The College of Engineering, Physics, and Computing at The Catholic University of America has received a total of $227,500 in internal funding for seven faculty-led projects through the University’s newly established Innovation Fund. This significant support involves eleven faculty members from five departments, highlighting the College’s leadership in research and cross-disciplinary collaboration. In this first round of funding, the College received 80% of the total grant funding available.
Administered by the Office of the Provost, the University Innovation Fund is designed to stimulate high-impact research and innovation by providing University researchers with access to additional marketplace funding. These seed grants support a range of early-stage activities essential for advancing novel ideas, including prototype development, regulatory compliance, feasibility analyses, and legal and intellectual property reviews.
This first round of funding highlights the College’s commitment to pioneering solutions and shaping the future through cutting-edge research. A second call for proposals will open at the start of the new year, offering additional opportunities for innovation and academic entrepreneurship.
Funded Faculty Projects
Below is the full list of grant recipients from the College in the first round of the Innovation Fund:
Title: Inverse Prediction of Viscoelastic Behavior of Engineered Tissues Using Deep Learning, Evolutionary Algorithms, and Atomic Force Microscopy
PIs: Gregorio Toscano (CS), Chris Raub (BE), and Santiago Solares (ME)
Funded Amount: $47,000
Title: Learning to Navigate
PIs: Jeffrey Herrmann (ME) and Gregorio Toscano (CS)
Funded Amount: $37,000
Title: A Deep Learning Guided Hand Exoskeleton for Real-World Stroke Rehabilitation and Assistance
PIs: Pete Lum (BE) and Lin-Ching Chang (CS)
Funded Amount: $31,000
Title: Development of Electronic Structure Calculation Methods Suitable for Quantum Computing
PIs: Santiago Solares (ME), Daniel Sierra-Sosa (CS), and Gregorio Toscano (CS)
Funded Amount: $47,000
Title: Building Complex Tissue Microarchitecture in Tissue Chips Using Magnetic Roundworm Soft Microrobots
PIs: Chris Raub (BE), George Nehmetallah (EE), and Xiaolong Luo (ME)
Funded Amount: $47,000
Title: Modern Robot Arm Acquisition: Advancing AI and Robotics Research and Education
PIs: Zhaoyang Wang (ME)
Funded Amount: $12,000
Title: Galaxy Morphology Across Cosmic Time: Using AI/ML to Study the Transformation of Galaxy Properties
PIs: Tommy Wiklind (Physics)
Funded Amount: $6,500
Total Funded Amount: $227,500
The interdisciplinary nature of these projects is especially promising, highlighting the depth of collaboration and scholarly excellence among our faculty. Their ability to work across fields not only strengthens individual research efforts but also amplifies the overall impact of innovation at the University.
Individuals, corporations, organizations, and alumni who wish to support the Innovation Fund and help advance groundbreaking research at Catholic University are encouraged to contact William Roth, Associate Vice President for University Advancement, at rothw@cua.edu.