Dr. Govind Menon, director of Troy University’s School of Science and Technology, was honored on Wednesday with the Chancellor’s Award of Distinction in Sponsored Programs for his successful grant-writing efforts in 2018.

The presentation was made during the University’s 27th annual Sponsored Programs Recognition Luncheon on the Troy Campus.

Dr. Menon received a $3.2 million grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the largest ever received by the University within the science disciplines. The three-year grant will help to establish the Center for Materials and Manufacturing Sciences, which will focus on research in the areas of polymers and polymer recycling.

The grant enables the University to purchase lab research equipment, provide scholarships for students and provide support for research and the management of the center, which will be a part of TROY’s School of Science and Technology. The University will convert existing classroom space to laboratory space to accommodate the research efforts.

The center will also help prepare the next generation of the workforce for the industry. Students trained at the center will be engaged in real life/real time industry projects.

In all, 184 faculty and staff members were recognized during the luncheon for grant-writing efforts pursuing more than $29 million. To date, these efforts have received more than $23 million in funding with an additional $1.3 million still pending.

“We’ve come a long way from when we gathered for that first luncheon where we commended 33 of our colleagues for receiving $1.2 million in funding,” said Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., Chancellor. “Today, we celebrate the tremendous growth of our Sponsored Programs efforts, but it isn’t all about the dollar figures. Life is about relationships, and it is through these efforts to develop those partnerships that the impact of Troy University continues to grow and be felt in the communities we serve.”