Funding & Awards
The College of Engineering and Computer Science and the Institute for Sensing and Embedded Network Systems Engineering (I-SENSE) are pleased to host the FY 26 Seed Funding Opportunity. The program is open to all full-time university faculty. Proposals are sought to support the establishment of research collaborations that lead to externally funded programs. The goal is to enable proposing teams to engage in proof-of-concept designs, preliminary studies, infrastructure building, and other activities that will set the foundation for new research programs that will attract significant external funding and national recognition. Proposals must be distinct from existing, well-established research activities.
The total funding available under this program is $200,000 and we will entertain any requested budgets below $25K. Faculty members may participate in multiple proposals, but may only serve as lead investigator on one submission. Funding may not be used to displace state funds (e.g., faculty salary), and indirect costs should not be included. Successful teams are expected to demonstrate the technical foundation and organizational structure necessary to submit a competitive grant application. All funding must be expended by June 28, 2026; absolutely no exceptions will be made (scope should be appropriate). Failure to submit a competitive application following award acceptance may disqualify participating faculty from future solicitations.
Timeline:
- Submission Date: July 14, 2025 by 5:00pm; Five-page proposals are due
- Decision Announcement: July 30, 2025: Funding will be available by August 1st
- All funding must be expended by June 28, 2026; absolutely no exceptions will be made (scope should be appropriate)
Proposal Format
Font size no less than 11 pt., total length 5 pages including budget, budget justification, figures and reference
- Project Title
- Project Team
Names, email addresses, departments - Introduction and Objectives
Motivation, intellectual merit, broader impacts - Project Plan
Technical plan, anticipated outcomes, schedule - External Funding Opportunities
How the proposed work increases the likelihood of external funding.
Primary and secondary funding program targets - References
- Budget and Budget Justification
Submissions
Submitted proposals will be reviewed by a primary team of reviewers from across the university followed by a secondary review by the College of Engineering and Computer Science and the Institute for Sensing and Embedded Network Systems Engineering. Proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. on the submission date listed above. Late or incomplete proposals will not be considered.
If you have any questions please contact: Dr. Javad Hashemi, Associate Dean for Research
P: 561.297.3438
E: jhashemi@fau.edu
The College of Engineering and Computer Science and the Institute for Sensing and Embedded Network Systems Engineering (I-SENSE) sought proposals to support the establishment of multidisciplinary collaborations that lead to externally funded research programs. The goal was to enable proposing teams to engage in proof-of-concept designs, preliminary studies, infrastructure building, and other activities that will set the foundation for new research programs that will attract significant external funding and national recognition. Successful proposals were distinct from existing, well-established research activities. The total funding available under this program was $200,000, and eight submissions were awarded funding.
Through the Division of Research, I-SENSE began a new funding program designed to support collaborative student research projects. We sought proposals from student teams to engage in multidisciplinary efforts that have the potential for significant societal impact. The most important outcome of a successful project funded through this program was the demonstration of a well-documented application, system, or device prototype that has the potential to significantly benefit society.
Successful teams were awarded funds for materials, supplies, software license, and other services to support their projects. The awardees will conduct their projects in the Sensing and Smart Systems Innovation Laboratory, with access to all available facilities. Mentoring and engineering support is also being provided through I-SENSE. Congratulations to all of the awardees!
Title: Scan2Make: Evaluation of the Efficacy of Custom Fit in FDM Prosthetic Devices through Use of Portable Scanning Technology
Team Members: Willard Bachli, Roberto Sanchez, Michael Padron, Charles Perry Weinthal, Leonardo Rivas, Antwan Hoyte
Amount: $1,650
Description: This project will investigate the ability to design a custom fit prosthetic device, made for users with an acquired or congenital amputation, by using portable 3-D scanning technology and computer-aided design.
Title: GeoReferenced Augmented Reality Utilities App (GARUA)
Team Members: Jason Blakenship, Debojit Biswas
Amount: $1,499
Description: This app will allow users to identify the location of underground utility lines by simply using a smartphone or tablet.
Title: EEG-Based Emotional State Classification of Passengers in an Autonomous Vehicle Stimulator
Team Members: Corey Park, Shervin Shahrdar
Amount: $1,484
Description: The team members will evaluate real time self-driving cars (SDC) passenger emotional responses through electroencephalography analysis of passengers in a SDC stimulator.
Title: SAE Drive Optimization System
Team Members: Richard Nelson, Tais Kraljevic, Jhairus Lewis, Brandon Nava
Amount: $1,025
Description: By researching, designing and constructing a system to collect data and trigger outputs, using various sensors (including accelerometers, potentiometers, and other sensors), the team aims to fine-tune the design and build of their electric vehicle.
Title: A Sensor-Based, Dynamical Systems Approach to Guiding Therapeutic Interactions
PI: Paul Peluso
Amount: $20,313
Description: The research project is an extension of observational research into the therapeutic relationship, conducted in the Department of Counselor Education, that relies on the notion of synchrony to quantify emotional valence in both directions of the dyad. The project aims to provide new insights into the dynamics of therapist-client interactions, and ultimately, to guiding those interactions to successful outcomes.
Title: Human Aspects of Autonomous Driving
PI: Mehrdad Nojoumian
Co-PI: Dimitris Pados
Amount: $25,570
Description: The investigators will explore how to establish, sustain and rebuild (in the case of incidental failures) trust between humans and autonomous systems. They will perform experiments and look at the interaction between humans and their autonomous testbeds under the lens of trust in a controlled setting. They will develop a reflective module with three operation modes in the software system that controls the autonomous system.