UT Arlington engineering professors honored with Hackerman Advanced Research awards

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

19-Nov-2014

Contact: Herb Booth hbooth@uta.edu 817-272-7075 University of Texas at Arlington @utarlington

The University of Texas at Arlington has received two highly competitive Norman Hackerman Advanced Research Program awards from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Baohong Yuan, an associate professor in the Department of Bioengineering, received a $100,000 grant to better monitor cancer metastasis in deep tissue. Hyeok Choi, an assistant professor of environmental engineering in the Department of Civil Engineering, received $80,000 to study solar-driven photocatalytic decomposition of lethal algal toxins in Texas water resources.

A total of 269 proposals from 43 institutions requesting $14.8 million in funding were submitted to the Coordinating Board. Only 11 proposals were granted. UT Arlington and UT Austin were the only institutions to receive two approved research proposals. The other seven institutions - Baylor College of Medicine, Lamar University, Rice University, Texas Tech University, UT Dallas, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio and University of Houston - received one grant each.

Khosrow Behbehani, dean of the UT Arlington College of Engineering, said the successful Hackerman awards to Drs. Yuan and Choi highlight research excellence at UT Arlington.

"This was a highly competitive process, and UT Arlington is pleased to have won two Hackerman Awards this year. "Both Dr. Yuan and Dr. Choi are focused on advancing technologies and engineering processes that will have significant impact on the world."

The Legislature created the Hackerman Advanced Research Program in 1987 to "exploit the potential of technology" and support basic research likely to attract external funding.

Yuan said current imaging technology doesn't always offer the detail needed for early cancer detection, especially in deep tissue.

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UT Arlington engineering professors honored with Hackerman Advanced Research awards