The Success in Multidisciplinary Research award is given to a team of faculty members in more than one academic college who have succeeded in gaining major external resources and recognition for multidisciplinary research.
Healthy Environment Team
Nina Fefferman
Nina Fefferman is a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Mathematics departments. She uses mathematical modeling to explore the behavior, evolution, and control of complex systems in areas ranging from evolutionary sociobiology to epidemiology to cyber-security. Fefferman is passionate about communicating the beauty of mathematics as a tool to make people’s lives better.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
Qiang He
Qiang He is a professor of environmental engineering. Working toward the goal of “healthy environment,” his recent endeavors have focused on the development of multidisciplinary research efforts to address “wicked” problems at the intersection of environment and health, such as the transmission of COVID-19 and healthcare-associated infections.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
The Volunteer Spirit has motivated my voluntary work to support research and development for local businesses, including technical support for innovative algae bloom control technology development by an East Tennessee small business, which has great potential in the conservation of environmental health in impaired waterbodies. The multidisciplinary team has volunteered to work with local communities, schools, and state agencies on multiple outreach projects toward healthy environments.
Mingzhou Jin
Mingzhou Jin directs the Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment at UT. He is a true believer in interdisciplinary research and is interested in sustainability, climate change, advanced manufacturing, energy efficiency, supply chain, logistics, transportation, optimization, and data analytics.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
A volunteer means true caring about others, our society, and next generations. UT provides such a wonderful environment to encourage multidisciplinary research.
Shuai Li
Shuai Li is an assistant professor of civil engineering. He focuses on creating advanced digital twin, cyber-physical systems, and artificial intelligence techniques to make the built environment smart, safe, sustainable, healthy, and human-centric. He also develops advanced robotic technologies to reshape future work at the human-technology frontier.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
Being a Volunteer, I found that UT has cultivated an excellent inclusive and collaborative environment to support multidisciplinary and convergence research, and to enable faculty members from different disciplines to work synergistically to pursue big ideas and initiatives.
Xueping Li
Xueping Li is a professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, co-director of the Health Innovation Technology and Simulation (HITS) Lab, and the director of the Ideation Laboratory (iLab) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
Being a Volunteer means the willingness to serve and the dedication to what we believe. I have the privilege to collaborate with talented people at UT and together, and hopefully, we have made a difference.
Jun Lin
Jun Lin is a microbiologist and professor in the Department of Animal Sciences. His research is primarily focused on molecular mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis and antimicrobial resistance. His laboratory has a strong “One Health” emphasis on the interface of livestock, wildlife, environment, and human health.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
I am proud of being a Volunteer to contribute positivity to the society with strong responsibility. I have been blessed to work with the strong UT community, which is stimulating and enables me to continue to follow my dreams.
Jindong Tan
Tami Wyatt
Tami H. Wyatt is the College of Nursing’s Torchbearer Professor, associate dean of research, and the co-director of the Health, Innovation and Technology Simulation (HITS) Lab. She works with engineers, graphic designers, and design thinking strategists to create and test innovative solutions in healthcare.