AMERICA, USA, Western Michigan University receives $3.6 million in grants

Western Michigan University received $3.6 million in grants between November and January, the university reported. Adding in that total, WMU has received $16 million in externally funded awards so far this year.

WMU received $1.5 million in public service grants, with nearly $1 million from Kalamazoo Community Mental Health Services awarded to Carol Sundberg, director of the WMU Center for Disability Services. The grant will provide daily living, communication, behavior control and social skill services to developmentally disabled adults, the university said.
Research grants between November and January totaled about $1.3 million, with the largest award going to Robert Shawn Wall Emerson, professor of Blindness and Low Vision Studies.

He received $150,654 from the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs, through a subcontract from the Mathematics eText Research Center at the University of Oregon. The grant will be used to investigate image descriptions that students with visual impairments or blindness use in place of charts, graphs, images or diagrams embedded in math texts.

The university also singled out a $100,000 grant from the Education and Technology Foundation of the National Fluid Power Association, which was awarded to Alamgir Choudhury and Jorge Rodriguez, associate professors of industrial and manufacturing engineering. The two scientists will use the grant to develop a laboratory for design of energy efficient fluid power application through performance testing of a system and its components.

Other grant categories and totals:
Student services: $522,205
Instruction: $154,804
Scholarships and fellowships: $98,328
Academic support: $53,700
WMU Research Foundation: $29,576