Results of the 2014 CoLab Call for R&D Projects at UT Austin

18 Aug 2014

The UT Austin|Portugal Program is pleased to announce the research projects that will receive funding from its 2014 Call for R&D Projects at The University of Texas at Austin.

The call funds collaborative research between faculty members and researchers at UT Austin and Portuguese universities in four academic areas:

• Digital Media
• Mathematics
• Advanced Computing
• Emerging Technologies (Nanotechnology)

This call is a complement to the separate FCT call for R&D projects based in Portugal, the results of which will be announced soon.

The projects will sponsor researchers at UT Austin and at Portuguese institutions and will be supported with funds allocated to The University of Texas at Austin through the CoLab program. Here are the selected projects.

Phase Transitions and Free Boundary Problems

University of Texas at Austin:
Luis Caffarelli (PI), Alessio Figalli, Alexis Vasseur, Clint Dawson, Francesco Maggi

Instituto Superior Técnico (IST):
Juha Videman, Margarida Baía, Farid Bozorgnia (postdoc), Léonard Monsaingeon (postdoc)

The University of Coimbra:
Dmitry Vorotnikov, José Miguel Urbano (co-PI), Anderson Maia (PhD student)

"Phase transitions and free boundary problems cover a wide range of applications, from segregation dynamics to the evolution of fluid liquid interfaces, tumor growth, ground pollution invasion with obstacles, gas, water and oil flow in porous media and adsorption processes in subsurface environments. This project brings together a significant effort of applied non-linear analysts and numerical and scientific computing experts in the areas of non-linear and non-local Partial Differential Equations. A close synergy between analysts and numerical experts is crucial for its success, which requires the development of new and non- standard numerical techniques for modelling the phenomena under study."

Roots and Wings: Glocalized Networks and Mobile Media Entrepreneurship in Austin and Lisbon

University of Texas at Austin:
Wenhong Chen, Sharon Strover, Joseph Straubhaar, Artur Matos Alves, Kye-Hyoung Lee (PhD student), Xiaoqian Li (PhD student), Hogeun Seo (MA student)

University of Porto:
José Azevedo, Nuno Moutinho, Raquel Meneses, Carlos Figueiredo (PhD student)

Atlântica University:
Artur Matos Alves

"Synthesizing literatures in sociology, management, and media studies, this project centers on how entrepreneurs in the mobile media industry leverage digital media technologies and glocalized networks for starting up, product development, marketization, and innovation. A cross-disciplinary team with rich experience in entrepreneurship research and practice will use a comparative mixed-method design to collect interview, survey, and digital trace data in Austin and Lisbon. Insights gained will have policy and practical importance."

MRI-Based Computational Modeling of Blood Flow and Nanomedicine Deposition in Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease: Insights into Disease Management

University of Texas at Austin:
Thomas J.R. Hughes, Shaolie S. Hossain

Instituto Superior Técnico (IST):
Adelia Sequeira

"The main objective of this work is to develop a computational toolset for simulating vascular hemodynamics and predicting the accumulation of nanomedicine in superficial femoral arteries of patients affected by Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD)."

Development of Scaffolds for Regenerative Medicine by Molecular Imprinting

University of Texas at Austin:
Nicholas A. Peppas (PI), Amey Puranik (postdoc), Heidi Culver (graduate student), John Clegg (graduate student)

University of Minho:
Rui Reis, Manuela Gomes

University of Porto:
Pedro Granja

"The main goal of the overall project is to design and test new scaffolds for improved regenerative medicine (RM) applications. The specific goals of the work to be conducted by the University of Texas at Austin team are the molecular design of novel biomaterials based on polymeric networks that are produced by molecular imprinting of cells on polymer surfaces. These recognitive biopolymers will be designed, characterized and tested in Austin and they will be used for biological and tissue engineering applications at the University of Minho and the University of Porto."

Additive Manufacturing of Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) for Dental Applications

University of Texas at Austin:
Carolyn Conner Seepersad (PI), David Bourell

University of Aveiro:
Paula Vilarinho

"Additive Manufacturing (AM) is widely used to create molds for casting dental implants and crowns that are customized for individual patients. However, it is not typically used to create permanent dental surfaces directly (without a mold), which would make the process much more efficient. The objective of the proposed research is to design and provide proof-of-concept for an additive manufacturing technique - based on indirect selective laser sintering of nanostructured yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) powders - for fabricating customized ceramic dental components directly, without a mold."