Vol. 16, No. 39	Aug. 21, 1997

UD joins Army for opening of materials laboratory

Several University faculty, staff, students and visiting researchers turned out for the dedication of the U.S. Army's Rodman Materials Research Laboratory in Aberdeen, Md., on July 29.

Most had more than just a passing interest in touring the $76 million, 290,000-square-foot facility. Through a Cooperative Research Agreement executed in 1996 between the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and the University, they will actually have the opportunity to work in the state-of-the-art research, testing, evaluation and training center.

The agreement established the Composite Materials Research (CMR) Collaborative Program, which includes cooperative research, personnel exchanges and facilities sharing according to the Army's "federated lab concept," which is aimed at maximizing research productivity and minimizing duplication of effort through cooperation.

The program is led by UD and ARL co-principal investigators John W. Gillespie Jr. and Gary L. Hagnauer.

At the dedication ceremony, John W. Lyons, director of ARL, said, "The partnership mode is the wave of the future, especially the federated lab concept. We have partners of significant size at the University of Delaware, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Michigan."

"The research done here will ensure that our soldiers will have the best equipment to ensure the national defense," Commanding Gen. Johnnie E. Wilson, U. S. Army Materiel Command, said.

Also speaking was George T. Singley III, B. ME '68, who is currently acting director of defense research and engineering in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

"This facility is critical to the concept of the federated lab," Singley said. "It will attract others to come and work here and will position us for the 'Army after next.' As a critical technology, advanced materials are very important to our future."

Five ARL scientists are currently in residence at the University's Center for Composite Materials, while a summer intern program has some 14 students, both graduate and undergraduate, working at the program in UD and ARL labs.

-Diane S. Kukich