A University of Arkansas at Little Rock researcher has been named an Arkansas Research Alliance (ARA) Fellow.

Dr. Cang Ye, a professor in the UALR Department of Systems Engineering, was one of five researchers honored during a Thursday, Dec. 10, news conference at the State Capitol building in Little Rock.

The Fellows program, which is in its second year, recognizes research leaders in the state’s five research universities. Chancellors from affiliated universities nominate researchers who receive a $75,000 grant paid over three years. Dr. Alexandru S. Biris, director and chief scientist of the UALR Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences, was UALR’s 2014 ARA Fellow.

ARA created the Fellows program to advance the mission of the alliance “by supporting world-class scholars whose work helps strengthen the competitiveness of the state through university-based research.”

“We are proud to welcome these talented researchers to our Fellows program,” said Jerry Adams, ARA president and CEO. “They represent the exemplary research talent at Arkansas universities and the powerful potential that exists to positively impact economic development, innovation, and advancement in our state.”

Ye continues to draw accolades for his research on robots designed to help people with disabilities. Most recently, he garnered an $820,263, three-year grant from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health. The funds will enable Ye, his team of postdoctoral, graduate, and undergraduate students, and his research collaborator Dr. Yantao Shen at the University of Nevada, Reno, to develop a Wearable Robotic Object Manipulation Aid (W-ROMA) for the visually impaired.

Other researchers who are part of this year’s Fellows program include: Dr. Brandon Kemp, an associate professor in the Arkansas State College of Engineering; Dr. Michael Owens, professor in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and director of the Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Studies; Dr. Jessie J. Walker, interim coordinator of computer science for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff; and Dr. Min Zou, professor of mechanical engineering for the University of Arkansas.

About Arkansas Research Alliance

Founded in 2008, ARA is a 501(c)3 organization governed by a board of trustees comprised of chancellors from Arkansas research universities and CEOs from across the state. The Arkansas Research Alliance (ARA) is dedicated to elevating the fundamental belief that research matters.  Operating as a public-private partnership, ARA invests in research that stimulates innovation, encourages collaboration and strengthens economic opportunity in areas in which Arkansas possesses core competency.