Lab technician Greg Fedewa, left, adds Isopropanol to a DNA strand of the plant species Catharanthus roseus in the Biochemistry Building Wednesday afternoon. Fedewa is a technician for Dean DellaPenna, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, whose lab received almost $3 million from stimulus funding .
Norbert Mueller once had just a drawing and a vision for a more fuel-efficient engine to present to his potential funders.
Two years from now, the MSU associate professor of mechanical engineering hopes to have the engine prototype developed enough to secure more funding, thanks to a $2.5 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Energy he was awarded in October.
“If you have something in hand people can touch, see and smell, it’s much easier than if you draw something on the board,” he said.
The funding, awarded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, or ARRA, is crucial to the development of the engine, Mueller said.
But now that a significant portion of the research funding from the federal government’s almost $800 billion program has been awarded, there is some concern the program’s end will lead to a sharp decline in funding, said Douglas Gage, an assistant to the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies.
“I think that there’s a concern obviously that the cliff described as a funding cliff at the end of this would be detrimental,” said Gage. “New graduate students are supported, and faculty are supported, and then all of the sudden there’s no money and that becomes a challenge.”
To date, MSU researchers have received $33,122,860 in funding through the ARRA and garnered about $6 million in additional funding since mid-October for three separate projects, including Mueller’s work, Gage said.
Professor and School of Criminal Justice Director Edmund McGarrell’s community-based policing effort and biochemistry professor Dean DellaPenna’s research into how several plants produce medicinal compounds round out the university’s recent infusion of federal dollars.
Without the stimulus funding, research technician Greg Fedewa said the project he is assisting DellaPenna in could not have happened at this time. Fedewa, who was hired specifically for the project, said he is slightly concerned about the stimulus funding running dry, but hopes the progress made with the stimulus money opens the door to further funding.
“We are looking into ways that we may be able to get another grant or continue this grant by stating that we have made this project, and that it is a project that deserves to be funded,” Fedewa said. “There is positive progress to be made if you invest in this.
Gage said the funding led to a significant increase in the number of grant proposals sent out by MSU faculty. In the College of Engineering, for example, there was a 30 percent to 40 percent increase, he said. But even as the money thins, he hopes the trend of increased proposals will continue.
“I want the excitement and energy generated through the funding to be maintained so that our faculty can flood the normal competitive process with high-quality grants,” he said. “The idea here is there’s a lot of potential for this university to rapidly ramp up its research program and be successful at the national level.”
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