UTA’s Smart Coast Initiative receives 2.4 Million Dollars in NSF Funding
UTA Professors Michelle Hummel, Karabi Bezboruah, Oswald Jenewein, Yonghe Liu, and consultant Kathryn Masten received more than 2.4 Million Dollars from the National Science Foundation for the Project: “Enabling Smart Cities in Coastal Regions of Environmental and Industrial Change: Building Adaptive Capacity through Sociotechnical Networks on the Texas Gulf Coast.” The goals are to strengthen multidisciplinary, cross-sector partnerships between technical and social science professionals from academia, government agencies, and community groups to advance the use of data in sustainable planning and policy-making efforts and to improve community and environmental well-being.
In a press conference on Friday, September 16, 2022 the team presented how this project ties into the larger Smart Coast Initiative, which includes six funded projects focusing in the Texas Coastal Bend Region. Engineering Assistant Professor Michelle Hummel described to the group how important it is to combine technical and social sciences. Associate Professors Bezboruah and Liu explained their respective tasks on social and technical expertise needed for this undertaking. Architecture Assistant Professor Oswald Jenewein explained that the team plans to integrate students as much as possible in funded research projects to provide practical learning experiences. Students from the audience asked numerous questions and shared their excitement about this initiative.
