Past Catalyst Grantees

Grantee: Adam Storts, Department of PA Medicine

This Catalyst-funded project brings handheld ultrasound devices into the Physician Assistant curriculum to expand hands-on training in point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS). By removing reliance on shared equipment, PA students gain more equitable access to real-time scanning practice—strengthening their skills, building confidence, and better preparing them for clinical settings.

Through integration with the EMSono digital platform, students can practice, assess, and refine their sonography techniques in a digitally immersive, inclusive learning environment. With minimal ongoing costs and strong alignment with workforce-ready training goals, this innovation enhances both learning and long-term curriculum sustainability.

Grantee: Erin L. Bunting, Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences

This Catalyst-funded project brings Virtual Field Trip Experiences (VFTEs) to life through 360° imagery, drone footage, GIS story maps, and interactive learning activities that bridge classroom theory with real-world landscapes. Students in ISS205 and other geography and social science courses will explore Michigan’s diverse environments—urban zones, wetlands, farmland, and more—without ever leaving campus.

By fostering spatial thinking, digital literacy, and critical analysis, VFTEs increase accessibility to field-based learning, breaking down barriers tied to cost, mobility, and scheduling. These immersive, inquiry-based experiences not only enhance interdisciplinary education across the College of Social Science but also set a new standard for experiential digital learning at MSU.
 

Grantee: Jean Hardy Bohaczek, Media & Information

This innovative Catalyst project empowers studentsGrantee: Jean Hardy Bohaczek - Media & Information to design inclusive technology solutions for agricultural communities using LoRa-based IoT sensors that monitor soil, air, and environmental conditions across rural and urban landscapes. Through hands-on design challenges in courses like MI 401 and MI 844, students will explore real-world agricultural and food system issues—merging digital innovation with community-centered problem solving.

By embedding affordable, open-source technologies into the curriculum, the project fosters systems thinking, digital equity, and student innovation while preparing learners to address the complex needs of underserved communities. Partnerships with local farms and hands-on prototyping ensure that students engage with pressing ecological challenges while developing practical, inclusive solutions.

Grantee: Laura Freidhoff, College of Human Medicine, Office of Medical Education Research and Development

This Catalyst-funded project uses applied theatre to bring ethical complexity, humanism, and professionalism to life for medical students across Michigan. Through filmed, emotionally rich clinical scenarios—such as caring for patients with disabilities, facing moral injury, and navigating end-of-life decisions—students will engage in empathetic, grounded discussions no matter where they train.

Designed for MSU’s community-based medical curriculum, these performance-based learning tools foster psychological safety, deeper reflection, and equitable access to critical patient care experiences that are otherwise rare or unpredictable. With reusable videos, annotated discussion guides, and a scalable model, this project offers a sustainable, emotionally resonant method for embedding ethics into clinical training.

Grantee: Allen H. Sheffield from UHW Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities (RCPD)

MSU’s Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities is launching a pilot of Glean for Education, a digital notetaking platform that integrates audio recording, live transcription, organization tools, and AI study features to support students with disabilities. By providing transferable licenses and guided support, the project aims to streamline academic accommodations, reduce the need for multiple assistive technologies, and foster more inclusive, independent learning experiences across campus.

With embedded analytics, student feedback, and a robust evaluation plan, this pilot will determine whether Glean should become a permanent assistive tech solution at MSU—paving the way for equitable access in the classroom and beyond.
 

Grantee: Charles Moulding, Romance and Classical Studies (RCS)

This Catalyst project will launch MSU’s first Augmented & Virtual Reality lab designed to support Spanish language learners with interactive, low-anxiety environments for practicing real-world conversations. By offering preloaded VR headsets and a secure lab space, students in SPN 202 can immerse themselves in culturally rich, AI-driven simulations that boost vocabulary, reduce performance anxiety, and foster greater confidence in language acquisition.

The lab promotes accessibility and innovation by reducing the financial and spatial barriers to VR technology while exploring long-term applications across RCS and beyond. From navigating immersive travel simulations to interacting with avatars in Spanish, this initiative merges language pedagogy with cutting-edge digital tools.

Grantee: Kin Sing Stephen Lee, Pharmacology and Toxicology

This project brings cutting-edge industry tools to the classroom by incorporating virtual reality software Nanome into MSU’s drug discovery and medicinal chemistry course. Students will explore protein-drug interactions in immersive 3D environments, helping them grasp the complex structure-activity relationships (SAR) essential to modern pharmaceutical innovation.

With support for lectures and team-based projects, this initiative equips students—especially non-chemistry majors—with industry-relevant, future-ready skills and reduces barriers to understanding 3D molecular design. By experiencing firsthand how structural changes impact drug efficacy, students will build both confidence and career readiness.

Grantee: Patton M. Allison, Mechanical Engineering - College of Engineering

The Department of Mechanical Engineering’s aerospace concentration is taking flight with an innovative approach to experiential learning. This Catalyst-funded project integrates 3D printing, CAD design, and simulation-based analysis into two core aerospace courses—Aerodynamics (ME 441) and Propulsion (ME 440).

Students will apply real-world engineering principles through hands-on projects, including a 3D-printed glider design competition and a rocket nozzle simulation challenge. By designing, testing, and iterating their models, students will gain deeper insights into aerodynamics and propulsion while developing valuable digital design and problem-solving skills.

With cloud-accessible 3D printers available at no cost to students, this initiative ensures equitable access to cutting-edge learning tools. By blending theory with application, the project prepares students for the evolving aerospace industry, bridging classroom knowledge with practical engineering challenges.

Grantee: David Baylis Catalyst, College of Social Science - Center for Integrative Studies 

This Catalyst-funded project is redefining how students engage with place and community by integrating GoPro ethnography and digital mapping tools. Through immersive video storytelling and qualitative GIS, students in this course will explore social spaces in Lansing and East Lansing, mapping both commonly and less commonly recognized elements of community life.

Using Social Explorer, ArcGIS Online, and Final Cut Pro, students will create empathetic mental, physical, and digital maps that reflect diverse identities and perspectives. The goal is to enhance civic engagement and place connection by seeing the world through different lenses—literally and figuratively.

By combining technology with ethnographic research, this project challenges traditional ideas about mapping, deepening students’ understanding of how social and political factors shape the spaces we navigate daily.

Grantees: Susan Bonner and Celeste Campos-Castillo, Department of Media and Information in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences

This Catalyst-funded project is bridging the digital divide by providing mobile technology that enables students to co-create universally designed mental health screening tools for autistic adolescents. Through collaborative research and peer learning, students will use high-powered mobile devices, animation software, and augmented reality tools to design more inclusive and accessible mental health assessments.

By integrating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, this initiative ensures that the mental health screening tools are accessible to individuals with diverse cognitive, visual, and hearing abilities—allowing all users to experience and interact with the tools simultaneously and equitably.

The mobile tech cart funded through this grant will eliminate barriers to participation by providing students access to essential technology for research, game design, UX testing, and augmented reality projects. This project not only enhances digital equity in the classroom but also transforms the accessibility of mental health care for neurodiverse populations.

Grantees: Jinjie Liu; Christoph Benning, Biological Sciences Program; MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory

This Catalyst-funded project is transforming undergraduate research by developing an interactive digital platform for a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) in cell and molecular biology. Through this initiative, students will engage in authentic research by screening plant mutants, contributing to an evolving database of discoveries, and analyzing real-world data—all within a structured, collaborative learning environment.

The new CURE website will:

• Host student-generated research data, allowing future students to build on past discoveries.
• Enhance course learning by integrating real research findings into instructional materials.
• Serve as a digital reference book, making essential biology concepts and lab protocols more accessible.
• Foster a research community, extending beyond the classroom to connect students, faculty, and researchers.

By bridging classroom learning with hands-on discovery, this platform promotes inclusivity, collaboration, and scientific engagement, ensuring that students from all backgrounds can contribute meaningfully to research while enhancing their academic and career trajectories.

Grantee: Natalie Vandepol, Broad College

This Catalyst-funded project is piloting Tailored Tutor, an AI-driven Socratic tutor designed to provide personalized learning support in foundational accounting courses. Unlike traditional AI tools, Tailored Tutor guides students through problem-solving rather than simply providing answers, helping them develop critical thinking skills while reinforcing course concepts.

With plans to expand from advanced accounting (ACC 300) into large-enrollment courses (ACC 201 and 202), this initiative aims to:

• Enhance student success by offering adaptive, on-demand learning support outside of class hours.
• Reduce opportunity gaps by providing private, personalized assistance—particularly benefiting first-generation and underrepresented students.
• Improve student engagement and performance through AI-powered interactive learning tailored to course content.

By leveraging AI to scale personalized support, this project is setting the stage for a more inclusive, accessible, and effective learning environment—one where every student has the tools they need to succeed.

Grantee: Sheri K. Lewis, African American and African Studies

This Catalyst-funded project brings project-based learning into African American and African Studies (AAAS) courses by integrating digital magazine-making as a creative and analytical tool for students. Through hands-on experience with storytelling, graphic design, photography, and digital media tools, students will transform their coursework into published digital and print magazines that explore social identity, justice, and cultural narratives.

By using Adobe InDesign, Canva, ProCreate, and AI-powered design tools, students will:

• Develop technical skills in digital media, graphic design, and visual storytelling.
• Engage with course concepts through a creative, project-based learning model.
• Advance social justice initiatives by documenting and amplifying Black stories and experiences.
• Foster interdisciplinary collaboration across media, design, and the humanities.

The culminating magazine launch event will showcase student work to the broader MSU community, ensuring real-world impact beyond the classroom. This project not only enhances student engagement and creativity but also preserves Black narratives through digital archiving, empowering students to see themselves as scholars, artists, and changemakers.