NASA awards $600K to 2 University of Puerto Rico research projects
Teams at UPR Mayagüez and Río Piedras secured funding.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has awarded $6 million in funding to projects by 20 teams that offer career development opportunities for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students.
Among the recipients are two research teams from the University of Puerto Rico system, with projects at the Río Piedras and Mayagüez campuses. Each local team received $300,000 to be spent over two years, Alise Fisher, public affairs specialist at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, confirmed.
At the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (known as RUM), Principal Investigator Ubaldo Córdova-Figueroa received funding to work with NASA’s Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, on the project “Controlled Assembly of Amphiphilic Janus Particles in Polymer Matrix for Novel 3D Printing Applications in Space.”
Meanwhile, Lisandro Cunci, principal investigator of the project titled ““Development of a Non-Invasive Sweat Biosensor for Traumatic Brain Injury Compatible with In-Space Manufacturing to Monitor the Health of Astronauts” being developed at the UPR in Río Piedras, received funding to work with NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California.
This is the third round of seed funding awarded through the agency’s Mentoring and Opportunities in STEM with Academic Institutions for Community Success (Mosaics) program, formerly the Science Mission Directorate Bridge Program. The program seeks to expand access to NASA research opportunities and expand NASA’s future STEM workforce.
“The STEM workforce continues to grow, and today’s students, studying at a variety of higher-education institutions — community colleges, primarily undergraduate institutions and minority-serving institutions — are the STEM workforce of tomorrow, who will work to solve some of our biggest challenges at home while answering some of our biggest questions about our universe,” said Padi Boyd, director of Mosaics at NASA headquarters in Washington.
“Exposing today’s students to the incredibly inspiring and cutting-edge discoveries made through NASA’s space science people and resources ensures that these students get the training they need to persist in STEM careers, while fostering enduring collaborations between NASA researchers and faculty at a wide range of institutions,” Boyd stated.
NASA’s Mosaics program provides research funds that builds relationships between college faculty and researchers, while offering mentorship and training for students in STEM disciplines.
The projects support teams at academic institutions that historically have not been part of the agency’s research enterprise — including Hispanic-serving institutions, historically Black colleges and universities, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions, and primarily undergraduate institutions.
The program previously awarded seed funding to 11 teams in February and 13 teams in April. This third cohort brings the total number of projects funded to 44 teams at 36 academic institutions in 21 U.S. states and territories, including Washington and Puerto Rico, in collaboration with seven NASA centers.
A new opportunity to apply for seed funding is now open until March 28.
