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Princeton receives $15M grant for engineering center
(Comtex Business Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)PRINCETON, N.J., May 04, 2006 (The Daily Princetonian, U-WIRE via COMTEX) --The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded Princeton University a five-year, $15 million grant to create an Engineering Research Center focused on developing new sensor technology.
The center-- named the Mid-Infrared Technologies for Health and the Environment (MIRTHE) -- received the first $2.97 million May 1. It joins a growing number of NSF-sponsored Engineering Research Centers at universities nationwide. The centers, initiated in 1985, are meant to foster partnerships between academy and industry.
In addition to the $15 million grant, MIRTHE could receive another $25 million from corporate sponsors over the next 10 years, University officials said in a press release.
Though MIRTHE will be based at the University, the program will involve collaborations among 40 faculty members and 60 students from six different institutions, including Johns Hopkins University and Rice University.
Electrical engineering professor Claire Gmachl, the director of MIRTHE, emphasized the importance of mid-infrared technology. "Most chemicals that are vapors under normal pressure and temperature feature very strong absorption at the mid-infrared range," she explained, making the range ideal for distinguishing unique chemicals.
The goal of MIRTHE, she said, would be to create "optical sensors that can detect this wavelength."
These sensors would have a variety of uses, from monitoring air quality to analyzing breath.
"Our goal is to develop breath analysis sensors that you can give to a patient to monitor the progress of his treatment," she said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is also interested in the sensors as a method to detect toxic gases, Gmachl added.
The utility of the technology has attracted dozens of offers of sponsorship by industrial partners, Gmachl said. And with researchers already experimenting with prototype sensors, results should follow soon.
Besides the commercial aspect, MIRTHE is also dedicated to educating future researchers. "Education is a very big part of the project," Gmachl said. "The goal is to give students an interdisciplinary education by making for easy partner exchanges with different institutions."
Afusat Dirisu GS, who heads the Student Leadership Council at MIRTHE, emphasized the opportunities available to students who work in the research center. "Students here can correspond with the different institutions and also with industry partners to get jobs and internships," she said.
Gmachl said she was particularly excited about the collaborative effort.
"We worked with individual research grants before, but this NSF grant will allow us to work together as a large group in a concerted effort," she said.
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