Engineering given millions

The National Science Foundation awarded a $17 million grant to

the Engineering Research Center on Tuesday, establishing CSU as a

partner in Extreme Ultraviolet Science and Technology.

“To those of you who aren’t engineers, let me help you put this

in context,” said Neal Gallagher, dean of the College of

Engineering. “I’m sure you’ve heard of the Noble Prize or the

Pulitzer Prize. I think winning one of these NSF Research Centers

is really a lot more like winning the National Championship in

basketball.”

CSU will be teaming up with the University of Colorado at

Boulder and the University of California at Berkeley in a

collaborative effort to research the Extreme Ultraviolet EUV/soft

X-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum that remains

relatively unexplored.

“CSU makes the lasers, one type of lasers, CU makes another type

of lasers, Berkeley does mirrors and materials analysis,” said Ann

Drummer, an electrical engineering graduate student. “CSU will also

be doing mirrors using a different method and we also have the

facilities to do analysis through the chemistry department and our

own group.”

The research of extreme ultraviolet science and technology will

take place in existing university establishments and Eric

Hammersten, a master’s student at CSU, believes it will expose

students to innovative ideas.

“Working with UV light sources is something that hasn’t really

been explored before,” Hammerstein said. “This better understanding

benefits society and provides better education for students.

Especially in engineering it is very important for students to get

involved in research; it will be invaluable for them in the course

of their career and their lifetime.”

Henry Kapteyn, a professor at CU, agreed.

“These are students who are going to be the technology leaders

in the next decade,” Kapteyn said. “They’re going to make the new

computer chips, the new microscopes and the other new technologies

that are related to this work. It’s a tremendous experience for

them to work in a multi-university collaboration.”

Researching ultraviolet rays will create the smallest, most

powerful computer circuits ever developed and will provide critical

and practical benefits to society, said Jorge Rocca, professor of

electrical and computer engineering and the director of the

Engineering Research Center.

“This type will have an important impact on publications of the

next generation of integrated circuits as well as provide tools for

rapid development of nanotechnology,” Rocca said.

Although research is an enormous part of the grant, participants

also emphasize educational components.

“The other important part is the educational component at all

levels,” Rocca said. “Younger students in K-12, that can be brought

to the lab and shown some exciting things happening and they might

realize ‘gee this could be a potential career for me.'”

CSU President Larry Penley said the grant is a great

accomplishment for any research university and reflects the great

efforts of students and faculty.

“We are especially pleased to join with the University of

Colorado at Boulder and the University of California at Berkeley

and of course, us here at Colorado State University, in saying that

we celebrate the students,” Penley said. “But we celebrate

especially the faculty who have made this possible and the kind of

research and education that will come from the efforts of these

faculty in the next few years.”