Research

Chris Vermillion, an assistant professor in the William States Lee College of Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science, has won a $500,000 National Science Foundation CAREER award to further his research in creating low-cost methodologies that optimize the combined physical system and controller for high-altitude wind energy systems.

In the genetic disorder cystic fibrosis (CF), the most severe symptoms are recurring episodes of lung inflammation and bacterial infection (known as “exacerbations”) that happen from one to three times a year and cause ever-increasing amounts of lung damage through the course of a CF patient’s life. While it is well understood that CF lung problems are ultimately due to bacterial infections encouraged by a CF patient’s abnormally thick mucus, medical science has been unable to define specific causes that trigger the periodic flare-ups.

UNC Charlotte has received a $2.1 million grant from the UNC General Administration to support research in data science and business analytics (Big Data). The funding, to be distributed across three years, is part of a continuing $3 million appropriation from the General Assembly in 2014 to support areas of “game-changing research” identified in the Board of Governor’s strategic plan for the University system.

The Charlotte Venture Challenge, the Southeast’s premiere business innovation competition, will take place in partnership with the Southeast Venture Conference, which returns to Charlotte Tuesday, March 31, through Thursday, April 2.

Influenza has a long history of being one of the most deadly diseases to afflict humanity, but what exactly makes it so dangerous?

Researchers from EPIC’s Duke Energy Smart Grid Laboratory working with Waverley Labs conducted a systematic analysis of risks and threats to power transmission systems to identify critical points of failure.

The collaboration has resulted in an innovative risk management solution focused on relationships between cyberattacks and the electrical and physical infrastructures associated with the power grid.

Sustainability is an international concern, and for one UNC Charlotte professor the challenge is to bring new understanding to how Nigerians can view sacred groves as secular green spaces.

“Violins of Hope,” authored by Department of Music Chair James Grymes, has earned a National Jewish Book Award, considered the most prestigious honor in the country for Jewish-themed books.

For the 2014 calendar year, authors in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences researched, wrote or edited 32 books on an array of topics including primates of Vietnam, trends in drug use and distribution, Hispanic children’s literature, middle class white anti-racism, stalled peacemaking in Israel and Palestine, the meltdown of the middle class, the U.S. Court of Appeals, HIV/AIDS, ethics and reality TV and discourse analysis.

The college recognized the authors and funding recipients at a celebration in the Harris Alumni Center prior to winter break.

The relocation of the Charlotte regional office of the Small Business and Technology Development Center to the UNC Charlotte PORTAL Building concentrates University-affiliated entrepreneurial support services in a state-of-the-art facility. Formerly located in the Ben Craig Center at University Research Park, the SBTDC officially opened in PORTAL Jan. 2.