9600286 Kotiuga This award supports a 6 month National Science Foundation Dissertation Enhancement Award for Mr. Paul Gross at the Central Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd, Tokyo, Japan. Mr. Gross will work with Dr. Ikuo Saitoh, senior research scientist at CRL, on a research project entitled, "A Software Implementation of an Algorithm to Make Cuts for Magnetic Scalar Potentials Without Implicit Heuristic Assumptions About Homotopy Groups". The proposed research will develop practical and computationally efficient solutions to problems related to 3- D magnetoquasistatic electromagnetic field computation. The key problem to be addressed involves using a computer to "cut" the finite element mesh of a 3-dimensional, multiply- connected region so as to permit the computation of a magnetic scalar potential in the nonconducting region of the problem space. The specific focus of the proposed research will be on the creation of software algorithms so as to increase the finite computations needed for the analysis, the practical outcome being the development of a methodology that reduces the design cycle time and costs of magnetic devices. ***