Dr. C. Nataraj Receives $1 Million Grant from Office of Naval Research
Dr. C. Nataraj is the current Moritz Endowed Professor of Engineered Systems at Villanova, as well as the director of the Villanova Center for Analytics of Dynamic Systems.
The mission of the U.S. Navy is to protect America at sea. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is calling on a Villanova professor to improve the safety and performance of its ships and submarines.
C. Nataraj, PhD, professor of Mechanical Engineering, has received a $1 million grant from the ONR to continue developing and improving dynamic systems on Navy ships.
Dynamic systems can involve any part or task of a ship. With this grant, Dr. Nataraj will combine physics and artificial intelligence (AI) along with sensor data to enable the prediction for countless number of unpredictable scenarios ships may face and optimize the functionality of these vessels. Research on this four-and-a-half-year project began in September and will involve graduate and undergraduate Villanova students.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at developing much more accurate ways of modeling complex naval systems,鈥� Dr. Nataraj said. 鈥淧redicting how well they behave, what they do and what they can deliver, in order to predict an overall ship or submarine performance, is a vital process.鈥�
Dr. Nataraj says predictions and adjustments play a big role in developing efficient systems, so the length of this ONR grant will allow for more success.
鈥淪etbacks are a reality in any fundamental research, and you can鈥檛 always recover from them in six months,鈥� he said. 鈥淗aving a grant for a longer period of time enables you to provide a solution to a long-term project.鈥�
Dr. Nataraj is the current Moritz Endowed Professor of Engineered Systems at Villanova, as well as the director of the Villanova Center for Analytics of Dynamic Systems (VCADS). He has received more than $14 million in funding over the course of his career, and this ONR grant is among the single largest research awards.
鈥淚t does wonders to your self-confidence, knowing you鈥檙e on the right track,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t makes you feel good, it makes the students feel good鈥攅verybody is more energized to do the work.鈥�