Union
College has been awarded $1.6
million from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to build programs and motivate
students toward research, study and careers in emerging new fields in the
sciences and engineering.
The funds will be used to create a
Center for Bioengineering and Computational Biology, including new research
laboratories, networked classrooms, a bioengineering teaching laboratory, and
curriculum materials to support several new courses.
“We are delighted by the Howard
Hughes Medical Institute's confidence-once again-in Union,”
said President Roger H. Hull. “The grant comes at a perfect time for the
College. As we move forward with Converging Technologies, our unique
effort to blend the liberal arts and engineering, we are appreciative of HHMI's
support. We know that what we are doing is right, and we are thrilled that HHMI
is giving us their stamp of approval.”
Leo Fleishman, chair of Union's
Biology Department, was the lead person for the proposal, with assistance from
Biology and Mechanical Engineering faculty.
In 2003, Union
began offering an academic minor in bioengineering. This program will be
greatly strengthened by these funds and allow for the hiring of a new faculty
member. In addition, the College will create 24 student research fellowships
over the four years of the grant. Four students each year will spend a summer
conducting research at one of three collaborating institutions — Syracuse
University, Albany
Medical College,
and the New York State Department of Health's Wadsworth Laboratory in Albany.
Also planned is a web-based “Virtual
Bioengineering Center,”
which will make possible interactive activities to allow remote users can work
with experimental systems located at the College's Bioengineering
Center and view the results online.
Activities for both high school and college students will be developed.
Union
College received grants from the
HHMI in 1993 and 1988 as well. Among the programs funded by past Hughes grants
were several targeting K-12 science, math and technology curriculum
improvement, particularly in economically disadvantaged school districts in the
region. This grant will allow for the continuation of these programs, including
the popular Summer Science Workshop for underrepresented talented high school
students. The program is designed to encourage juniors and seniors to attend
college, major in biology or another science, and go on to graduate or
professional school.
The HHMI awarded nearly $50
million in grants to 42 colleges in the U.S.
and Puerto Rico. Union shared the
lead for top awards with Williams College
and Haverford College.
To read more about Union's grant, please visit http://www.union.edu/N/DS/s.php?s=4550.
For more on the HHMI awards,
including the complete list of award recipients, visit http://www.hhmi.org/news/051804.html.