news on the hill $600,000 National Science Foundation grant funds scholarships Bellarmine’s chemistry, physics, technology, engineering and mathematics programs received a boost from the federal government in September, with a $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to support 20 scholarships for prospective students intending to study those subjects. “This grant allows some of the area’s brightest young minds in chemistry, physics, math and technology to study those sub- jects as part of a well-rounded liberal arts education at Bel- larmine, and to find jobs in the community after they gradu- ate,” said Dr. Joseph J. McGowan, Bellarmine’s president. The total cost of the program is $2 million over five years, with the university providing the remaining funds. “Strategic investments in education are critical to our eco- Dr. Akhtar Mahmood nomic future,” said Congressman John Yarmuth, who joined McGowan in announcing the grant. “I’m proud to support pare our local students for careers of the future, but will also National Science- new scholarships at Bellarmine that will not only help pre create opportunities for them to lead the next generation of The funding supports programs designed to ensure Foundation innovation and scientific breakthrough.” student success, including faculty mentoring, peer tutoring must maintain a minimum grade-point average and meet ‘big data’ grant and career counseling. Students who receive the scholarships other academic requirements. “This NSF grant will have a considerable impact on our physics department and help us attract highly qualified stu- Dr. Mahmood recently authored another successful dents from Louisville and throughout the region,” said Dr. National Science Foundation grant, this one to est- Akhtar Mahmood, associate professor of physics at Bellarm- ablish a state-of-the art advanced visualization and ine and the grant’s primary author. computational lab. The lab will enable large-scale, data-intensive research in high energy physics, using Watch. Follow. Friend. mine University’s supercomputer.a 16-foot-wide tiled display wall connected to Bellar- Dr. Mahmood received the $209,347 grant – the only research instrumentation grant made by the NSF in Kentucky in 2012 – through the NSF’s Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering. facebook.com/bellarmineU “Scientific inquiry in the 21st century will depend in twitter.com/bellarmineU large part on data exploration,” he said. “Using the youtube.com/bellarmineuniversity new visualization system, we can potentially trans- flickr.com/bellarmineuniversity form cyber-learning using ‘big data.’” winter 2013 13
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