By Michael Douglas,
Since arriving at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) in 2003, Sherri Frizell’s, Ph.D., primary research interest has been on the persistence of African Americans and females in STEM, primarily focusing on K-12 and undergraduate initiatives. Thanks to a $954,000 award from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the associate professor of computer science at PVAMU is expanding her efforts to the graduate level.
“We are excited to receive this new S-STEM award from the National Science Foundation in collaboration with Rice, Jackson State, and Texas Southern,” Frizell shared.
The four universities have teamed up for this $5 million grant for the project, ‘Improving Access to Career and Educational Development [I-ACED] for Talented, Low-Income Students through the Flexible Internships-Research-Education Model.” Frizell’s award is for $954,605, which will allow her team to provide scholarships to low-income students at PVAMU to pursue a master’s degree in computer science and engineering.
“While scholarships may remove the financial burden of graduate education, we’ve long recognized at PVAMU that scholarships aren’t enough to guarantee success for low-income or minority students,” said Frizell. “We believe this unique partnership will allow us to collectively build a program that supports the student’s successful matriculation through the graduate programs and into the workforce.”
PVAMU’s Division of Research & Innovation (R&I) welcomes the news of this new NSF grant and its new partnership with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg, Mississippi, which will allow students to witness first-hand the research being applied to real engineering problems.
Joining Frizell for her research project are co-principal investigators Kiran Bellam, Ph.D., a computer science associate professor, and PVAMU Professor in Transportation Engineering and Texas A&M Regents Professor Judy Perkins, Ph.D., P.E.
“The research component of the project focuses on understanding how the teams from the various partner institutions function collaboratively on a common goal,” the computer scientists said. “I am most looking forward to this partnership and the collective ideas on structuring a holistic program that supports low-income and minority student success in graduate school.”
This type of award and the partnerships align with R&I Vice President Magesh Rajan’s goal of elevating Prairie View A&M’s research profile.
“I am excited about this opportunity for Dr. Frizell and her team and for the future impact this grant award brings to PVAMU’s burgeoning sponsored research portfolio,” said Rajan. “As an aspiring, emerging research institution, this NSF S-STEM program will improve workforce development and innovation, particularly for talented and low-income students. In addition, this partnership offers more research experience to our graduate students and may likely inspire our master’s students to pursue their Ph.D. at PVAMU.”
Although Frizell’s grant begins October 15, she already has a long-term vision for the impact the grant would have.
“This award is a great opportunity for students in engineering to obtain their master’s degree,” she said. “The College of Engineering has a five-year BS/MS program that many students don’t take advantage of due to funding limitations. This project will allow us to increase the number of domestic students, particularly African-Americans, enrolled in our graduate programs.”
The grant will support 220 students from low-income backgrounds seeking master’s degrees in engineering, computer science, mathematics, and data science. Students will select from among disciplines in one of three technical tracks: biotechnology, sustainability, and resilience, and digital twinning, a virtual model technique that uses real-time data to support simulations and decision making. The technical tracks were chosen because of their connections to ERDC’s strategic plan and their prominence as areas of national need.