Summary of Engineering Research

Research Centers, Laboratories, and Programs

The major research centers and interdisciplinary programs of the College of Engineering are described in this section. Also included are the university-wide engineering-related centers.

AIR CONDITIONING AND REFRIGERATION CENTER

C. BULLARD, Director
204 Mechanical Engineering Laboratory
105 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801 · 217-333-7734

The Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center has two major goals. The first is to contribute to the technology base for a new generation of equipment that eliminates reliance on refrigerants (CFCs and HCFCs) that have been linked to stratospheric ozone depletion. The second is to provide an opportunity for manufacturers to coordinate research and share results in an increasingly competitive international marketplace. The center works toward these goals through an industrially relevant program of leveraged research. The core research program is approximately $1 million and each company's contribution is magnified twenty- to thirtyfold by funding from the National Science Foundation, the Richard W. Kritzer Endowment, the state of Illinois, and other sponsoring companies. This allows the center to conduct precompetitive research that would be too risky for a single company to undertake alone. Technology is transferred by providing sponsors early access to research results and opportunities to share patent rights. More than a dozen faculty members and about 70 students are involved in the center's research program. Projects underway in three program areas include: fundamental processes local heat transfer and pressure drop, frost formation, viscosities, vapor pressures and densities of refrigerant lubricant mixtures, tribology, and oil circulation; components evaporators, condensers, insulation, tubing, and suction line heat exchangers; systems mobile air conditioning, domestic refrigerators, and room air conditioners. The center was established in 1988 with a grant from the estate of Richard W. Kritzer, founder of Peerless of America, Inc.

AVIATION RESEARCH LABORATORY

C. D. WICKENS, Head
Airport, Savoy, IL 61874
217-244-8617

The Aviation Research Laboratory (ARL) is a unit of the Institute of Aviation, which conducts and coordinates research activities in aviation in all parts of the university. Current research efforts relate to the human factors of cockpit design, pilot performance measurement and training, air traffic control display, and flight deck automation. NASA Ames Research Center has sponsored research to examine the perceptual/cognitive factors in the design of electronic flight instruments and to develop computational models of pilot performance that can be used to facilitate computer-aided design. Research is also being done on the use of advanced display techniques related to color, motion, stereo, and perspective for the design of displays for air traffic control and flight guidance. Research sponsored by the navy examines the differences in visual scanning strategies between novice and expert pilots. Major research interest has focused on use of computers for pilot training. This has included both microcomputers for training procedural skills and high-speed graphics computers for training visual aspects of flight. In the latter effort, the FAA has sponsored research on the visual requirements of flight simulators for effective training. This has been augmented by acquisition of an Evans & Sutherland SPX500 graphics display.

BECKMAN INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

J. JONAS, Director
405 N. Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801
217-244-1176

The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology is an inter- and multidisciplinary research institute devoted to basic research in the physical sciences and engineering and in the life and behavioral sciences. Its primary mission is to foster interdisciplinary work of the highest quality in an environment that transcends many of the limitations inherent in traditional university organizations and structures. Research at the institute focuses on three broadly defined themes: biological intelligence, human-computer intelligent interaction, and molecular and electronic nanostructures. The general goal of the biological intelligence area is to develop understanding of intelligent systems by studying the diverse ways in which neurally based systems become capable of intelligent behavior. Within this area, programs extend from biochemical, molecular, and cellular level studies of how neurons work, through integrative and computational neuroscience, to cognitive science, which seeks to understand how humans process sensory information and represent knowledge. The aim of the human-computer intelligent interaction area is to improve the ways a human operator interacts with a computer by studying not only the input-output techniques, but also the human factors. Within this research theme, programs range from artificial intelligence, robotics, computer vision, cognitive science, and human perception and performance to virtual reality environment experiments carried out in collaboration with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). The objective of the molecular and electronic nano structures area is to develop new approaches leading to electronic devices. Programs range from computational electronics, scanning tunneling microscopy (including lithography and fabrication of semiconductor nanostructures), and photonics, to efforts to synthesize and characterize new materials, including self-organized syntheses of inorganic, organic and biochemical systems. The Beckman Institute has acquired or developed a wide range of state-of-the-art resources supporting this research, including chemistry and robotics laboratories; a scanning tunneling microscopy facility; human subject study rooms; and specialized laboratories for magnetic resonance imaging; scanning force, electron, and confocal microscopy; laser spectroscopy; and digital image processing. Institute researchers are also able to take advantage of NCSA supercomputers, as well as facilities located in the institute, such as the CAVE ®, a virtual reality theater.

BIOENGINEERING PROGRAM

R. L. MAGIN, Chairman
52 Everitt Laboratory, 1406 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61801
217-333-1867

Bioengineering combines the analytical tools and methods of engineering and the physical sciences with details of biology and medicine to provide better understanding of biological phenomena and of living systems, to create new instruments and techniques to deal with biologically and medically oriented problems, and ultimately to improve the human condition. program of bioacoustic studies draws heavily on researchers with backgrounds in electrical engineering, physiology, biophysics, and medicine. Faculty from the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering, General Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Physics, Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Veterinary Biosciences, Veterinary Pathobiology, Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, and Kinesiology are involved in studies of the properties of normal and diseased bones, orthopedic implants, immune response, biomechanics, and medical image processing. Projects dealing with the thermal and electrical behavior of living systems involve mechanical engineers, physicists, biophysicists, physiologists, and anatomists. Other areas of research such as bioinstrumentation, biomaterials, comparative biomedicine, and radiation studies also require researchers with similar interests but differing fields of expertise. Bioengineering has been supported strongly by the university administration and has received a Graduate Training Grant and a National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health. Bioengineering faculty helped to establish and collaborated with a shared bioengineering center, called Biomedical Engineering Systems Team, which provides engineering and technical services to hospitals and clinics in east-central Illinois.

CENTER FOR CEMENT COMPOSITE MATERIALS

J. F. YOUNG, Director
204 Ceramics Building, 105 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801
217-244-6209

The Center for Cement Composite Materials is an interdisciplinary research program that was founded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research as a part of the DOD-University Research Initiative Program. The center is now a major partner in the Center for the Science and Technology of Advanced Cement-Based Materials funded by the National Science Foundation through the Technological Institute of Northwestern University. It is administered through the Department of Civil Engineering. Faculty from the Departments of Civil Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Chemical Engineering, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences are involved in studies of cementitious systems. The center administers laboratory facilities for characterization of powders and porous materials. T he center is dedicated to exploring the potential for developing new high-performance materials based on cementitious reactions. Research projects supported by the center include evaluation of microstructure-property relationships of very low porosity cement matrices, cement- polymer composites, fiber-reinforced cements, new cement chemistries, rheological studies, and modification of properties by using special filler materials and novel processing techniques.

CENTER FOR COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTOR MICROELECTRONICS

S. G. BISHOP, Director
127 Microelectronics Laboratory
208 N. Wright St., Urbana, IL 61801
217-333-3097

The NSF Engineering Research Center for Compound Semiconductor Microelectronics (CCSM) is a part of the College of Engineering and is involved in the cross-disciplinary investigation of new concepts in optical and electronic materials, devices, and systems based on gallium arsenide and other III-V compound semiconductors. CCSM has three goals to develop the engineering science and technology base required to fabricate opto electronic integrated circuits (OEICs) and implement them in optical interconnect systems; to educate engineers in this field; and to effectively transfer this technology to industry. CCSM long-range research is focused on a new generation of high-speed communications and data-processing technology that fully exploits the superior bandwidth, immunity to electromagnetic interference, and connectivity of optical interconnects. In the ultimate realization of the CCSM vision, optical interconnects will be fully implemented as a pervasive alternative to electrical interconnections for digital systems which require high speed and density. OEICs constitute chip-level sybsystems, and their successful development and implementation in optical interconnects systems requires that a systems perspective and approach guide the concerted application of a powerful combination of multidisciplinary expertise. Research in materials growth and processing, in the design, simulation, fabrication and testing of devices and circuits, and in systems architecture and design has been pursued at CCSM in highly interactive mode in order to create OEICs that serve as testbeds for integration technology. The on-campus testbeds optimize opportunities to test our OEIC components or subsystems and the integration technology that they embody in a systems environment which has been designed in collaboration with our industry colleagues. A number of companies support CCSM and its faculty through collaborative research, personnel exchanges and donation of equipment and software. In addition, the center has a coordinated research program in which ERC and industrial participants cooperate in tackling problems that are larger than any one organization would handle. There are also educational outreach programs for precollege-age students.

CENTER FOR COMPUTATIONAL ELECTRONICS

K. HESS, Director
Beckman Institute, 405 N. Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801
217-333-9734

The Center for Computational Electronics concentrates on research related to electronic transport and optical processes in solids and the simulation of solid state devices. The research projects encompass three major areas: (1) optoelectronic devices, which has led to development of simulators for semiconductor lasers [MINILASE], and for the physical properties of optoelectronic materials [OPCONS], (2) simulation of electronic devices in the submicrometer range of feature sizes, and (3) nanostructure electronics and low dimensionality systems. Activities in the center are supported by the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation. The center also encompasses a national component [NCCE] with over 60 members from universities, industry, and governmental laboratories (supported by NSF).

CENTER FOR ELECTRON MICROSCOPY

B. P. JAKSTYS, Director
74 Bevier Hall, 905 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801
217-333-2108

The Center for Electron Microscopy is a research and instructional service for the university, with an emphasis on biological and polymer science applications. However, the instrumentation is available to all qualified research staff, graduate students, and faculty at UIUC for a reasonable cost. Service work is also performed on a fee basis. As a training facility, the center offers practical instruction in transmission and scanning electron microscopy. The center's Hitachi H-600 analytical transmission electron microscope has a STEM unit and is equipped with a side-entry goniometer with ± 25° tilt capabilities as well as a cold stage. Also located in the center is a JEOL JEM 100C TEM. The 100C has a two-specimen side-entry goniometer stage. Specimen holders are available with ± 60° tilt and ± 360° rotation. The center currently has three scanning electron microscopes: an ISI-40, an ISI DS-130, and an AmRay 1000A. The latter is equipped with a cryochamber and cryostage for the preparation of specimens at low temperatures. The former two SEMs are equipped with Tracor-Northern energy dispersive x-ray spectrometers. For specimen sectioning, the center has 2 Reichert Ultracut ultramicrotomes and several OM-2 units. For the evaluation of light microscopic slides, an Olympus research photomicroscope with fluorescence capability and a dual-observation microscope are available. Instruction is provided by CEM staff on all of the above instruments. In addition to a large variety of ancillary equipment for specimen preparation, two complete darkrooms are available to users.

CENTER FOR MICROANALYSIS OF MATERIALS

J. A. EADES, Director
262 Materials Research Laboratory, 104 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801
217-333-8396

The University of Illinois has, in the Center for Microanalysis of Materials, the best center for the characterization of materials in any American university and perhaps in the world. The center operates over 20 major instruments in the fields of electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, surface analysis, and backscattering spectroscopies. These instruments and the associated infrastructure are kept at the state of the art, both by regular purchases of new machines and by the in-house construction of instrumentation for new techniques. The relation between properties and microstructure is the key to materials science. The center is based on the idea that all researchers in materials science should understand the microstructure of the system under investigation. Therefore, all research groups should have access to first-rate resources for microscopic characterization. This access is best provided in a central facility, not in the laboratories of the individual researchers. Three factors make the center a uniquely powerful resource: (1) The breadth of the instrumentation. By supporting such a wide range of instruments and techniques, the center makes it possible to optimize the choice of techniques, or combination of techniques, to the needs of each research problem. (2) The strength of the professional scientists on the staff. Since the center is run by experts in the various techniques it offers, researchers who use the center's facilities can count on the best results from the equipment even if they are less than expert themselves. (3) The ease of access. The center is operated so that access is made as easy as possible. The staff work hard to be fully responsive to the needs of each research problem. The center supports research on the UIUC campus and works with other universities, national laboratories, and industries.

CENTER FOR RELIABLE AND HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING

R. K. IYER and J. H. PATEL, Co-Directors
251 Computer and Systems Research Laboratory
1308 W. Main St., Urbana, IL 61801
217-244-7171

The center is part of the College of Engineering's Coordinated Science Laboratory and focuses on integrating research in the areas of reliable and high-performance computing. UIUC has had a long history of research in the areas of high-performance architectures, fault tolerance, and testing. Two major research grants to the center continually support research activity ranging from chip to system-level issues. The Semiconductor Research Corporation supports a major program in reliable chip architectures, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration supports a major program in reliable and parallel systems. In addition to these two major programs, the faculty in the center have several individual and joint research contracts with both industry and government. The center consists of 7 faculty, 10 academic professionals, and over 70 graduate students, with a total external funding of approximately $4 million annually. Research conducted by the faculty in the group covers a wide range of topics, including reliable and fault-tolerant computing, testing and design for testability, high-performance VLSI architectures, experimental study of computer systems, high-performance knowledge and data engineering, and computer-aided design tools in VLSI. The center has over $2 million in equipment, including experimental multiprocessing and fault-tolerant systems: ENCORE Multimax-510, Intel Hypercube iPSC/2, Ardent Titan-4, and Tandem Integrity. Other equipment includes an extensive network of Sun workstations served by dedicated SPARCservers.

CENTER FOR SUPERCOMPUTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

D. A. PADUA, Director
202 Computer and Systems Research Laboratory, 1308 W. Main St., Urbana, IL 61801
217-333-6223

The Center for Supercomputing Research and Development (CSRD) is conducting research in supercomputing and parallel processing. Faculty at the center have joint faculty appointments with and support graduate thesis research in the Departments of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Mathematics. In addition, joint research activities are underway with many departments in the College of Engineering. CSRD's research is divided into hardware and architecture, software, performance evaluation, and algorithms and applications. In each of these areas the center is carrying out broad research programs. The major goal of the Cedar system was to demonstrate that high-speed parallel processing is practical across a wide range of applications. To this end, efforts are concentrated on developing effective methods of sharing memory and parallel interconnection networks. The software activities focus on parallel languages, restructuring compilers, programming environments, and operating system issues. Approximately a dozen applications are under study, ranging from pure science to engineering design. The center has attracted visitors from and has interactions with laboratories, universities, and companies around the world. The center's equipment includes an 8-processor Alliant FX/80, an Alliant FX/1, two single-processor Alliant FX/8s, an IBM RS600, a MIPS M/120, a Silicon Graphics Iris Indigo, 4 Personal DEC Station 5000s, 7 Sun file servers, 84 Sun workstations, and 10 Macintosh PCs. In addition to the 32-processor Cedar system now in use, CSRD has one 20-processor and two 28-processor Alliant FX/2800s.

ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

W. W. SHILTS, Chief
121 Natural Resources Building, 615 E. Peabody Dr., Champaign, IL 61820
217-333-4747

The Illinois State Geological Survey is a division of the state's Department of Natural Resources. Since 1905, when it was first organized by legislative mandate, the State Geological Survey has been assisting citizens, industries, and government agencies and officials by supplying them with the geological information needed to promote the state's economic development and protect the environment. The Geological Survey's research and service activities fall under four broad categories: groundwater and geotechnical, quaternary and bedrock geology, geochemistry, and energy and mineral resources. The following are examples of major activities. The survey screens the state and smaller regions for geologically suitable sites for environmentally sensitive activities such as landfills and other waste repositories. It publishes maps and reports that point to unknown or underutilized mineral resources. Through research and technology, it provides information needed by independent oil producers to recover more of the 4.53 billion barrels of oil remaining in known reservoirs in the state. The survey also helps increase coal mining efficiency and develops new technologies to reduce pollution from coal combustion. It develops processes to create new, high-value products from Illinois' abundant coal resources. The survey helps communities, citizens, and water utilities to locate new sources of pure groundwater and to protect them from possible contamination. It assists public and private agencies in protecting facilities along the Lake Michigan shoreline from erosion and in evaluating the impacts of shore protection structures. The survey maps the geology of the state in detail, in cooperation with the federal government, to provide the fundamental information needed to support its other geological research. In support of all the above activities, the survey maintains and continually builds new data files in the Illinois Geographic Information System, one of the largest and most sophisticated such systems in the country.

ILLINOIS STATE WATER SURVEY

L. I. NEVLING, Acting Chief
2204 Griffith Dr., Champaign, IL 61820
217-333-2210

The Illinois State Water Survey conducts research, collects data statewide, and provides analytical services involving atmospheric and water resources. Scientific staff consists of engineers, chemists, meteorologists, and physicists. Located on the south campus, the survey often cooperates with departments of the College of Engineering in research and teaching programs. Data collection on the quality and quantity of the state's water and atmospheric resources has been under way since the survey was founded in 1895, and the database for Illinois is now among the most comprehensive in the world. It includes information on river flows, groundwater levels, soil moisture, sedimentation rates, atmospheric conditions, and Illinois floodplains and flood frequencies. The survey also operates the Illinois Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Network, which measures water and climate variables at 70 automated stations statewide. Services to other state agencies and government units, institutions, industries, scientists, and individuals include water resource assessments, water sample testing in USEPA-certified laboratories, and monitoring of water treatment systems at Illinois institutions. The Water Survey serves as the Central Analytical Laboratory for the National Atmospheric Deposition Program and was recently designated as Illinois' center for research and information on the issue of global climate change.

INSTITUTE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

M. J. PLEWA, Interim Director
1101 W. Peabody Dr., Urbana, IL 61801
217-333-4178

The Institute for Environmental Studies integrates and expands research, education, and public service in environmental studies at the university. It helps build strong disciplinary-based environmental studies programs and conducts multidisciplinary programs on the physical, biological, and social environment and human interaction with that environment. Research conducted within the institute includes such topics as environmental mutagens and carcinogens, the effects of toxic substances on humans and the environment, photochemical decontamination of groundwater, water and wastewater treatment, economic analyses of environmental regulation and pollution control, environmentally induced genetic variation in plants, social and economic impacts of developing natural resources, environmental perception and decision making, and recycling behavior. Two units of the institute administer competitive grants programs of basic and applied research that are open to researchers at colleges and universities throughout the state. The Office of Solid Waste Research administers a state-funded research program on solid waste reduction, reuse, landfilling, and incineration. Researchers investigate technological, chemical, biological, economic, and social science aspects of solid waste management in Illinois. The Water Resources Center administers a state- and federally funded program of multidisciplinary water resources research and technology transfer and also coordinates research for the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Program. The institute does not grant degrees, but it does offer courses, coordinates a graduate program in environmental toxicology, and involves undergraduate and graduate students in environmental research. All institute faculty have one or more joint appointments in degree-granting units and direct graduate research in environmental problems through these units. To assist all campus students in selecting courses and programs, it publishes directories of all environment-related courses and graduate programs at the university. The institute provides the public unbiased information for sound environmental planning. Its faculty serve on national science boards, advise public agencies, sponsor conferences and workshops, make presentations to schools and nature centers, and respond to questions from the public and the media.

LABORATORY FOR FLUORESCENCE DYNAMICS

W. W. MANTULIN, Director
E. GRATTON, Principal Investigator
126 Loomis Laboratory, 1110 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61801
217-244-5620

The Laboratory for Fluorescence Dynamics (LFD) is part of the Department of Physics and is supported by the Biomedical Research Technology Program of the Division of Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health and by UIUC. The laboratory has a dual commitment. It provides a user-oriented facility with staff and laser-based, time-resolved instrumentation to aid research scientists in measuring the fluorescence properties of biological systems and it provides a focus for research and development in fluorescence instrumentation and theory so the user facility is maintained at the most advanced level possible. The LFD is available to scientists from academia and industry. The LFD staff is available to assist with the user's experiments. The user coordinator schedules time on the instruments and is available to help the user plan the experiments, use the instruments, and interpret the data derived. A biochemistry technician aids in sample preparation (e.g., centrifugation, chromatography, electrophoresis, activity assays). The data analysis coordinator provides assistance with global analysis software and in designing further experiments to test physical models. The personal computer-compatible software developed at LFD is available to each LFD user. The optics/electronics engineer ensures that the laser excitation sources function properly, trouble shoots electronics problems, and provides assistance with fluorometer hardware manipulation.

MANUFACTURING RESEARCH CENTER

S. G. KAPOOR, Director
357 Computer and Systems Research Laboratory, 1308 W. Main St., Urbana, IL 61801
217-333-3432

The Manufacturing Research Center is an industry-driven center of excellence in manufacturing research that fosters collaborative research initiatives between the university and both large and small industries. It is a program of the colleges of engineering on both the Urbana-Champaign and Chicago campuses of the university. The center currently has two thrusts: multichip module microelectronics packaging and advanced technology for machining and machine tool systems. Through industrial memberships and participation, the center focuses on leveraging the investments of the industrial members as well as its own resources to improve manufacturing competitiveness in the world economy. The goals of the center are to develop and transfer to industry innovative concepts and systems based on both incremental and far-reaching technologies and to train students in the expert development and deployment of these systems. The center's ultimate mission is to spur marked improvement of national manufacturing competitiveness through the deployment of advanced tools and technologies. Particular areas of attention include design and analysis of machine tool structures and components, electronics packaging, agile manufacturing, materials processing, flexible automation, concurrent engineering design and manufacturing, and manufacturing systems design, planning, and control. The current company members include Caterpillar, Inc., Ford Motor Co., John Deere Harvester Works, Motorola, Inc., Rockford Acromatic Products, General Motors Corp., Institute for Advanced Manufacturing Sciences, and Industrial Filter and Pump Manufacturing, Inc. Current company memberships provide an annual funding for the center in excess of $500,000. The center became an NSF University/Industry Cooperative Research Center in September 1993. The center is unique in that it has both company-designated and center-designated projects. A member company may designate that one-half of the funds it contributes be applied to research of specific interest to that company. The results of the research from these company-designated projects are available on an exclusive basis to the com- pany. The remaining funds from each company are em- ployed collectively to support center-designated projects, the results of which are shared by all of the participating companies.

NATIONAL CENTER FOR SUPERCOMPUTING APPLICATIONS

LARRY L. SMARR, Director
152 Computing Applications Building, 605 E. Springfield Ave., Champaign, IL 61820
217-244-0072

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) is a university-based supercomputer facility and research center established with a grant from the National Science Foundation. It includes an Interdisciplinary Research Center, a collaborative environment for researchers using NCSA equipment and working with NCSA staff. The center also receives major funding to support its research from the Advanced Research Projects Agency, NASA, and corporate partners. NCSA is dedicated to advancing leading-edge technologies in information and high-performance computing and communications in academia and industry. It is committed to enhancing American competitiveness in science, engineering, education, and business. NCSA is a leader in the development and implementation of a national strategy to create, use, and transfer advanced computing and communication tools and information technologies. NCSA continues to focus its technical development in three areas: scalable metacomputing, cyberspace tools, and virtual environments. The industrial program includes partnerships with twelve companies: AT&T, Caterpillar, Dow Chemical, Eastman Kodak, Eli Lilly & Co., FMC Corp., J. P. Morgan, Motorola, Phillips Petroleum, Schlumburger, Tribune Co., United Technologies, Sears Roebuck & Co., and Allstate Insurance. NCSA maintains supercomputers of several types: Convex C3, Convex Exemplar, Thinking Machines CM5, Silicon Graphics Challenge, and Silicon Graphics Power Challenge Array.

INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH CENTER

The Interdisciplinary Research Center (IRC), now housed in the Beckman Institute, is a research institute where teams of scientists, engineers, and scholars from many fields work together and share their disciplinary knowledge and computer skills to foster breakthrough research. At IRC, researchers confer with computing consultants, staff research scientists, and software developers. It is a training ground for graduate and postdoctoral students and a hub for seminars, workshops, and other educational opportunities. The comprehensive computing environment of the IRC features personal computers and scientific workstations on each desk for interactive work on the supercomputers and for other purposes such as analyzing results, processing graphical images, and preparing reports and publications. The supercomputing users communicate with each other and with support equipment through an integrated, network system, NCSA offers a high-capacity mass storage system with an open network capable of accommodating a variety of hardware and software. This network is linked to other computing facilities around the nation via the NSFNET backbone network, various regional networks and point-to-point connections. Industrial partner head quarters and laboratories are linked to NCSA via INDUSTRYnet, a secure network. As a national center, NCSA has a mandate to serve scholars from across the nation. Excellence of research and need for a supercomputer are the primary criteria for access. Time on production systems is awarded through a peer-review process and is free to academic researchers receiving allocations. Industrial researchers obtain time through the partnership agreements.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER FOR SUPERCONDUCTIVITY

M. V. KLEIN, Director
214 Materials Research Laboratory, 104 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801
217-333-1744

The Science and Technology Center for Superconductivity (STCS) is a National Science Foundation center for research, education, and outreach in the field of high-temperature superconductivity. The center is a cooperative effort of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, and Argonne National Laboratory. In a highly integrated approach, center chemists, physicists, materials scientists, and electrical engineers collaborate to investigate the fundamental properties and possible applications of the new high-temperature superconductors. S TCS brings together human resources and facilities from four institutions strong in superconductivity and materials research. Researchers undertake a broad investigation of HTS in the areas of synthesis, physical properties, theory, thin films, microstructure, and ceramic processing. The research agenda evolves through workshops devoted to key issues, dialogue among members on results and capabilities, and timely organization into research themes. Current themes focus on the dual role of dopants to control carrier density and modify small-scale and global structure, the possibility of exotic superconductivity, and the univers ality of the unusual normal state and superconducting properties associated with the Cu-O planes. Researchers probe motion and pinning of vortices and characterize as well as attempt to control grain boundaries in polycrystalline samples. The center's thin-film growth and processing efforts target both fundamental properties and potential applications. Microwave studies of films and patterned passive devices bridge fundamental physics research and industrial applications. STCS provides access to advanced facilities such as an atomic resolution analytical electron microscope and Argonne's IPNS and to a host of spectroscopies.