LTU gets $400,000 NSF grant to build research infrastructure

SOUTHFIELD-Lawrence Technological University has been awarded a $400,000, three-year National Science Foundation (NSF) Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity (EPIIC) grant as part of a $18.6 million national effort to build research infrastructure at 48 American colleges and universities.

LTU is partnering with three other universities across the United States in the joint project, called Building Institutional Capacity for External Partnerships (BICEP). Each university in the project has received approximately $400,000 to carry out their joint and individual efforts.

"The intent is to make us more active participants in the region's innovation ecosystem, increase industry and innovation partnerships, and to make our efforts more sustainable," said Mark Brucki, LTU associate vice president for economic development, who is principal investigator on the grant. "The NSF EPIIC grant will allow us to get all the policies, procedures, infrastructure and back-office capabilities in place to support more industry-sponsored research. We'll also be training more faculty to be able to engage with more industry sponsored research projects, and most importantly, establish sustained and growing industry partnerships that add value to the regional innovation ecosystem."

Brucki said the grant has three objectives:

Operational Maturity: Establishing and refining internal institutional processes and structures to enable efficient and professional support for external innovation partnerships.

Professional Development: enhancing the knowledge of faculty and staff so that they are equipped to participate in, contribute to, and develop mature technology partnerships with regional companies, agencies and institutions.

Partner Engagement: developing a thoughtful and proactive approach to managing partner relationships and strategically evolving partnerships over time.

Co-principal investigators on the grant are Liping Liu, associate dean for graduate studies and research in the LTU College of Engineering, and Matthew D. Johnson, associate professor and associate chair of the LTU Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.

LTU's partners in the NSF EPIIC BICEP grant are Grand Valley State University, Minnesota State University-Mankato, and Santa Clara (Calif.) University. Brucki said the four universities will share best practices from their research-boosting activities as part of the grant program.

The grant will also see the creation of a University-Industry Advisory Board to help LTU engage with industry in a more relevant and sustained manner. Two of its members will be Cynthia Hutchinson, CEO of the U.S. Center for Advanced Manufacturing, and Maureen Krauss, CEO of the Detroit Regional Partnership.

Maureen Donohue Krauss is CEO of the Detroit Regional Partnership, an economic development nonprofit dedicated to promoting the 11-county Detroit Region to out-of-state and international companies in order to attract new jobs and investment to Southeast Michigan.

"Our colleges and universities, including Lawrence Tech, are one of the Detroit region's biggest competitive advantages and absolutely essential to advancing economic development and innovation," Krauss said. "We look forward to helping increase Lawrence Tech's engagement with industry as we look to drive economic growth and create a more prosperous region and state."

Cynthia Hutchinson is CEO of the U.S. Center for Advanced Manufacturing, a non-profit organization founded in 2022 and headquartered in Troy. They are a primary source and host for industry insights-particularly in the Fourth Industrial Revolution-and diverse voices and collaborations focused on advanced manufacturing in the U.S.

"LTU is poised to make a sustainable significant impact by advancing its research partnerships with industry and providing more STEM talent to the workforce with this grant," Hutchinson said. "The U.S. Center for Advanced Manufacturing commends LTU's efforts to expand its partnerships regionally, nationally and globally. I look forward to helping LTU and advanced manufacturing leaders connect and grow."

Nabil Grace, LTU senior vice president for research and development, added: "This NSF EPIIC grant is a tremendous boost for our faculty and embodies the transformation of LTU into a robust regional and national research center for industry engagement."

For information on the overall federal program that included the LTU grant, visit https://new.nsf.gov/tip/updates/nsf-invests-186m-emerging-research-institutions-grow-their.

Lawrence Technological University is one of only 13 independent, technological, comprehensive doctoral universities in the United States. Located in Southfield, Mich., LTU was founded in 1932 and offers more than 100 programs through its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Business and Information Technology, Engineering, and Health Sciences, as well as Specs@LTU as part of its growing Center for Professional Development. PayScale lists Lawrence Tech among the nation's top 11 percent of universities for alumni salaries. Forbes and The Wall Street Journal rank LTU among the nation's top 10 percent. U.S. News and World Report list it in the top tier of the best Midwest colleges. And LTU is included in the Princeton Review's "The Best 390 Colleges 2025 Edition," a list of the nation's top 15 percent of colleges and universities. Students benefit from small class sizes and a real-world, hands-on, "theory and practice" education with an emphasis on leadership. Activities on Lawrence Tech's 107-acre campus include more than 60 student organizations and NAIA varsity sports.

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