Engineering students soon will get the chance to perform advanced research, thanks to a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
The NSF announced Wednesday it will fund four new national Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers for a five-year period. The University, along with the California Institute of Technology, the University of Oklahoma and Pennsylvania State University, will house a new center.
The University will use the federal funds to open a facility for nanoscopic design, which will allow researchers to assemble materials and electric devices atom by atom, said Hayden Wadley, associate dean of research for the Engineering School.
These atoms are one-thousandth the size of a human hair, Wadley said.
"This science enables you to control precise shape and composition of devices - electric, biological and medicinal," he said. "This will be the poster child of the nanotechnology program at the University."
Gene Block, vice president for research and public service, said the area of nano-technology is very important to the field of engineering today.
"The presence of a center will provide research funds for faculty and students," Block said. "This center will provide the most sophisticated equipment possible."
Wadley agreed the presence of a nanotechnology center could help make the University a world powerhouse in the field.
Since the grant is effective immediately, officials said plans are underway for a new building to house the center permanently.
Program coordinators are looking into funding options for construction of a new building between the material science and chemical engineering buildings, Wadley said.
Both undergraduate and graduate students will have center access, Block said.
Ninety-two institutions originally applied for the NSF grants for materials science research, and 30 of those applicants were invited to turn in complete center proposals, NSF spokesperson Amber Jones said.
Of those final applications, four institutions received the new centers, and 11 current centers received additional grants, Jones said. Because the grant is renewable, the University could apply for further funding in five years.
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