ODU Engineering Faculty Participate in Seminar Offering Expertise on Seeking Research Funding

January 21, 2015

Ganesh Raman

Seminar was not the appropriate word to describe the event that took place in the auditorium of the Old Dominion University's E.V. Williams Engineering and Computational Sciences Building on Friday, Jan. 16. It could be better be described as an open, collaborative discussion, designed to inspire and inform faculty and staff about the complex challenge of getting research funded.

The ODU Research Foundation and ODU Engineering welcomed Ganesh Raman, Deputy Vice-President for Research at the Illinois Institute of Technology and professor of mechanical, materials and aerospace engineering, for a faculty workshop on strategies for a successful university research program.

The address was the first in a series of interactive research symposiums that will be hosted in 2015 by the Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology, with a goal of developing, increasing and improving research productivity.

Dean Oktay Baysal of ODU Engineering welcomed attendees to the first of these faculty series events, saying he hoped participants would share an "enjoyable Friday morning" of research expertise.

The workshop was interactive in nature. Raman urged the audience to participate in his presentation, entitled, "Strategies for a Successful University Research Program: Raising stature in an era of declining funding."

Among the topics covered were the use of mentors, business-oriented practices, and perseverance. Raman said that the last topic - perseverance - was among the most important for university researchers to remember.

Raman has more than 25 years of experience working with industry, academia and the U.S. government. Prior to joining the Illinois Institute of Technology, he worked at NASA for 14 years, and has consulted for 15 years with both small and large businesses. He has more than 100 publications in the areas of acoustics and flow control to his credit that have appeared in conference proceedings and leading scientific journals.