President's Report - Johnson C. Smith University

President’s Report 2010-2011Dr. Magdy Attiaprovides guidanceto a student in theMultidisciplinaryAppliedComputationalModeling andSimulations Lab.6Smith Institute of Applied Research opens new labNow in its third year, the Smith Institute of AppliedResearch has established a significant presence for ourfaculty and students in the applied and theoreticalresearch institute communities. The University isactively collaborating with the Santa Fe Institute,ranked as one of the top 10 research facilities in theworld. As an invited participant, the University seeksto develop funded partnership with the United StatesDepartment of Education’s Institute for EducationSciences in applied quantitative and qualitativeeducational research methods.The University opened a fully instrumented, stateof-the-artMultidisciplinary Applied ComputationalModeling and Simulations (MACMAS) lab forundergraduate students and JCSU faculty. TheMACMAS lab supports faculty-led student researchin collaboration with major research institutions,including the University of North Carolina atCharlotte and the North Carolina Biotech ResearchCampus. The lab opening was attended by the headsof research for the United States Department ofEducation and the executive director of the WhiteHouse Initiative for HBCUs. Other key attendeesincluded the vice president of the Santa Fe Institute,heads of university research departments throughoutthe Southeast region, rural and small city schooldistrict leaders, along with JCSU board members,distinguished alumni, faculty, staff and students.Smith Institute for Applied Research has developedand funded approximately $250,000 for faculty andmentored student research over the past two years. Thefunds also cover paid student-level applied researchinternships.