http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/NEWSV5/storyV5tuskegee25w.htm
Cutting-edge research lifts university
By Erica Pippins
Montgomery Advertiser
In a small steel laboratory off a winding dirt road about a mile from Tuskegee University's main campus, Orion Gebremedhin mixes a fine chalk white powder with copper-colored liquid in a glass beaker.
As Gebremedhin continues to stir, the mixture turns into a milky gel that resembles glue. Gebremedhin later takes his beaker of nano or surface structured particles -- compounds that hold and strengthen parts on structures such as planes, tanks and automobiles -- to a heating station so that it later can be poured into a mold.
"You have got to make sure the solution is evenly distributed and that the temperature is at a certain level," said Gebremedhin, a student in Tuskegee's department of materials science and engineering who is working on a master's degree. "You can reproduce these materials on a larger scale to create fibers and structures that will give the suspension load of a car its ultimate properties. This field is so interesting because we are developing materials and new technology that has not been explored earlier."
Gebremedhin is one of several Tuskegee University students from various disciplines who are researching chemicals and materials that strengthen and help extend the life of parts used in automotive, aerospace, medical, technology and other industries. Their pilot research has been and continues to be used in experimental structures built by NASA, the Department of Defense and Alabama's growing automotive manufacturing industry.
The studies are funded through groups that support the Alabama Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or EPSCoR. EPSCoR is a network of merit based programs sponsored by the state and several federal environmental, defense, aerospace and science agencies such as the National Science Foundation.
The goal of the program is to boost science, engineering and technology research capabilities at Alabama's colleges. Through research, the group hopes to develop the state's research infrastructure and advance economic growth.
Tuskegee, Auburn and Alabama A&M universities are among the seven research schools in Alabama that participate in the program. Faculty and students from those institutions are working on the nanostructure research project, but Tuskegee has the largest number of people involved.
Shaik Jeelani, Tuskegee's vice president for research and sponsored programs, said the university has researched nanostructured compounds for 10 years. The major findings, however, have been discovered in the last five, Jeelani said.
Jeelani said one of the many projects students are working on involves developing light, but durable surface structures that reduce the weight of automobiles to provide for better fuel efficiency.
Recently, a group began looking into creating materials for body armor that covers the limbs of those who serve in the armed forces. They plan to design the armor for maximum flexibility, but it would withstand high impact.
"It will probably take 10 to 15 years before the full impact of this research is fully realized," Jeelani said. "Nano technology is found in almost every area of industry. That's why we take such pride in knowing that our students are developing research that is going to play a key role in the field."
That is one of the reasons EBSCoR began, said Margaret Gunter, communications director for the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.
"EBSCoR came into Alabama about 20 years ago. It started to give other states a fair shake at the money some of the major research institutions in California and Ivy League schools were receiving," Gunter said. The commission coordinates the $481,139 given annually by the state for ESPCoR. Institutional dollars and federal grants also help fund research.
"Many of these researchers develop spin-off companies, which are beneficial to graduates who want to continue their craft in Alabama," Gunter said. "The more grants we receive, the more dollars we can fund into research that can turn into jobs, which will aid our state economy."
In 2003, federal funds for academic research rose by 13.1 percent , the second straight year of double-digit increases, according to a National Science Foundation study released last week. The growth, coupled with a continuing drop in funds from industry, fueled an increase in the federal share of academic-research money to nearly 62 percent -- its highest level since 1985, states a Chronicle on Higher Education report.
"There are so many others who are vying for state and federal funding," Jeelani said. "If we were not doing the research we were doing, we would be written off."
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