Kalpana Katti will visit the offices of U.S. senators and representatives in Washington, D.C. this week to discuss the importance of federal research funding and its potential for spurring economic activity.
Katti is an NDSU University Distinguished Professor of civil and environmental engineering. She is one of only 19 researchers from around the country who will meet with members of Congress and their staffs as part of the Materials Research Society's Congressional Visits Day. Katti also participated in 2014.
Katti said declining federal research funding has negative consequences for U.S. citizens, and she plans to localize that message in the meetings with North Dakota representatives.
"NDSU is an economic engine, and with relatively small amounts of funding we can generate economic impacts for the state that are much greater than initial investments."
Katti’s research relates to biomaterials, biomimetic nanotechnology, clay fluid interactions and clay nanocomposites. One of the projects she will highlight as an example of federal funding at work is a cross-disciplinary project on bone tissue engineering that involves NDSU and Sanford Health researchers.
She and her colleagues are developing a process for growing bone tissue using a biodegradable mesh to facilitate cell growth. This would benefit people who, for example, are wounded in battle or have been in a vehicle accident and have lost large segments of bone or need a new joint such as a hip. Currently, all that can be done is to insert an artificial hip. They’re trying to create a way to enable the person to grow new bone instead.
In addition to visiting the offices of North Dakota’s senators, Sen. John Hoeven and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, Katti will be paired with a researcher from another Midwestern state and will visit the offices of its delegation, as well.