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The report is a celebration of scholarship that highlights the innovative research, and scholarly and creative activities that were conducted by UMassD students, faculty, and staff despite the pandemic.

Dear Colleagues,

I am truly excited to present the ½ûÂþÌìÌà Annual Research Report 2020, a celebration of scholarship that highlights the innovative research, scholarly and creative activities that were conducted by ½ûÂþÌìÌà students, faculty, and staff.

Academic year 2019-20 was an important one for ½ûÂþÌìÌà research as we celebrated six research­ers that were elevated as fellows of prestigious professional societies and ½ûÂþÌìÌà received the single largest award in its history, a $4.57M grant from the Office of Naval Research to the Marine and Undersea Technology program. This was followed by another $4.2M in September of 2020. These funds have supported 20 different research projects of Naval relevance involving 34 faculty members and 40 graduate and undergraduate scholars. Partnering with our faculty on these projects are researchers from five other universities, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC, Newport), and marine technology industry collaborators.

Our campus continues to focus on establishing ½ûÂþÌìÌà as an important partner in the South Coast through discovery, applied research, and innovation for a better future. The stories and highlights in this report are but a sample of the scope and impactful work that was conducted since Fall 2019. Despite the challenges that we faced due to a global pandemic, ½ûÂþÌìÌà leadership remained steadfast in their commitment to supporting scholarship in every form through seed funding programs, increased supports for grant and faculty development.

Supporting scholarship, like all successful ventures, is a team effort and I am deeply grateful for my team members in the Office of Research Administration, Environmental Health and Safety, Research Compliance, Research Support, and Office of Technology Commercialization and Ventures for everything they do to advance our campus.

As you read through this report, I hope you gain new insight into the tremendous research opportunities at ½ûÂþÌìÌà that will shape our region, Commonwealth, and beyond.

Sincerely,

Ramprasad Balasubramanian, Ph.D. Vice Provost for Research and Academic Affairs

Director, Marine and Undersea Technology (MUST) Research Program

Professor, Department of Computer and Information Science