Wallis Receives UTA CARES Innovation Grant

Dr. Kendra Wallis has been awarded a UTA CARES Innovation Grant for her project, “Materials and Nanomaterials for the Energy Supply Chain.” Wallis, an associate professor of instruction in UTA’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, received the grant to develop a cutting-edge and student-focused open textbook for undergraduate and graduate students. 

The UTA CARES Grant Program, managed by UTA Libraries, helps educators adopt and create open educational resources (OER), which are free course materials that are licensed so others can revise and reuse the content. Wallis’ project will save students enrolled in the Materials for Energy (MSE 4355/5355) course $180 in textbook costs beginning in Fall 2022.  

In addition to saving students money, Wallis’ project will allow students to engage with the course materials and guide the creation and ongoing development of the OER. Wallis plans to keep the OER current and relevant to student learning outcomes by developing assignments that ask students to interact with and comment on the textbook. Questions about the course materials and new topics of interest identified by the students will then be incorporated into the OER for future semesters. 

The no-cost Materials for Energy course is expected to have multidisciplinary appeal, and in her application, Wallis stated, “The project will provide multiple benefits to students who take the course, who will then extend that benefit to the employers and colleagues they work with in the future.” 

Congratulations to Dr. Wallis!