By Julie O'Connor

President Irvin Reid recently announced the awardees from this year's Research Enhancement Program. This program, a $1.8 million investment in WSU faculty, is designed to strengthen the University's performance as a nationally recognized leader in research within targeted multidisciplinary areas that will also enhance WSU's graduate programs. This year's focus centered on information science and technology, a field broadly conceived to include areas from informatics and information management to health technology, homeland security and language engineering, among many others. "Wayne State University already has strengths in these areas and I wanted to build on the excellent research and training we are carrying out in these fields. In combination with "TechTown," the new Research and Technology Park, the expansion of the smart sensors program, along with plans for new facilities and programs in other information areas, we are on the move," said President Reid. With science and society transformed by rapid structural changes and powerful new technologies emerging everyday, the possibilities for extending the reach of research and higher education has exciting possibilities in this information age. "The Research Enhancement Program embraces this transformation, and aims to promote research and development that will support rapid progress in this area of immense scientific opportunity," said Reid.

This year's awardees were selected because of their outstanding potential to develop creative, multidisciplinary projects that will yield significant scientific advancements. Awardees reflect the strength of WSU's outstanding faculty in information science and technology.

Recipients include:

Farshad Fotouhi, Department of Computer Science, College of Science received funding for his project, "Advanced Technologies in Language Engineering: A Digital Library for Endangered Languages. Collaborators on this project include Anthony Aristar, Department of English, College of Liberal Arts; Ming Dong, Department of Computer Science, College of Science; Geoff Nathan, Department of English, College of Liberal Arts; Shiyong Lu, Department of Computer Science, College of Science; Ronald Powell, Library and Information Sciences, University Libraries; Martha Ratliff, Department of English, College of Liberal Arts; Robert Reynolds, Department of Computer Science, College of Science; and Joseph Tan, Information Systems & Manufacturing, School of Business Administration.

Yinlun Huang, Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, received funding for his project, "Fast Security Assessment and Effective Security Enhancement in Chemical Manufacturing Plants Using Distributed Computing Methods." Collaborators on this project include Ming Dong, Department of Computer Science, College of Science and Jeffrey Potoff, Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering.

Ratna Naik, Department of Physics, College of Science, received funding for his project, "Database Development and Computer Analysis of Raman Spectra for Real-Time Identification of Cancer Tissue." Collaborators on this project include Greg Auner, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering; Michael Klein, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine; Cheng-Zhong Xu, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering; and Hao Ying, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

John SantaLucia, Department of Chemistry, College of Science received funding for his project, "A New Software Platform for Structural Bioinformatics of Nucleic Acids." Collaborators on this project include: Christine Chow, Department of Chemistry, College of Science; Philip Cunningham, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science; and Bernhard Schlegel, Department of Chemistry, College of Science.

Le Yi Wang, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, received funding for his project, "Real-Time Medical Information Processing: Smart Monitoring, Diagnosis, Decisions, and Beyond." Collaborators on this project include Howard Normile, Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences; Hong Wang, Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine; Cheng-Zhong Xu, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering; Yong Xu, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering; and George Yin, Department of Mathematics, College of Science.

Hao Ying, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, received funding for his project, "Development of a Multidisciplinary Research Program in Information-Based Decision-Making Technology with Biomedical and Industrial Applications." Collaborators on this project include Daniel Barth-Jones, Center for Healthcare Effectiveness Research, School of Medicine; Jonathan Cohn, Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine; Lawrence Crane, Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine; Feng Lin, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering; and Rodger MacArthur, Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine.