News Story

Clark School Leads Major Defense Research

Clark School faculty are leading two 2008 Department of Defense (DoD) Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives (MURIs) and are participating in a third.

The professors and their projects are:

• Rama Chellappa (electrical and computer engineering), for remote multi-modal biometrics for maritime domain
• John G. Leishman (aerospace engineering), for Rotorcraft Brownout
• John Baras and Anthony Ephremides (both of electrical and computer engineering and the Institute for Systems Research) are involved with another MURI on stochastic control of multi-scale networks.

MURI is a multi-agency program overseen by the DoD and comprising three awarding offices: the Army Research Office, the Office of Naval Research and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. This program supports multi-disciplinary basic research in areas that have potential both for defense and commercial applications. Each MURI grant is awarded for a research proposal led by one institution. However, a MURI award typically involves multiple institutions with researchers drawn from a variety of science and engineering disciplines.

The MURI program supports multidisciplinary research in areas that intersect more than one traditional science and engineering field. The highly competitive awards are for up to five years -- a three-year base period with a two-year option. Proposals were solicited in 18 topics important to the Department of Defense, with a total of 104 proposals received. The winning proposals were selected for funding based on merit review by panels of experts in the pertinent science and engineering fields.

March 27, 2008