Thayer School of Engineering recently secured nearly $2.5 million in grants to fund research projects focusing on sports-related concussions, Arctic sea ice behavior and real-world business skill development, Thayer Dean Joseph Helble said in an interview with The Dartmouth. Thayer’s ability to receive grant funding in such a “competitive environment” is a testament to the creativity and research skills of various faculty members, Helble said.

“This recent record of success shows we have faculty with a range of exciting ideas and they are fortunate to receive due recognition,” he said.

The National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment will fund a two-year, $1.3 million research initiative between Thayer, Dartmouth Medical School and the Lebanon-based injury prevention company Simbex to investigate the cause of concussions and mild brain injuries in contact sports, according to co-principal investigator Thomas McAllister, a DMS psychiatry professor. The initiative was announced Sept. 15...

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement awarded Thayer a three-year contract totaling nearly $500,000 to conduct a study on how Arctic sea ice fractures as it flows in open waters, engineering professor and Director of the College’s Ice Research Laboratory Erland Schulson said...The study of “what the force of ice really is” helps to better predict ice forces on engineered structures and answer questions regarding the production of fossil fuels and other energy resources, according to Schulson...

The Partnerships for Innovation program sponsored by the National Science Foundation has awarded Thayer $600,000 of funding for candidates in Thayer’s PhD Innovation Program...The program is a separate track within the engineering program that provides students the opportunity to develop entrepreneurial skills to enable them to “bring research discoveries into marketable technologies,” Helble said.

The program provides students up to five years of academic support—two years funded by research with an advisor or through a fellowship and up to three years of unrestricted program funding—to develop skills needed for the commercialization of students’ ideas, Helble said.