Up Close: Center for Micro-Engineered Ceramics at the University of New Mexico

Extract

The Center for Micro-Engineered Ceramics (CMEC) recently established at the University of New Mexico is a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center. It is supported by the National Science Foundation, Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico Research and Development Institute, and the ceramics industry.

The CMEC is unique in that it combines the resources of two universities (University of New Mexico and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology) and two national laboratories to attack ceramics-related basic research problems of industrial significance. An essential part of the effort is the strong interplay between the basic scientific disciplines, particularly physics and chemistry, along with engineering; the work is interdisciplinary with members from chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemistry, physics, and geology.

The goals of the CMEC are to

1. Aggressively attack ceramics-related basic research problems using university/national laboratory/industry collaborations;

2. Transfer technology between the universities, national laboratories, and industry; and

3. Train a new generation of ceramic scientists and engineers at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

At present, the areas of major interest are novel powder synthesis and processing schemes for controlled morphology powder compacts, and coatings and porous films. In addition, both laboratories and universities have programs on ceramic superconductors.