Professor's proposal earns science grant

Ortega

Joseph Kenneth Ortega, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado Denver, has received a three-year grant of $239,162 from the National Science Foundation for a proposal titled "An Investigation of Biophysical Variables in Stiff and Hypertropic Mutant Sporangiophores of Phycomyces Blakesleeanus." In his previous research, Ortega has derived, developed and established quantitative biophysical equations to describe the expansive growth of large cylindrical single-celled sporangiophores of Phycomyces blakesleeanus and other cells with walls, i.e., algal, fungal, and plant cells. His current research objective is to gain insight into the relationships between the biophysical variables and associated biological processes that control expansive growth and growth behavior by using mutant sporangiophores that exhibit abnormal growth behavior.