RESEARCH CONSORTIA NEWS DEPARTMENT — Week of March 08, 2010

University of Pennsylvania Joins International Research
Collaboration in Government/Academics
to Research “Soft Matter”
The University of Pennsylvania’s Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter has entered into a multi-year agreement with specialty chemical producer Rhodia and the French National Center for Scientific Research to launch an international, public-private research collaboration in soft condensed matter.

The collaboration between academia, government and industry brings together a diverse team of world-class scientists with complementary expertise for understanding, manipulating and creating novel soft materials. The joint effort will focus on developing new, sustainable technologies in the field of soft condensed matter, a science at the interface of chemistry, biology, physics and nanotechnology.

Soft condensed matter research focuses on easily deformable materials whose physics are often dominated by entropy. Liquids, colloids, polymers, foams, surfactants, liquid crystals and gels are examples of soft materials.

Penn will benefit from an industrial platform on which to test new breakthroughs in material science, particularly at the nanoscale. It is called the COMPASS collaboration, for Complex Assemblies of Soft Matter. Penn will also gain access to the formulation expertise of a variety of visiting scientists.

“Our research collaborations have always benefited from a multi-disciplinary approach,” Arjun Yodh, the James M. Skinner Professor of Science and director of the LRSM, said. “The COMPASS collaboration with Rhodia and CNRS will enable Penn to continue to build on that approach to take advantage of major research capabilities well beyond our traditional boundaries.”

Initial projects will explore renewable and sustainable ingredients for consumer products in home and personal-care markets. Others projects will address broadly critical issues such as water scarcity for agriculture and novel printable electronic solutions for energy transfer and storage.

Exploratory research will create soft materials, such as fluids or gels, with unique properties based on various natural or synthetic ingredients. Researchers will focus on developing new materials with improved cost effectiveness and performance, novel functional attributes and sustainable technologies for application in a range of consumer products and industrial formulations, including body wash, shampoo, paints, lubricants, viscosifiers and printable electronics.

“This collaboration illustrates how world-class researchers, international outreach and industrial know-how can accelerate the pace of research and move basic science into the consumer and industrial world,” Steven J. Fluharty, vice provost for research at Penn, said.

Research will be conducted in Penn’s LRSM and Rhodia’s Center for Research and Technology in Bristol, Pa. CNRS researchers will work at both locations. As many as 20 researchers will work in the collaboration.

“This agreement brings together some of the best research talent and facilities in the world,” Paul-Joël Derian, Rhodia’s vice president and worldwide director of research, said. “Together we are exploring practical research applications to improve the sustainability of everyday products. Equally important, we will concentrate on finding new solutions for critical challenges in agriculture and energy that affect the developing world as well as advanced societies.”

About The University of Pennsylvania’s Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter (LRSM)
The Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter, the LRSM, is the center for materials research at the University of Pennsylvania. It was established in 1960 as one of the first Materials Research Laboratories to be funded by the forerunner of DARPA. In 1972 funding was taken over by the National Science Foundation's Division of Materials Research, NSF-DMR under the aegis of the MRL program. In 1996, the core of the materials research program at the LRSM was supported as a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, MRSEC, funded by an NSF-DMR. The current MRSEC grant (DMR05-20020) supports the interdisciplinary research of affiliated faculty from three Schools: Arts & Sciences (Chemistry, Physics & Astronomy), Engineering & Applied Sciences (Bioengineering, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Electrical & Systems Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics) and Medicine (Physiology, Biochemistry & Biophysics).


RESEARCH CONSORTIA NEWS DEPARTMENT — Week of March 01, 2010

Researchers and Universities and US Agencies
Collaborate In Study to Prevent
Airplane Bird Strikes
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) researchers are collaborating with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Federal Aviation Administration, Purdue University, and Indiana State University on a program to study how bird-detecting radar at airports could help prevent dangerous airplane bird strikes, such as the incident with the U.S. Airways plane that made an emergency landing in the Hudson River in January 2009.

The USDA is responsible for wildlife management at airports. Bird strikes are a significant threat to flight safety, as more than 219 people have been killed worldwide since 1988 as a result of aircraft colliding with birds, according to Bird Strike Committee USA. Bird and other wildlife strikes cost U.S. civil aviation more than $600 million per year.

The NCAR team, led by Cathy Kessinger and Larry Cornman, is lending its radar expertise to the project, which will take place over the next year. Researchers will test the ability of the MERLIN Avian Radar System by DeTect, Inc., to scan for, detect, and track both real birds (turkey vultures) that are tagged with GPS receivers and robotic aircraft (also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs). They hope to determine the radar's accuracy and detection capabilities related to range, altitude, target size, and weather conditions.

The project will include a field component in either Colorado or at Plum Brook Station near Sandusky, Ohio. The multiagency team includes avian biologists who study how birds avoid objects while in flight and whether they may be able to detect radar beams.

About the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
 NCAR provides the university science and teaching community with the tools, facilities, and support required to perform innovative research. Through NCAR, scientists gain access to high-performance computational and observational facilities, such as supercomputers, aircraft and radar - resources researchers need to improve human understanding of atmospheric and Earth system processes. NCAR and university scientists work together on research topics in atmospheric chemistry, climate, cloud physics and storms, weather hazards to aviation, and interactions between the sun and Earth. In all of these areas, scientists are looking closely at the role of humans in both creating climate change and responding to severe weather occurrences.

About Purdue University`
Purdue University is located in West Lafayette, Indiana and is the flagship university of the six campuses within the Purdue University System. Purdue offers both undergraduate and graduate programs in over 200 major areas of study. The university has been highly influential in America's history of aviation, and Purdue's aviation and aeronautical engineering programs are among the highest-rated and competitive in the world.

About Indiana State University
Founded in 1865, Indiana State University combines a tradition of strong undergraduate and graduate education with a focus on community and public service. We integrate teaching, research, and creative activity in an engaging, challenging, and supportive learning environment to prepare productive citizens for Indiana and the world.