National Science Foundation Supports Florida Techs “Creativity in Physics”

MELBOURNE, FLA. — The National Science Foundation (NSF) is funding projects that further the understanding of how innovative and creative activities take
place. In support of increasing software tools for aiding such activities, the NSF has awarded a $99,000 grant to Florida Tech associate professor of
computer sciences, Debasis Mitra. His project is titled, “Creativity in Physics.”
“It appears that the companies that consciously invest in innovation are more productive than the ones who do not,” said Mitra. “In this project I will try
to computationally model the creative activities of the physicists using an algorithmic approach called constraint reasoning.”
Mitra teaches a course on that subject and his research area is related. Faculty members from the Florida Tech Department of Physics and Space Sciences and
the School of Psychology are helping Mitra in his project.