Dr. Amy B. Chan Hilton, Ph.D.

Research

Dr. Chan Hilton's current research areas include faculty development, organizational change, and engineering/STEM education.

• Systems thinking for problem-solving in higher education
• Student retention and success
• Capacity building in faculty development and organizational change
• Increasing the adoption of evidence-based instructional practices
• Adaptation of Groundwater Physical Models and Activities for Introduction to Environmental Engineering

Dr. Chan Hilton's disciplinary research interests involve systems analysis of large-scale and complex systems that focuses on environmental impacts. Her current focus is the energy and the environment as well as nanomaterials and composite materials and the environment. She also has expertise in the development of genetic algorithms for the optimization and analysis of groundwater management and remediation systems under uncertainty.  She also is interested in the application of optimization to the analysis of natural attenuation systems and optimal design of long-term monitoring systems and to other environmental systems.  In addition, Dr. Chan Hilton has interests in the application of genetic algorithms and other evolutionary computing methods to design optimization and decision-making processes in other engineering fields.

• Optimization of groundwater systems under uncertainty using evolutionary computation and artificial intelligence
• Environmental impact of energy systems
• Groundwater flow and contaminant transport modeling
• Environmental systems analysis and Life cycle assessment
• Sustainability
• Contaminant fate and transport
• Evolutionary computation/artificial intelligence methods for engineering problems
• Analysis of Discarded CRTs in Florida: Volume Projections and Disposal Management Options
• Environmental Impacts of Energy Production Systems: Analysis, Evaluation, Training, and Outreach

External Grants

• Capacity-Building for Transforming STEM Education Through Faculty Engagement in Data Analysis and Learning Communities, National Science Foundation, Award DUE-2021532, $149,952, PI with S. Blunt, K. Draughon, W. Elliott, Z. Mitchell.
• NanoCORE Program, National Science Foundation, Awards EEC-0826585 (Co-PI), $199,874 and 1042086 (PI), $200,009, with O. Englander, M. Zhang.
• Adaptation of Groundwater Physical Models and Activities for Introduction to Environmental Engineering, National Science Foundation, Award DUE-0410916, $97,648, PI.