Edward Mansouri, a Tallahassee-based entrepreneur and Florida State University alumnus will be recognized tonight with the FSU Office of Research Community Partner of the Year award during the university’s annual Research Recognition Dinner event.
Mansouri is receiving the award based on his substantial contributions to the FSU research community and his continuing efforts to inspire and train future generations of scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs.
“Ed is that rare type of person that every university wishes could be in their corner,” said Vice President for Research Gary K. Ostrander. “His passion for FSU is palpable and his desire to see our research community thrive is inspiring.”
The Community Partner Award was created to recognize the efforts of local community members who volunteer to work alongside the FSU Office of Research to help promote and improve university research projects. The award is given annually during the Research Recognition Dinner event held each spring.
“Whether it is the technology he donates to the university, the time he invests in helping our Coastal and Marine Laboratory succeed or any of the other myriad of ways he gives back to his alma mater, I cannot thank him enough for his involvement,” Ostrander said.
Mansouri’s contributions to FSU research are significant.
He recently created WeatherSTEM, a K-12 education platform that blends weather, agriculture, astronomy and marine science curriculum with live data from scientific instruments known as WeatherSTEM units. He has donated four of these units to FSU and has donated units to K-12 schools in each of Florida’s 67 counties in an effort to make ordinary weather information intriguing and introduce students to science using real data.
Over the past two years Mansouri has served on the FSU Coastal and Marine Laboratory’s (FSUCML) Board of Trustees where he has provided guidance and expertise as the lab seeks to expand its research capabilities and its regional footprint. The FSUCML conducts innovative, interdisciplinary research focused on the coastal and marine ecosystems of the Wider Caribbean that contribute to solving the ecological problems of the region.
Mansouri also has been intricately involved in FSU’s Autism Navigator project, providing both business and technical help for the web-based instructional system developed by FSU Distinguished Research Professor of Clinical Sciences Amy Wetherby. Autism Navigator addresses the pressing need to increase the capacity of early intervention service providers to appropriately serve young children with autism spectrum disorder.
“I am blessed to have the opportunity to work alongside some of our nation’s top researchers who happen to be based at the university I love in the city I call home,” Mansouri said. “I am grateful for the friendships I’ve formed with dynamic leaders like Dr. Gary Ostrander, Dr. Felicia Coleman, and Dr. Amy Wetherby, and I value the trust they’ve bestowed upon me to work alongside them in some of their exciting and important endeavors.”
Mansouri is the CEO and Founder of Ucompass, a Tallahassee-based company that designs e-learning software, which has been used by millions of teachers and students including the Florida Virtual School. He holds Bachelor of Science degrees in both environmental engineering and meteorology from Pennsylvania State University as well as a master’s degree in meteorology from Florida State University.