9711097 Brenner This grant, cosponsored by the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities of the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, supports development of a virtual-reality laboratory for engineering education at North Carolina State University that will be used by both beginning and upper- level undergraduate engineering majors. This funding will be used to enhance a program currently funded by the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education through the development of software modules applicable to more advanced topics in materials science and engineering. The laboratory, which will be associated with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, will be composed of virtual-reality stations designed to take advantage of recent dramatic reductions in the cost of force-feedback haptics and breakthroughs in the performance of graphics workstations. Each station will consist of a three-degreeof-freedom haptic interface and IBM-compatible PCs. %%% This grant from the Division of Materials Research is one of the first awarded in an attempt to find innovative methods to integrate research and education. It is to devise teaching methods for materials concepts based on virtual reality techniques including specifically, a tactile (haptic) interface. It is also cosponsored by the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate. It supports a program currently funded by the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education through the development of software modules applicable to more advanced topics in materials science and engineering. ***
