PUBLIC ABSTRACT
Following the recommendations of
the National Research Council (NRC) Committee on New Materials Synthesis and
Crystal Growth in their report
commissioned by the Department of Energy, Clemson University proposes a
multi-disciplinary, multi-university team of experienced research scientists enhanced
by the user facilities and previous leadership of Oak Ridge National Laboratory
to establish collaborations in basic materials research to discover new
crystalline materials and design new chemical processes that enhance virtually
every significant aspect of energy resources, production, conversion,
transmission, storage, efficiency, and waste mitigation. Our diverse team of
experts will be proactive in searching the EFRC communities for samples of new
crystalline materials that require additional measurement and characterization
to perfect atom- and energy-efficient synthesis of revolutionary new forms of
matter with tailored properties, accelerating their development for their
inspired use in their Center goals as well as other EFRCs and DOE core program
goals and also strengthening the link between Basic Research and Industry. Our
three flagship projects in hydrothermal crystal growth, crystal derived fibers
and hyperbolic metamaterials will be the first EFRC projects to use the
“Crystalline Materials Network” enabled by the HUBzero software of Purdue
University. The crystalline defect state
vs property relationships will be understood and remarkable properties will be
optimized and controlled for collaborators on the network. President Obama included twenty million
dollars in his proposed 2011 budget to fund the recommendations of the NRC
report. This FOA is our first opportunity to present Clemson University's plan
to facilitate a new crystalline materials science collaboration network as
envisioned by the NRC Committee for the Department of Energy and secure a
sustainable energy future.
Now that I have moved from Anderson, SC to Swainsboro, GA and settled in to our new home and planted a 1/4 acre garden, I am renewing my effort to build a proposal team for this project and need your help and suggestions as to how to proceed. You can do that in a discussion here or in private to my email at anaxtal@gmail.com. The Materials Genome Initiative may be our best opportunity. I will add a discussion on the MGI to the group in the next discussion. Its great to be back online...