This award is the first step in assisting Texas A&M University (TAMU) with the establishment of a Materials Science department. Funds have been requested to renovate Doherty Hall, into a Materials Research Facility for the TAMU Materials Science and Engineering Program which will be devoted to research and graduate instruction. Currently, the materials program is centered around ongoing interdisciplinary research involving seven departments and six divisions in which there is no laboratory space on TAMU's campus designed specifically for collaborative projects. Renovations to Doherty Hall will provide centralized facilities which will include four materials characterization laboratories, a Physical Electron Microscopy Center, a Surface Science facility, a X-ray diffraction laboratory and an Analytical Characterization laboratory. The renovated facility will provide space for new instrumentation in each of the laboratories and will house the components of the Polymers Program for Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, and components from the Advanced Electronics Program, including crystal growth, ion implantation and electron beam lithography. This facility will provide state-of-the-art materials research laboratories, encouraging interdisciplinary interactions between scientists and engineers and provide new research opportunities for students.
