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��ɫֱ��’s Division of Research and Sponsored Programs is hosting the fifth installment of the Research and Innovation Forum speaker series on Feb. 22. The forum will take place at University Library in the First Floor Garden Room from 4-6 p.m. and will feature three speakers. Each speaker has 15 minutes to present what excites them most about their research. Attendees will have an opportunity to interact with the speakers during the post-forum reception.

The Division of Research and Sponsored Programs started the Research and Innovation Forum series as part of its efforts to build a stronger research culture at ��ɫֱ��. The series aims to bring scholars together to learn about research ventures across the university.

Doug Delahanty, associate vice president for research faculty development in the Division of Research and Sponsored Programs, points out that the forum has become a resource for faculty.

“Faculty have specifically requested programs like the forum so that they can gain a better understanding of the scholarship that their colleagues are engaged in,” Delahanty says. “Attendees frequently comment on how impressed they are to learn about all the great research being done at ��ɫֱ�� and how impressed they are with colleagues in areas different from their own.”

This forum’s speakers are Margarita Benitez, associate professor of fashion technology, discussing “Research and Collaboration in an Art and Design Practice”; Angela Ridgel, associate professor of exercise science and physiology, presenting “Can Exercise Promote Rewiring of the Injured Brain?”; and Antal Jakli, chemical physics professor, speaking on “Biomimetic Robots Using Liquid Crystal Rubbers.”

The speakers are chosen through nominations and self-nominations and are selected so that each forum consists of speakers representing diverse areas of research.

Dan Pompili, marketing and public relations communication specialist in the Division of Research and Sponsored Programs, says he believes that the most important element of the forum series is the opportunity it presents to facilitate conversations that could lead to research collaborations.

“Many faculty work on similar or related topics but don’t know what other members are doing, and that limits ��ɫֱ��’s potential to leverage the minds and talents of our research faculty as well as we would like,” Pompili says. “As we like to say here at Research and Sponsored Programs, ‘Innovation Occurs Where Fields Collide.’”

Learn more about the Research and Innovation Forum