Two Grants For LeTourneau Professors
Posted/updated on: October 1, 2015 at 2:16 am
LONGVIEW — Two professors at Longview’s LeTourneau have been awarded national grants. The school has received a National Science Foundation grant award for $299,820 over three years in support of Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Dr. Ben Caldwell’s research on improving engineering creativity and problem solving. Also, LeTourneau University received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant award for $220,913 over three years in support of engineering professor Dr. Seung Kim’s collaborative research with Texas Tech professor Dr. Jungkyu “Jay” Kim to improve early detection of disease.
Dr. Caldwell’s project is titled “Understanding How Engineers Draw from their Knowledge and Experience to Solve Design Problems Creatively.” His research seeks to understand how people generate ideas and how to then teach that skill effectively. And since the research borders on psychology, Caldwell has LETU psychology professor Dr. Vicki Sheafer assisting as research associate on this grant.
Dr. Kim’s project is titled “Collaborative Research: A self-contained microfluidic optical
cavity biosensing platform for multiplex label-free molecular diagnostics.” Kim is currently researching the development of an optical biosensor for early detection of diseases supported by a $400,000 five-year NSF CAREER grant. Combined with his expertise in optical bio-detection systems and the expertise of Dr. Jay Kim at Texas Tech in microfluidic systems, the team will develop a completely self-contained and portable bio-detection platform that uses a tiny blood sample.
