{"674860":{"#nid":"674860","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech to Strengthen Nation\u2019s Faculty Development in Geospace Science","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s Colleges of Engineering and Sciences have been\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=2347873\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Echosen by the National Science Foundation (NSF)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E to hire a new faculty member focused on solar-terrestrial science and space weather research. The NSF is prioritizing a national need in geospace physics and selected Georgia Tech from a pool of national universities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSpace weather has many societal implications, including dangers to the power grid, the aviation sector, satellite lifetimes, communications, and navigation,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ece.gatech.edu\/directory\/morris-b-cohen\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMorris Cohen\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E and the grant\u2019s co-principal investigator. \u201cHowever, the number of qualified graduating students interested in this area is not sufficient to meet the future demand. This is especially true as the generation of professionals trained during the space race of the 1960s and \u201870s continues to retire.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENSF will fund the position for five years and $1.5 million. The grant is led by \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/our-leadership\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESusan Lozier\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, dean of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECollege of Sciences\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E and Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair. She and Cohen are joined by \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/about\/leadership\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERaheem Beyah\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, dean of the College of Engineering and Southern Company Chair, and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\/directory\/person\/edgar-glenn-lightsey\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGlenn Lightsey\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, the John W. Young\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EChair in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGuggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering (AE)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe two Colleges relied heavily on their strength in space research and Georgia Tech\u2019s culture of multidisciplinary collaborations in the NSF application. These traits will allow Georgia Tech to conduct a unique search process. Instead of one unit making the hire as is typical in higher education, leaders from four schools will team up with the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E for the search process. It\u2019s an approach that addresses a nationwide problem in the field.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cDecades ago, space physics largely fell within electrical engineering,\u201d Beyah said. \u201cThese days, it\u2019s highly interdisciplinary and typically has no true home \u2014 faculty are often scattered across aerospace engineering, applied physics, and earth sciences.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyah said that a few universities have a large cluster of space physics faculty as a result. Many others have none. He said this limits the pipeline of future space science professionals because a substantial fraction of students has little or no exposure to the field.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech is right in the middle, with a presence in solar-terrestrial science and space weather research but not a large cluster of faculty members. The new hire will allow Tech to reach more students interested in the field.\u0026nbsp;Georgia Tech also pointed to its\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.vip.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EVertically Integrated Projects program\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E as a mechanism to get many new students involved in the new hire\u2019s research.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EAccording to Lozier\u003Cstrong\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003Esolar-terrestrial science and space weather encompass at least four buckets: advanced theory and simulations that span the extremes of physics; big data and machine learning; innovative tools to collect new types of measurements; and operational needs in industry and defense, which motivate translation of research into real-world practice.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis breadth has hampered faculty growth in this area, as it has other interdisciplinary research fields like quantum computing and neuroscience,\u201d Lozier said. \u201cThese areas straddle pure science and engineering, which often are separate in university hierarchy. We believe these interdisciplinary aspects of geospace science should be celebrated. More importantly, we believe they can be turned into a strength.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERepresentatives from AE, ECE, GTRI, the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and the School of Physics will form the hiring committee. The hire will complement Georgia Tech\u2019s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/feature\/space-research\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFebruary announcement of a new Space Research Initiative\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. Once the NSF-funded position is filled, the Colleges will collectively fund and search for a second faculty member in the field.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"With NSF support, Colleges of Sciences and Engineering will collaborate to hire a researcher focused on solar-terrestrial science and space weather."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWith NSF support, Colleges of Sciences and Engineering will collaborate to hire a researcher focused on solar-terrestrial science and space weather.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"With NSF support, Colleges of Sciences and Engineering will collaborate to hire a researcher focused on solar-terrestrial science and space weather."}],"uid":"36583","created_gmt":"2024-05-22 20:04:58","changed_gmt":"2024-05-24 19:24:09","author":"lvidal7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-05-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-05-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"674059":{"id":"674059","type":"image","title":"Aurora from Space","body":null,"created":"1716408750","gmt_created":"2024-05-22 20:12:30","changed":"1716408750","gmt_changed":"2024-05-22 20:12:30","alt":"Aurora from Space","file":{"fid":"257527","name":"Aurora Earth Crop.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/05\/22\/Aurora%20Earth%20Crop.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/05\/22\/Aurora%20Earth%20Crop.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":265336,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/05\/22\/Aurora%20Earth%20Crop.jpg?itok=ceML8SQt"}}},"media_ids":["674059"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"594","name":"college of engineering"},{"id":"193743","name":"Geospace Science"},{"id":"179380","name":"space weather"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"9153","name":"Research Horizons"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJason Maderer\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003EDirector of Communications\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003ECollege of Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}