{"id":154277,"date":"2026-02-06T22:12:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T22:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/154277\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T22:12:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T22:12:07","slug":"investigation-clears-utep-professor-in-nsf-aerospace-grant-but-el-paso-loses-major-funding-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/154277\/","title":{"rendered":"Investigation clears UTEP professor in NSF aerospace grant, but El Paso loses major funding opportunity"},"content":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Daniel Perez<\/a><\/p>\n

February 6, 2026<\/p>\n

Sign up for essential news<\/a>\u00a0about El Paso. Delivered to your inbox \u2014 completely free.<\/p>\n

A nearly two-year investigation found no wrongdoing in a grant application that led to a potential $160 million award for a UTEP-led collaboration to expand aerospace manufacturing in the El Paso region.<\/p>\n

The finding by the National Science Foundation Office of the Inspector General comes too late to save the grant, which was\u00a0suspended when the investigation began<\/a>\u00a0in April 2024, and\u00a0killed last year<\/a>\u00a0after the money was reallocated for other programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not substantiate the allegations,\u201d said a Feb. 4 letter from NSF OIG Special Agent Martha Cusack to Ahsan Choudhuri, the now-retired professor who was the principal investigator and driving force behind the grant.<\/p>\n

NSF-Choudhuri letter<\/a><\/p>\n

Choudhuri said the vindication did not surprise him because he knew he had done nothing wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very, very happy,\u201d he said when contacted about the results of the NSF review.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While happy with the news, Choudhuri\u00a0 said he mourned the loss of the NSF grant and the deterioration of the associated projects that were part of a transformational economic development plan for the region, and the loss of \u201chis baby,\u201d the University of Texas at El Paso\u2019s Aerospace Center, which he founded.<\/p>\n

He blamed UTEP President Heather Wilson for this situation, calling her \u201ca nasty, corrupt politician.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wilson is a former congresswoman from New Mexico and was secretary of the Air Force during the first Donald Trump administration. She also is a member of the National Science Board, which oversees the NSF.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my mind this was disruption by corruption,\u201d Choudhuri said during a phone interview with El Paso Matters. He later added, \u201cI demand an apology because the allegations were false and were designed to destroy everything I had built.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said he has moved on and is ready to do bigger and better things for El Paso. He incorporated a company, ARC Aerospace in June 2024, and already is working on government contracts alongside many of his former students who worked at the Aerospace Center.<\/p>\n

Choudhuri said he celebrated the NSF news with his employees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m committed to my community,\u201d Choudhuri said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

UTEP officials didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment on the NSF decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An NSF spokesman did not respond to questions about the investigation process and the availability of documents tied to the review. He said the agency declined comment for this story.<\/p>\n

The National Science Foundation awarded an El Paso coalition led by UTEP one of 10 Regional Innovation Engine grants\u00a0in January 2024<\/a>. The grant could have earned the region as much as $160 million through 2034 if the partners achieved certain metrics.<\/p>\n

The grant was celebrated by El Paso leaders who called it a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape El Paso\u2019s economy. The grant called for building out an aerospace sector that would help small businesses grow and provide jobs for young El Pasoans who now leave the community in search of better economic opportunity.<\/p>\n

UTEP began auditing Choudhuri\u2019s grant application in March 2024, and stated that the application misstated resources UTEP could make available for the grant. Choudhuri has repeatedly denied that.<\/p>\n

The NSF never said what claims it was investigating, but UTEP\u2019s internal audit came at the same time the NSF suspended the grant.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wilson stripped Choudhuri of his associate vice president title in May 2024, though he remained a member of the mechanical engineering faculty until retiring in December 2025. The same day Choudhuri was demoted, the university sent a letter to the NSF outlining the findings of its internal review of the grant proposal.<\/p>\n

Choudhuri demotion letter<\/a><\/p>\n

In Wilson\u2019s May 6, 2024, demotion letter to Choudhuri, she stated the university became aware of \u201cquestionable commitments\u201d included in the proposal that had been submitted Jan. 18, 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The letter questioned the availability of \u201ccurrently available resources,\u201d including a number of hangars at the Fabens (Texas) Airport and the use of 8,000 acres of test facilities for unmanned aerial vehicles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wilson wrote that those commitments were inaccurate and that neither of those statements were corrected \u2013 claims Choudhuri has denied and which the NSF inspector general apparently did not substantiate.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result of this conduct, the University has lost confidence in your suitability to lead,\u201d Wilson wrote in her letter to Choudhuri.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is a developing story and will be updated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by\u00a0Daniel Perez February 6, 2026 Sign up for essential news\u00a0about El Paso. Delivered to your inbox \u2014 completely…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139],"class_list":{"0":"post-154277","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-el-paso","8":"tag-el-paso","9":"tag-el-paso-headlines","10":"tag-el-paso-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}