Eyal Amitai, associate professor in the department of physics, computational science and engineering, will bring three large grants to Chapman in July 2009.

Amitai received a $327,000 grant from NASA in 2007, a $97,288 grant from the National Science Foundation in September 2008 and a subaward of $53,480 from UC Irvine from a NASA grant in August 2008.

The subaward is shared by Amitai and Soroosh Sorooshian, a professor at UC Irvine, for their collaboration in the study of rainfall using satellite data.

The grants were awarded for three different projects on the same topic – estimating and observing rainfall using a satellite that carries weather radars. Amitai’s project, titled “Utilizing the National Network for Statistical Verification of Satellite Rainfall Estimates,” is the first project to receive a NASA grant at Chapman, according to the Chapman Web site.

Grants typically last for three years, but the subaward with UC Irvine will last for five years, according to Amitai. He is working as a university employee at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. After also working at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., Amitai was hired by Chapman in July 2008.

His main reason for coming to Chapman was to work with undergraduate college students, he said.
Amitai feels that it will be a valuable experience for students to work on a specific project, such as studying the differences between ground and satellite radars, which predict the weather.

“All my life [in the U.S.], I was related to a campus. What I would like to have is a research program where students can help, study and work on these research issues,” said Amitai.

Giving undergraduates the opportunity to work with prestigious professors is something that is not usually offered at larger universities, according to Mary Platt, director of communications and media relations.

Professors of this caliber typically have graduate students teach their courses, she said.


Contact this reporter: caroline.stegner@thepantheronline.com