5 scientists, 5 years of prestigious funding: Meet these NSF CAREER awardees
Innovation and groundbreaking discoveries are the result of decades of dedication and hard work. An opportunity to pursue a particular research topic for several years is often lifechanging. Now, five early-career FIU scientists are getting the chance with support from one of the National Science Foundation’s most competitive, prestigious programs. Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) awards are reserved for young faculty poised to be role models in research and education. These grants are gamechangers because they lay the groundwork for future work and impact.
Darryl Dickerson
Assistant Professor
Mechanical and Materials Engineering
College of Engineering & Computing
Darryl Dickerson investigates how to engineer materials for tissue regeneration. As a part of this NSF award, he’s exploring how to create personalized heart tissue to replace heart muscle that’s lost and can lead to heart failure after a heart attack.
The project will also support an education program that will use this research in mechanical engineering curriculum.
Amal Elawady
Assistant Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering
College of Engineering & Computing
At FIU’s Wall of Wind, Amal Elawady studies the impact of high winds on buildings to inform more climate resilient design.
Thunderstorms often produce tornadoes that produce high winds, but so do lesser-known events called downbursts. Elawady’s work will increase understanding of downburst winds and how they impact buildings.
Trina Fletcher
Assistant Professor of Engineering Education
School of Universal Computing, Construction, and Engineering Education (SUCCEED)
College of Engineering & Computing
Given growing STEM workforce demands, Trina Fletcher will develop a database focused on Black women’s participation within the Summer Engineering Experience for Kids program, hosted by the National Society of Black Engineers, and other experiences related to their educational journey. This project will work toward advancing the literature and allow for improved participation within STEM education and the workforce.
Ahmed Ibrahim
Associate Professor
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
College of Engineering & Computing
Ahmed Ibrahim studies how to create low-delay wireless networks. With this CAREER award, Ibrahim will develop short-delay “gray-box” machine learning models and low-complexity optimized networks necessary to support connected vehicles and augmented reality applications, which are essential in remote health care.
Bruk Berhane
Assistant Professor
School of Universal Computing, Construction, and Engineering Education (SUCCEED)
College of Engineering & Computing
Community colleges and Historically Black Colleges and Universities have a history of graduating large numbers of Black engineers. Bruk Berhane’s project will produce a plan to increase the representation of Black undergraduates in engineering. His goal is to produce a framework that enables institutions to better collaborate with community colleges to broaden participation in engineering.