Centers & Institutes

The Advanced Materials Research Institute (AMRI) is a multidisciplinary institute that provides a unique environment integrating academic, private, and government sectors in the conception and development of novel research programs. The general focus of AMRI researchers is on materials science and nanotechnology.

Director: Dr. John Wiley
Telephone: 504-280-6840
Fax: 504-280-3185
Email: amri@uno.edu

Website

Special Research Capabilities: The AMRI research laboratories are located in the Science Building at the University of New Orleans, where 10,000 square feet of ample wet and dry laboratory space and over $10.0 M in specialized scientific research instrumentation is available for our research. The majority of our research is conducted at our AMRI facilities by scientists, post-doctoral researchers, and graduate students who are developing and working on their research programs. Some components of the research are conducted in the laboratories of our research collaborators at other academic institutions and industrial laboratories.

The mission of Center Austria is to direct international student and faculty mobility between the University of New Orleans and universities in Austria. Center Austria promotes the communication and extension of Austrian and Central European culture through scholarly and artistic activities and academic partnerships. Center Austria is based on more than three decades of cooperation with the University of Innsbruck and a Sister-City Agreement between the Cities of Innsbruck, Austria, and New Orleans, as well as a new partnership agreement with the University of Graz, Austria.

Associate Director: Dr. Marc Landry
Assistant to the Director: Gertraud Griessner
Telephone: (504) 280-6141
Email: mdlandr1@uno.edu

Website

The Center for Hazards Assessment Response & Technology (CHART) is an applied social science hazards research center that collaborates with Louisiana communities emphasizing coastal communities including the City of New Orleans.

Director: Dr. Monica Farris
Telephone: 504-280-4016
Fax: 504-280-4023
Email: chart@uno.edu

Website

The focus of UNO-CHART is to support Louisiana community sustainability in light of natural, technological, and environmental risks to which the state is vulnerable. The Center undertakes applied social science research to understand ways in which Louisiana communities and the coastal region respond to these risks; assists in the development of best practices for reducing risks; and helps in implementing these practices to achieve comprehensive community sustainability.

The second focus of UNO-CHART is to learn about and help mitigate the reverse dynamic—the impacts of community activity (social, political, economic) on the ecosystems within the coastal and southeast regions of the state.

Areas of Expertise: Specialties of staff and associated professors include sociology, geography, political science, urban studies, planning, and relevant bio/physical sciences and engineering.

Special Research Capabilities: Currently, CHART research projects address repeated flood loss, disaster mitigation planning, developing of community resiliency assessments, storm mitigation efforts by coastal communities, scientist/community collaboration on ecosystem health, community continuity, risk literacy, and risk management.

The UNO Cyber Center (UNOCC) is dedicated to research and instruction in the broad area of Information Assurance (IA). The primary research agenda of the UNOCC includes development of state-of-the-art, high-performance tools for digital forensics investigation, reverse engineering, techniques for analysis and mitigation of malware, secure programming, and research in spatio-temporal information systems for homeland security.

Director: Dr. Vassil Roussev 
Telephone: 504-280-2405
Fax: 504-280-7228
Email: vroussev@uno.edu

The UNOCC has several interrelated missions, including facilitating interaction between government, industry, and academia to perform cutting edge research in IA; attracting federal funding to support these research efforts; attracting and retaining highly-qualified students, staff, and faculty; and workforce development through creation of specialized training opportunities. The Center also develops outreach programs to increase awareness of opportunities in IA in a number of communities from high school students to entrepreneurs. Finally, the UNOCC will provide a development environment where, in collaboration with industry and government agencies, research ideas in IA are grown into real-world security tools to be used in daily practice.

Special Research Capabilities: The UNOCC laboratories include state-of-the-art computer equipment running a wide variety of open source and commercial software for digital investigation, reverse engineering, and the analysis of malicious software, in addition to specialized equipment such as hard drive analyzers and clean room facilities.

The Institute for Economic Development & Real Estate Research combines the resources of the Center for Economic Development and the Real Estate Research Center to provide technical assistance and applied research for public, private, and nonprofit organizations throughout its service area.

Interim Director: Dr. Robert C. Penick
Telephone: 504-494-2864
Email: rcpenick@uno.edu

Website

The Joseph Canizaro and James Livingston Gulf States Center for Environmental Informatics (GulfSCEI) is the first in Louisiana and the broader Gulf States region to focus on the science of information applied to environmental science. The Center will focus on a broad area of Environmental Informatics (EI), applying environmental numerical modeling, machine learning techniques, and advanced Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) combined with Semantic Web Services to develop smart environmental decision support systems for the sustainable management of marine fauna, risk mitigation, and environmental monitoring.

Director: Dr. Mahdi Abdelguerfi
Telephone: 504-280-6594
Fax: 504-280-7228
Email:  mahdi@cs.uno.edu

Website

The main goal of the Center is to advance educational, research, and development efforts in EI, involving faculty, staff, students, and non-academic personnel—such as personnel from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF); the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), New Orleans District; and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi—in its endeavors.

The Hospitality Research Center (HRC) is a Louisiana Board of Regents Center. The HRC provides a variety of research services to local and state hospitality and tourism organizations. These services include but are not limited to, Visitor Profiles, Special Events Impact on the Economy, Tourism Industry Salary Surveys, and Tourism Indicators.

Director: Dr. Yvette Green
Telephone: 504-280-6820
Email: ygreen@uno.edu

Website

The Ethel and Herman L. Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies promotes understanding of the city’s history and culture, with an emphasis on civil rights. It supports new scholarship on New Orleans and fosters interdisciplinary collaboration and community partnerships that promote public engagement and support the cultural life of the city.

Director: Dr. Mary Niall Mitchell
Telephone: 504-280-7137
Fax: 504-280-6883
Email: midlocenter@uno.edu

Website

The Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Science (PIES) provides data and information critical for effective management and restoration of coastal and estuarine resources, with an emphasis on the Pontchartrain Basin—a natural resource of vital economic, social, aesthetic and cultural importance to the New Orleans metropolitan area and the State. PIES also supports an active teacher and K-12 education program that focuses in increasing understanding of coastal systems and how they can best be managed.

Director: Dr. Mark Kulp
Telephone: 504-280-1170
Email: mkulp@uno.edu

Website

Areas of Expertise: The Institute is designed to foster interactions among professionals with expertise in basic and applied environmental research and those skilled in environmental management, social sciences, and policy. The Institute works in partnership with both academic and non-academic institutions to provide information critical for the development of effective strategies to support sustainable management of natural resources. Researchers work locally in the Pontchartrain Basin, across coastal Louisiana, and on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.

Special Research Capabilities: Faculty have developed the first long-term database on the natural resources, water quality, biota, and environmental challenges in the Pontchartrain Basin. Faculty are involved in the development of models and decision support tools to make scientific information more accessible to managers, as well as field data collection and monitoring.

The UNO Transportation Institute (UNOTI) conducts educational and research activities in key areas relating to the movement of passengers and freight with special emphasis on disaster evacuation, maritime and intermodal transportation, finance, public transit, active transportation, and transit-oriented development.

Director: Dr. Bethany Stich
Telephone: 504-280-6520
Fax: 504-280-6272
Email: bstich@uno.edu

Website

The Institute, through its diverse activities, continues to promote innovative policies and practices for the users and providers of transportation at local, state, national and international levels.

Special Research Capabilities: Collectively, UNOTI faculty and staff represent expertise in a wide array of transportation disciplines. UNOTI provides specialized research in the areas of national and international maritime systems; marine terminal facility planning and assessment; maritime economics; freight and passenger rail infrastructure development; transportation finance and economics; transit-oriented development; public transit system planning and development; active transport planning/implementation as well as the linkages between transportation, the environment and land use.

Director: Dr. Chris Surprenant
Telephone: 504-280-6819
Email: greaux@uno.edu
Website: UEPI

The Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) is a consortium of marine scientists across more than two dozen member institutions. As the hub of this consortium, LUMCON can draw from a wide variety of resources and expertise, ultimately serving as an incubator and leader for marine science in Louisiana, throughout the Gulf of Mexico, and across the globe.

UNO Contact: 
Carol Lunn
Assistant Vice President of Research and Economic Development
504-280-7155
clunn1@uno.edu

Website

LUMCON’s strength is that it serves as a center for the synthesis of ideas and data, yet is also equipped with the tangible laboratory and field-based equipment and facilities to bolster scientific progress. LUMCON has the diversity of tools and knowledge through Consortium partnerships to find solutions to problems facing coastal Louisiana, the Gulf of Mexico, and ocean ecosystems at large.

Special Research Capabilities: LUMCON offers a number of resources to scientists and educators interested in coastal and open-ocean ecosystems:

• One of the largest fleets of research vessels in the Gulf of Mexico.
• LUMCON’s main facility, the W. J. DeFelice Marine Center, which contains laboratory, classroom, office, library, dining, dormitory, and recreational areas.
• Meeting facilities, including a 100-seat, multi-configuration auditorium; 80 bed-capacity dormitories; and full-service dining facilities.
• The Fourchon Lab, a 10-acre field facility with laboratory and office space and a boat dock that can sleep up to 16 people.
• The LUMCON Library, which is perhaps the best source of marine-related journals in the state and includes excellent online and interlibrary loan capabilities.
• Historical and real-time data on local environmental conditions.
• The only academically-based AAUS-certified Dive Safety Program and Officer in Louisiana.
• A variety of tanks, aquaria, and mesocosms in customizable, controlled or natural conditions.

The National Center for Advanced Manufacturing (NCAM) is a partnership of the University of New Orleans (UNO), the UNO Research & Technology Foundation, National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), Louisiana State University (LSU), and the State of Louisiana. NCAM is a research and production center focused on applying advanced manufacturing technologies to lightweight metallic and composite materials for use in aerospace and adjacent industries.

UNO Contact:
Carol Lunn
Office of Research
research@uno.edu

Website

The facilities at the center focus on the following advanced manufacturing processes: friction stir welding, automated fiber placement, high speed machining, non-destructive evaluation, and dimensional inspection.

Areas of Expertise: NCAM also has a strong educational role, sponsoring a coalition of seven Louisiana research universities - UNO, LSU, Tulane University, Southern University, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, McNeese State University, and Louisiana Tech University - to develop advanced materials and manufacturing technologies. In partnership with UNO, the center sponsors STEM K-12 outreach initiatives and workforce development programs. NCAM facilities are available for school field trips and offer hands-on courses and training for researchers, college and university students, and members of advanced manufacturing industries.

Special Research Capabilities: Located within the Michoud Assembly Facility, NCAM consists of 80,000 sf of high bay manufacturing space which houses large scale, multi-axis robotic equipment and deepwater access that enables transportation of large space systems and hardware. NCAM equipment is available at no cost for University research efforts and at a daily rate for commercial or industry use.