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SPRING/SUMMER 1999 ARCHIVE Clemson Recognized as Leader in Orthopaedic Bioengineering Clemson University Earns $100 Million Mathematics: The Next National Champion? Clemson University, Southeast Leader in Invention Income Where the Rubber Meets the Roador Off-Road Clemson Students Win NSF Awards Professor Receives National Math Award Thomas Green Clemson Academy Welcomes Three New Members Dow Chemical Pledges More Than Half-Million Dollars to Film-Related Research Catfish: Improving Environment and Economy ACES Reunion and BBQ is Coming!  |
Clemson University Earns $100 Million The National Science Foundation has recognized Clemson University's Center for Advanced Engineering Fibers and Films as a national Engineering Research Center, a signal event that is likely to bring Clemson more than $100 million in research support over 10 years and solidify its standing as a national research university. Research conducted there is expected to revolutionize the production of fibers and films and generate more than $200 billion in revenue industry-wide. The center will be the only one in the nation to deal exclusively with fibers and films, a sector that accounts for 25 percent of the total U.S. gross domestic product and is the South's dominant industry. The industry's manufacturing base includes electronic components, fiber-optic cables, synthetic fibers, multi-layer food-packaging films and reinforced composites used in construction and aircraft. Products to be affected -- in some cases, reinvented -- as a result of Clemson research can be found in fields as diverse as biomedicine, transportation, communication and construction. Led by Clemson's Dan D. Edie, the center's director and Dow Professor of Chemical Engineering, a group of Clemson and Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty successfully competed against 83 other nationally ranked research institutions for the National Science Foundation award. "This prestigious award solidifies Clemson's standing as a national research university and is expected to bring millions of dollars in research funding to the University," said Clemson University President Constantine Curris. "Clemson's Center for Advanced Engineering Fibers and Films holds the promise to revolutionize vital industries by creating dozens of new consumer products while reducing operating costs exponentially. That translates into long-term viability and profitability for one of the state's leading employers," said President Curris. The award will enable the Clemson-led team to partner with federal laboratories, other universities and industries to revolutionize the understanding of fiber and film technology, to direct and speed the development of new products and processes, and to train the highly qualified professionals needed to lead these vital materials industries into the 21st century. The Clemson center is one of approximately 25 Engineering Research Centers in the nation. The National Science Foundation established the centers to create partnerships among government, universities and industry, and to advance engineering research and education in critical areas. The center's economic impact will be particularly profound in its home state of South Carolina, because the state's concentration of fiber, film and related textile industries represents nearly one-half of its manufacturing base. The S.C. General Assembly and the University have committed more than $1 million to support the center during its first year of operation. Clemson has also promised 10 faculty positions for center-related research. The National Science Foundation has committed $12 million for the first five years, with the total NSF funding anticipated at more than $20 million. Industries have initially pledged more than $1 million per year in support of the center's research and education programs. Partnering industries include 3M, Amoco Performance Products Inc., AlliedSignal Inc., Collins and Aikman Group, Cryovac Division of Sealed Air Corp., DuPont, Dow Chemical Co., Celanese Acetate, MSNW Inc., N.H. Andreas Co. Inc., Poly-Med, PPG Industries and Shell Chemical Co. The center's industrial liason is Ray Rupp. Also collaborating in the project are federal laboratories such as Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Air Force Research Laboratory at Edwards Air Force Base, as well as other established Engineering Research Centers. Connected universities include the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois and the University of Utah. Central to the center's mission is the concept of "designed" materials -- fibers and films produced using computer-based, three-dimensional analysis, modeling and simulation. The center will develop software packages, allowing researchers to control the process of each fiber or film creation. The center's testing facilities will feature a virtual-reality system linked to pilot-scale equipment in Clemson laboratories. "By 'designing' fibers and films from the molecule up, manufacturers will be able to tailor their products to achieve specific properties, as opposed to the current time-consuming practice of trial and error," said Edie. Clemson's efforts could collapse the normal research-and-development process of seven years to mere seconds. Center-developed technologies could then be swiftly transferred to the marketplace through the center's industrial collaboration program. End uses could include the following:
"This award does more than establish us as a national research institution," said Thomas M. Keinath, dean of Clemson's College of Engineering and Science. "It charges Clemson with leading the revolution in engineering research and education. What we do in the coming years will have a profound effect on the fiber and film industry as well as the nation's next generation of engineers and scientists." |
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