UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 18, Page 1
February 6, 1992
Delaware in 'elite group' with new federal support

     Four University of Delaware research initiatives have attracted
major support from the federal government-some $7.8 million over the
next five years, University President David P. Roselle announced Feb.
3.Three grants have been awarded to Delaware by the Army Research Office
for a range of studies under the University Research Initiative program.
The fourth award to Delaware is part of a larger grant to Pennsylvania
State University."We are very, very pleased at this recognition and
support for the outstanding and innovative research that is a hallmark
of the University of Delaware," Roselle said.He said Delaware is among
"an elite group" of only five institutions nationwide to receive three
major grants under the program. The other institutions meriting that
level of support are the California Institute of Technology, the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Penn State and Stanford
University, Roselle said. In all, only 58 awards were made under the
University Research Initiative program, and 102 institutions submitted
463 proposals for funding, he said.Delaware's grants support the
following projects:
  * $3.8 million to the Center for Composite Materials, for a
multidisciplinary program in the manufacturing science of polymeric
composites, continuing a grant first made in 1986 that established the
University as a Center of Excellence for Manufacturing Science,
Reliability and Maintainability Technology. According to Roy L.
McCullough, director of the Center for Composite Materials, the award
acknowledges "the significant role the center is playing in the
development of new systems for the nation's peace-time Army." The center
also is hoping to strengthen the University's already established
reputation as the institution of choice for Army officers doing graduate
work" in this field, McCullough said. He and Tsu-Wei Chou, Jerzy L.
Nowinski Professor of Mechanical Engineering, are co-principal
investigators on the new research program, which will involve 13 faculty
and professional research staff members from several departments on the
campus.The center's grant will be used for projects "collectively aimed
at improving the reliability and extending the useful life of structural
components, by optimizing and controlling potentially low-cost
manufacturing processes," McCullough said.
  * $2.1 million to the Center for Applied Coastal Research in the
Department of Civil Engineering for a study of "Nearshore Wave and
Circulation Modeling," the only project funded by the Army Research
Office in the area of coastal processes. Principal investigators include
Robert A. Dalrymple, professor and center director; Ib A. Svendsen,
professor and chairperson of civil engineering; Nobuhisa Kobayashi,
professor and associate director of the center; James T. Kirby,
associate professor of civil engineering; and John P. McCalpin,
assistant professor of marine studies. The project will develop advanced
mathematical numerical models that realistically describe the waves and
currents generated in the region closest to the shore on coasts such as
those of Delaware and Maryland. According to the researchers, it has
become evident from recent storms in the mid-Atlantic states and the
Carolinas that "these shores are highly vulnerable to the repeated
attacks by heavy storms, even when initially protected by large dunes
and sand from beach nourishment projects." The theoretical work will be
supported by extensive experimentation in the University's Ocean
Engineering Laboratory, which can simulate almost any kind of wave and
shoreline conditions.
  *  $1.6 million for a study of "Reactions and Reactor Analysis
Involving High Temperature Water," which is designed to address the
Department of Defense goal of achieving safe and efficacious destruction
of hazardous military chemical waste, according to principal
investigators Thomas B. Brill, professor of chemistry and biochemistry,
and Michael T. Klein, professor and chairperson of chemical engineering.
"Although reaction of explosive and propellant material in high
temperature water appears to be promising for addressing this problem,"
the researchers said, "safe reactor design requires considerable
knowledge about the chemical and physical processes involved." Their
project will involve a reaction engineering analysis of the kinetics and
physical processes to model the reactor, which will be applicable to an
industrial reactor suitable for Department of Defense needs.
  *  $275,000 for "Ignition Combustion and Kinetics of Energetic
Materials," with Brill as co-principal investigator under a grant
awarded to Penn State.  The overall project is designed to lead to a
"much better understanding of fast reaction kinetics and detailed
modeling of energetic material combustion," which is needed to simplify
the development, reduce the cost and "enhance the safety of new
generations of energetic materials of interest to the Army," according
to the researchers. Brill will be involved in the development of
comprehensive models describing the effects of heat, mass and radiative
transfer coupled with chemical kinetics.The University Research
Initiative is designed to provide new knowledge in science and
engineering critical to defense technologies, to improve the quality of
defense research conducted at universities and to strengthen the numbers
and quality of students trained in science and engineering.