This blog printed on 100% recycled electrons.
The U.S. Army has awarded a $525,000, three-year grant to a South Dakota School of Mines & Technology chemistry professor working on “transparent armor.”
David Boyles is working on polycarbonates discovered at the School of Mines that blend to form a clear, tough material. The product could be used in face shields, goggles, aircraft canopies and other battlefield equipment ["Professor Awarded $525,000 for Research," Rapid City Journal, 2008.08.11].
See? Having smart guys sitting around thinking about stuff can really pay off for the local economy. Nice work, Dr. Boyles!
Disclaimer: I am completely biased on this subject because I am a researcher at SDSMT.
ReplyDeleteAgreed CAH, research funding has many purposes and side benefits. At SDSMT, every dollar we bring in is "taxed" for overhead which goes into the schools pot of money. This lowers the necessary amount of state support for the university as a whole (note: all public universities in SD received different amounts of state funding and SDSMT receives the least per student).
After the research dollars are taxed, the majority of each grant is used to hire students to do research. This helps students get through school without acquiring massive amounts of debt unlike other SD public universities.
Additionally, recognize that the state universities here are horribly underfunded (did anyone else notice the North Dakota is investing $20 million per year into their system for research alone?). SDSMT is put into an even worse position because of its technical focus which requires labs/equipment/materials unlike other types of degrees. We frequently need to use our research dollars to just buy equipment to support teaching because the state will not provide it.
Lastly, research also stimulates economic development by spinning off small businesses. There are many small companies in rapid that started as spin offs from research at SDSMT.
"this helps students get through school without acquiring massive amounts of debt..."
ReplyDeleteYou mean the massive amounts of debt largely created by an unrestrained regent system that increases tuition seemingly at whim?
I think it is right for society to fund R&D if that society wants to develop. I don't think the university setting is actually the most effective way to do that though. I don't think it is morally right to have the universities skim off research funding to "benefit" education. If a school is actually underfunded that that is a problem that needs to be dealt with directly, not hidden through a shell-game.