9 projects earned funding from the Dietrich Innovation Initiative

Nine projects earned funding through the Dietrich Innovation Initiative (DI2), a new program for faculty and staff in Pitt’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and College of General Studies.

Bettye J. and Ralph E. Bailey Dean Adam Leibovich announced the new program focused on innovative ideas and ambitious, collaborative projects over the summer.

Three different awards are given: Launch Support, for short-term projects with budgets of $5,000 or less; Major Development, with budgets up to $20,000; and Moon Shot, for major innovative efforts with budgets up to $100,000.

The winning projects and faculty are:

Launch Support

Daydreams: Database of Early Films and a New Research Lab Course

Anna Kovalova

Pitt-Myanmar Education Project

Carey Treado, William Lychack, Veronica Dristas and Emily Rook-Koepsel

A Signal Transducing Covalently Bound Peptide Coating for Titanium Spine Implants

Haitao Liu

Major Development

Advancing Latinx Studies at Pitt

Belkys Torres, David Tenorio, Angie Ocampo-Roland, Lisa Ortiz-Guzmán and Allyson Delnore

Enhancing DRS Accessibility and Resource Standardization in Film Production Coursework and Training Workshops

Sarah Joshi and Tony Balko

Expanding Pitt’s DELF Exam Center: Strengthening Francophone Communities at Pitt and in Western PA

Kaliane Ung, David Pettersen, Brett Wells, Chloé Hogg and Naty Clark

The Overlooked Ecology of Pittsburgh’s Public Stairways

Castilleja Olmstead, Rory Carroll and Kevin Kohl

Moon Shot

Pitt-Cosmic Ray Tracker Experiment (Pitt-CoRTEx): A Modular Detector Experiment for Educational Outreach and Undergraduate Training

Pranava Teja Surukuchi and Tae Min Hong

Transforming Humanities Education in a Time of Gun Violence

Jennifer Waldron, Chloé Hogg, Christopher Nygren and Pernille Røge