Faculty receive state-funded 4-VA grants for collaborative research
The 13 funded projects involve partnerships with peers at universities across the commonwealth and investigate areas of strategic interest for Virginia.
Editor's note: This story was updated Aug. 22 to include additional research collaborators.
A baker’s dozen of projects by Virginia Tech faculty members recently were awarded grants funded by 4-VA to boost research collaborations with partners at universities across the commonwealth, including the University of Virginia, George Mason, Virginia Commonwealth, and Radford.
The seed grants — capped at $30,000 each — are designed as a springboard for future external grants on projects that are relevant to Virginia Tech’s major research initiatives and strategic interests, such as artificial intelligence (AI), health, security, quantum technologies, emerging technologies, and experiential learning.
Fostering collaborative partnerships is the primary purpose of 4-VA, a state-funded initiative founded in 2010 that offers member universities grants to improve research competitiveness and maximize university resources. This year, 11 of Virginia Tech’s 13 4-VA grants went to faculty in the College of Engineering, along with grantees in the College of Science and the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.
“As one of 4-VA’s founding schools, Virginia Tech is committed to working across the commonwealth on research that not only benefits Virginia Tech but solves real-world challenges that are also areas of strategic interest for the state,” said Associate Vice Provost Catherine Amelink, Virginia Tech’s 4-VA campus coordinator.
4-VA grant recipients
Monet Roberts, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and mechanics
- Project: Multi-scale approaches examining preferential recruitment in breast-to-bone metastasis
- Virginia Tech collaborator: Caitlyn Collins, biomedical engineering and mechanics
- External collaborator: Priscilla Hwang, Virginia Commonwealth University
Md Sami Hasnine, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering
- Project: Safe Streets: AI-powered digital twin framework for enhancing urban pedestrian safety
- External collaborator: Armita Kar, George Mason University
Jie Chen, assistant professor of mechanical engineering
- Project: Machine learning-driven bio-upcycling of waste concrete into high-value materials
- External collaborators: Emma "Xijin" Zhang, George Mason University, and Zhongshu Ren, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Manish Bansal, associate professor of industrial and systems engineering
- Project: Stochastic optimization and machine learning approaches for interdependent networked systems: Applications for water distribution systems
- Virginia Tech collaborator: Feras A. Batarseh, biological systems engineering
- External collaborator: Madhav Marathe, University of Virginia
Netta Gurari, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and mechanics
- Project: Impact of movement following stroke on perceiving physical stimuli during bimanual tasks
- External collaborator: Arco Paul, Radford University
Sang Won Lee, associate professor of computer science
- Project: Designing a classroom platform for accountable use of generative AI in writing
- Virginia Tech collaborator: Daniel Dunlap, computer science
- External collaborator: Tamara A. Maddox, George Mason University
Sehrish Basir Nizamani, collegiate assistant professor of computer science
- Project: Large language model-assisted usability evaluation of smart classrooms: A proof-of-concept using posture and spatial layout analysis
- Virginia Tech collaborators: Elif Tural, interior design; Alp Tural, interior design; Andrew Katz, engineering education; and Saad Nizamani, computer science
- External collaborator: Nada Basit, University of Virginia
Alireza Shojaei, assistant professor of building construction
- Project: Leveraging digital twin environments and AI-embodied reasoning models for human-robot collaboration in construction tasks
- External collaborator: Gregory Joseph Stein, George Mason University
Raffaella De Vita, professor and associate department head in mechanical engineering
- Project: Lymphatic remodeling of the uterus during pregnancy
- Virginia Tech collaborator: Monet Roberts, biomedical engineering and mechanics
- External collaborator: Monique Vaughan, University of Virginia
Nisha Duggal, associate professor of biomedical sciences and pathobiology
- Project: Antiviral activity of novel polynuclear platinum complexes
- External collaborator: Michael McVoy, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dong Sam Ha, professor of electrical and computer engineering
- Project: Quantum-enabled nano-antennas for intrinsically secure wireless communication
- Virginia Tech collaborator: Fariborz Lohrabi Pour, electrical and computer engineering
- External collaborator: Supriyo Bandyopadhya, Virginia Commonwealth University
Meimei Liu, assistant professor of statistics
- Project: Advanced low-latency neural modeling: Integrating bidirectional brain interfaces with AI for brain dynamics and neurological disorders prediction
- Virginia Tech collaborator: Xiaoting Jia, electrical and computer engineering
- External collaborator: Harald Sontheimer, University of Virginia
Esra Buyuktahtakin Toy, professor of industrial and systems engineering
- Project: A self-supervised learning-decomposition architecture for solving constrained combinatorial optimization problems
- External collaborator: Ferdinando Fioretto, University of Virginia
