The Strategic Equipment Investment Program, provided by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships, has funded five proposals to purchase equipment expected to advance research and creative activities at the University of Oklahoma.
SEIP supports funding for the purchase of strategic equipment that enhances a team's capabilities and competitiveness at a national level, specifically, the equipment is expected to "provide new opportunities for advancing the team's ability to achieve new goals in terms of creativity, discovery, innovation, and competitiveness in securing external funding."
The funded proposals are:
"An innovative multi-modal in vivo imaging platform" - proposal led by Qinggong Tang, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, and researchers from the team from the School of Biomedical Engineering, the OU Health Sciences, the Institute for Biomedical Engineering Science and Technology, the Stephenson Cancer Center and Harold Hamm Diabetes Center.
This SEIP award, aligned with the Future of Health strategic research vertical, will cost-share the purchase of a Vevo F2 imaging system. The multi-modal in vivo imaging platform combines ultra-high-frequency and low-frequency ultrasound imaging with photoacoustic capabilities in a convenient all-in-one platform to collect anatomical, functional, and molecular data.
"IsoPure 96 to enhance pathogen surveillance and genomic analyses of wildlife" - proposal led by Daniel Becker, assistant professor in the School of Biological Sciences, with co-PIs Cameron Siler and Haley Lanier in the School of Biological Sciences and the Sam Noble Museum, and Anni Yang, an assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability
This SEIP award, aligned with the Future of Health strategic research vertical, will cost-share the purchase of an IsoPure 96 instrument to facilitate high-throughput, automated extraction of nucleic acids from wildlife samples for pathogen surveillance and genomic research. Its ability to extract up to 96 samples in under two hours vastly increases researchers' capacity to process samples from diverse wildlife and museum specimens, generating novel pathogen and genomic data, supporting new collaborations within and external to OU, and enhancing success with high-priority funding proposals.
"Acquisition of cryo-optical microscopy modules for quantum light source development" - proposal led by Yitong Dong, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, with co-PIs in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry: John Peters, Bayram Saparov ,and Yuanning Feng; the Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy: Lloyd Bumm and Madalina Furis; and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Binbin Weng, Alisa Javadi, and Joseph Tischler. The PIs also represent the Center for Quantum Research and Technology and the Center of Optimal Materials for Emerging Technologies.
This SEIP award, aligned with the strategic research core capabilities of materials science and quantum technologies, will support cost-share funding to acquire a cryo-compatible microscopy module and an optical interferometer that can be integrated with OU's existing single-photon spectroscopy microscope. The equipment is expected to advance the development of quantum photonics and fluorescent materials to benefit bioimaging and fluorophore developments.
"High-Performance Multifunctional Electrodes for Self-powered Sensors and Environmental Remediation" - proposal led by Mrinal Saha, professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, with a research team representing the fields of materials science, chemical engineering, and mechanical engineering.
This SEIP award, aligned with the Energy and Environmental Sustainability strategic research vertical, will provide cost-share funding to acquire an electrospinning system that enables the development of high-performance functional electrode architectures based on nanofibers to tackle energy and environmental challenges.
"The RF-4.5 Plasma Source Acquisition for Advanced Thin Film Fabrication" - proposal led by Hanjong Paik, assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, with a research team representing the fields of materials sciences, biomedical engineering, mechanical and aerospace engineering, chemistry, petroleum engineering and electrical and computer engineering.
This SEIP award, aligned with the materials science strategic research core capability, will provide cost-share funding to acquire an RF-4.5 nitrogen RF plasma source to aid in the manufacturing of metal-oxide-nitride thin films used in semiconductors.
This is the fifth offering of the Strategic Equipment Investment Program. Awards from equipment sponsored from 2021 through 2022 have now accounted for $6.1 million in new extramural funding, a 17-fold return on investment to date. Learn more about SEIP and other internal seed funding opportunities at ou.edu/research.
