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Grants climb by nearly $4 million in two months

Dec. 15, 2008

KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University raked in nearly $4 million in externally funded awards during October and November, WMU trustees learned at their Dec. 12 meeting.

The amount brings WMU's fiscal-year-to-date grant total since July 1 to more than $20.6 million.

Research grants grabbed the lion's share of the two-month total, climbing to a little more than $3.1 million. Research grants were led by two awards of $730,891 and $525,161 from the U.S. Army to Dr. William W. Liou, professor of mechanical and aeronautical engineering and director of the WMU Center for Advanced Vehicle Design and Simulation--CAViDS. Both grants are for the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center and were made through Mississippi State University. They will be used to apply simulations to predict high mobility multi-wheeled vehicle (HMMWV) structural reliability and safety under battlefield conditions, to understand and improve the fatigue performance of rubber track pads for Abrams tanks, to develop a prototype for cost-effective condition-based maintenance, and to develop advanced modeling of the effects of blast waves on the reliability and safety of the vehicle and its occupants.

Public service grants came in at more than $500,000 and were led by a nearly $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to Dr. Erica Ann Carr, associate director of the WMU Division of Multicultural Affairs, to provide skills training and help students complete secondary education and enter and be successful in postsecondary education.

Media contact: Cheryl Roland, (269) 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu

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