French Lab, Ga Tech Launch Research Unit

France's Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CRNS) and the Georgia Institute of Technology, based in Atlanta and represented in Europe by Georgia Tech Lorraine in Metz, have created a joint international research unit, Unite Mixte Internationale.

Two French engineering schools, ENSAM (Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers) and SUPELEC (École Supérieure d'Électricité), and two universities, Franche Comté University in Besançon and Paul Verlaine University in Metz, are associate members of Unite Mixte Internationale, or UMI.

"This is the first union of its kind in France," Georgia Tech Lorraine said in a statement. "It should allow consequent advancements in the field of telecommunications and nanotechnology and stimulate recruitment of many researchers and technical staff."

Georgia Tech Lorraine (GTL) is focusing its research on secure networks and innovative materials. The CNRS and Georgia Tech Lorraine have worked together since 1998 when a CNRS lab, GTL-CNRS Telecom, was opened at that campus. UMI said it will continue its research on secure networks and will further develop GT-CNRS Telecom.

UMI will be devoted to optics-based communication using the dynamics of chaos in optoelectronic components, quantum cryptography and ultrafast optical communication, with a focus on applications in information security. It will research nnovative materials and will focus on developing optics and electronics on one hand, and mechanics on the other, GTL said.

"This research enters within the framework of nanotechnology and intelligent materials," GTL said. "It will be a question of establishing new technological bases in development, characterization and modeling. Currently, the results target a certain number of industrial applications of technology in the fields of aeronautics, automotive, biomedical engineering and energy."

Abdallah Ougazzaden, a professor and deputy manager of the photonic optical materials laboratory and systems (LMOPS/SUPELEC) at GTL, was appointed director of UMI. Ougazzaden was a former engineer-researcher at CNET and a director of research at Bell Labs.

Catherine Brechignac, adjunct professor of physics and a distinguished visiting scholar chair at Georgia Tech, was recently appointed president of CNRS.

For more information, visit: www.georgiatech-metz.fr