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YSU researchers honored
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Five Youngstown State University researchers were recognized for their work which has garnered external funding.
Allen Hunter, professor of materials chemistry, and Matthias Zeller, research staff scientist crystallographer and adjunct professor; Brett Conner, associate professor of industrial and systems engineering; Tim Maher, assistant coordinator at YSU’s Metro College; and Jane Wetzel, associate professor of physical therapy; received Dean’s Awards at a Wednesday luncheon hosted by the School of Graduate Studies and Research.
Scott Martin, interim associate dean for research, said those who conduct research at the university “do your part to make YSU an urban research university.”
He said YSU received 67 grants this year, totalling about $7.2 million — more than double last year’s amount.
“Without research activities, without your efforts, YSU would be a lesser place,” Martin Abraham, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, told the faculty, department chairmen and women and the deans.
Hunter and Zeller, along with two Oberlin College professors and one from Haverford College in Pennsylvania, were awarded a $470,000 National Science Foundation grant to buy diffractometers for material analysis.
Conner was awarded a $299,000 Ohio Board of Regents grant for additive-manufacturing equipment. Maher earned a $254,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction for a post-secondary education program to help improve the skills of incarcerated people. Wetzel, along with a Canfield physician, received a $70,000 grant from a global pharmaceutical company to fund a clinical drug study on the effectiveness of a drug treatment on people with chronic kidney disease. Wetzel’s grant marks the first time YSU has participated in a clinical drug study.
Dean’s Awards are given to colleagues “who have demonstrated outstanding success in obtaining external funding,” the luncheon program says. “The awards are given to recognize the effort and accomplishments of faculty and staff in attracting prestigious grants and contracts.”