The National Science Foundation has established an Industry/ University Cooperative Research Center for Lasers and Plasmas for Advanced Manufacturing as part of the Applied Research Center at Old Dominion University in Newport News, Va. A collaboration of city, state, university, federal laboratories, industry partners and the foundation, the center will be involved in research applicable to the defense, aerospace, electronics, biomedical, automotive and general manufacturing sectors. Equipped with various types of lasers and surface coatings and materials analysis systems, it will undertake projects such as femtosecond laser micromachining, laser shock processing, atmospheric plasma modification of surfaces and pulsed photoemission from nanostructures.
The center, housed in a seven-story, 122,000-sq-ft building valued at $18 million, contains 17 laboratories, office space, classrooms and advanced computer facilities.