UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 35, Page 5
June 20, 1996
Two new directors named at Composite Materials Center

     The Center for Composite Materials has a new executive director,
Karl V. Steiner, and a new technical director, John W. Gillespie Jr.
     Under the new management structure, the center's administrative
functions are carried out by the executive director, who is
responsible for operations, industrial and government affiliations,
University interaction and budgetary matters. The technical director
is responsible for ensuring the continued high level of scientific
competency and the technical relevance of research.
     In addition, an executive board was appointed to govern general
affairs, including establishment of policies, goals, priorities and
strategic plans. The executive board-whose members are the center's
major faculty "shareholders"-are empowered to allocate funds,
facilities and other resources to ensure prompt and consistent
implementation of major programs in the Center for Composite Materials
(CCM).
     In addition to Steiner and Gillespie, the board includes Tsu-Wei
Chou, Jerzy L. Nowinski Professor of Mechanical Engineering; and Roy
L. McCullough and Richard P. Wool, both professors of chemical
engineering.
     "I believe this new management structure will enable CCM to
interface more proactively with its industrial and government
affiliates by ensuring prompt technology transfer of CCM expertise,"
Dean Stuart L. Cooper, H. Rodney Sharp Professor of Chemical
Engineering, said.
     "This reorganization also takes full advantage of the individual
areas of expertise demonstrated by both Karl and Jack, and it
formalizes many of the roles they have already been fulfilling on an
informal basis," he said.
     "The future of CCM looks bright," Steiner said. "We have been
involved in many exciting ongoing initiatives, and new opportunities
are opening up constantly.
     "Ongoing programs include our long-term Army Research Office
(ARO)/University Research Initiative program, our collaborative
composite materials research program with Army Research Laboratory,
the ARO-funded Tuskegee University Consortium on integral armor, and
the NSF-funded manufacturing education program with Michigan State
University, to name just a few."
     "The center is expecting rapid growth," Wool added, "with new
state, federal and industrial opportunities in composites and related
materials fields."
     "We are exploring some new technical focus areas," Gillespie
said. "Our infrastructure program-a new initiative just a few years
ago-has grown tremendously and is now well established. We've
initiated new projects to investigate electron-beam cure, and our
affiliation with the College of Business and Economics has expanded
with our Six Sigma [a statistical yardstick for quantifying quality]
and cost modeling efforts.
     "We've also been very successful in upgrading and expanding our
facilities for composites research. In addition to substantial
equipment donations from industry and the U.S. Army, we've been
successful in winning three Defense University Research
Instrumentation Program grants in the past three years. These grants
have enabled us to expand our capabilities in tow placement/ induction
welding, durability assessment, and molecular-level characterization."
     "We will be contacting and visiting our industrial and government
friends frequently in the coming year to build on the already strong
base of mutual respect and expertise," Steiner said.
     "Our role in the composites community will grow and evolve as we
approach the next millennium and prepare the next generation of
composites scientists and engineers," he said.
                                                         -Diane Kukich