research efforts, FAMU will also be leading 13 participating historically black colleges and universities and four Department of Energy laboratories.
The laboratories include The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Y – 12 National Security Complex.
It was also said that the Consortia would also provide solutions to the improvised explosive devices, known as IEDs, that have developed in Iraq, Afghanistan and other locations throughout the world.
“Even though these weapons are not technologically advanced, they have become one of the greatest threats to our forces, both military and civilian,” Johnson said.
Clarence Williams, a senior engineering student from Miami, said he is very excited about the new opportunities that this grant will bring to the University.
“This grant is really going to make a difference here at FAMU,” Williams said. “With this money we are going to have so many more resources and opportunities to better ourselves and the world.”
Although I am a senior and I probably won’t see the outcomes of these grants while I am present, I am still excited for my school and the great things that are to come.”
Mangum is very pleased with the research team and said the money will go to good use.
“Their work, coupled with the work of our students, fellow HBCUs, and laboratories, will provide invaluable insight and solutions that will not only further our research mission, but will also help support our nation’s security programs” Mangum said in a press release. “This is another example of FAMU’s resilient impact on the national research community.”