RICHARDSON, Texas (May 3, 2006) — The Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) has won a three-year, $506,000 award from the United States Department of Education to fund graduate fellowships in computer science and software engineering.

 

The fellowships will provide need-based assistance for tuition and other expenses for four to six Ph.D. students over the period of the grant.  The Jonsson School will provide matching funds as required by the Department of Education, which will assist another four Ph.D. students.

 

“These new fellowships will be a great help in recruiting some of the best and brightest graduate students to the Jonsson School, and move us closer to our goal of becoming one of the top 50 engineering and computer science schools in the country,” said Jonsson School Dean Dr. Bob Helms.

 

The federal funding comes from the Department of Education’s Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) program, whose objective is to increase the number of graduate students, researchers and faculty members in critical fields such as the sciences, mathematics, computer science and engineering.  The university’s match of the GAANN funds was made possible by a major economic development project involving Texas Instruments, the State of Texas and The University of Texas System, through which UTD is to receive up to $300 million in public and private funds to expand and improve the Jonsson School.

 

“GAANN is a highly competitive program, which makes our selection for funding all the more gratifying,” said Dr. Gopal Gupta, professor and associate head of computer science and one of six principal investigators, or grant recipients, for the award.

 

The other principal investigators, all of whom are in the Jonsson School, are Dr. D. T. Huynh, professor and head of computer science; Dr. Sook Kim, the school’s assistant dean; Dr. Rym Mili, associate professor of computer science;  Dr. Simeon Ntafos, professor of computer science; and Dr. Kang Zhang, professor of computer science.

 

According to Gupta, at least two members of the UTD computer science faculty were GAANN fellows during their graduate education – Dr. Jason Jue, associate professor, and Lawrence King, senior lecturer.

 

About UTD

 

The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor, enrolls nearly 14,500 students.  The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores.  The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs.  For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s website at www.utdallas.edu.