The University of Tulsa’s Shark Tank Kick-Start program recently awarded $35,000 in grants to assistant professors to create or further research academic projects ranging from LED technology to elementary education.
This year’s grantees are:
Peifen Zhu, PhD
Assistant Professor of Physics and Engineering Physics
College of Engineering and Natural Sciences
Project title: 3D Printed Organic/Inorganic Halide Perovskite White Light-Emitting Diodes
Sandeep Kuttal, PhD
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
College of Engineering and Natural Sciences
Project title: Developing Intelligent Pair-Programing Agents to Facilitate Programing
Jyoti Iyer, PhD
Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
College of Engineering and Natural Sciences
Project title: Generation and Characterization of C. elegans model of Primary Microcephaly using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing
Helen Douglass, PhD
Assistant Professor of Education
College of Arts and Sciences
Project title: “Making” Inclusive and Equitable Elementary Teachers: an Innovative Approach to Teacher Training and the Maker Movement
Nagu Daraboina, PhD
Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering
College of Engineering and Natural Sciences
Project title: Developing Hydrate Based Technology for Produced Water Desalination Treatment
Maria Carreon, PhD
Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering
College of Engineering and Natural Sciences
Project title: Plasma Synthesis of Graphene from Pectin-rich Biomass
Alireza Golmohammadi, PhD
Assistant Professor of Marketing
College of Business
Project title: Social Media and Firm Performance: A Study on Firm Communication on Twitter
To secure the grant, each faculty member completed an application and was selected to give a live pitch to the “sharks” including:
Robin Ploeger — Dean of the Oxley College of Health Sciences
Kalpana Misra — Dean of the Kendall College of Arts and Sciences
Larry Wofford — Dean of the Collins College of Business
Vickie Limas — Associate Dean of the College of Law
Janet Haggerty — Dean of the Graduate School
The event was moderated by TU President Gerard Clancy.
Congratulations to the award recipients for surviving the shark tank! For more information on future TU Shark Tank Kick-Start grants, contact Gosia Bodurka at gosia-bodurka@utulsa.edu or phone 918-631-2612.