Aerospace assistant professor awarded DOD grant for instrumentation
Published: Jul 11, 2019 2:00 PM
By Austin Phillips
Vrishank Raghav, assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, is among 185 researchers nationwide who have been awarded a Department of Defense grant under the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP).
These grants, totaling $56 million, will be provided to 95 institutions across 36 states in fiscal year 2019.
Raghav’s $245, 000 grant centers around his work on novel time-resolved rotating frame measurements for rotating flows. This is his second grant in recent months, following a three-year, $463,000 grant by the Army Research Office to help the military branch better understand dynamic stall that severely limits the performance envelope of current generation helicopters.
Through DURIP, the DOD supports purchases of major research equipment to augment current and develop new capabilities. This effort enables universities to perform cutting-edge research that boosts the country’s technological edge while ensuring that the future science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workforce remains second to none.
“DURIP awards are essential for universities to acquire the equipment needed in the pursuit of knowledge and big ideas,” said Mitch Nikolich, director of the DOD’s defense research and engineering for research and technology. “Research and education are inextricably linked, and these awards sustain the scientific excellence of our universities and the training of the next generation STEM workforce. Ultimately, these investments will ensure that our scientists have the resources needed to contribute to the development of game-changing technologies for the Department of Defense.”
The annual DURIP award process is highly competitive. The program is administered through a merit competition jointly conducted by the Army Research Office, Office of Naval Research and Air Force Office of Scientific Research. The department seeks specific proposals from university investigators conducting foundational science and engineering research of importance to national defense.
For the fiscal 2019 competition, the service research offices received 669 proposals, requesting $259 million in funding. Selections made by the service research offices are subject to successful completion of negotiations with the academic institutions.
Media Contact: , austinp@auburn.edu, 334-844-2444
