The college's Department of Engineering Physics' Plasma Source Ion Implantation research group is part of a government/private sector partnership which recently received a $15.5 million grant under the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Advanced Technology Program (ATP).

Professor John R. Conrad, engineering physics, is pictured here in front of a vacuum chamber used for Plasma Source Ion Implantation. (35K JPG)

Under ATP's Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Technology Focus Program, the partnership will investigate plasma-based processing of lightweight materials for motor vehicle components and manufacturing applications. They will concentrate on overcoming the science and engineering barriers impeding the development of PSII, a technology with the potential to become a cost-effective tool for producing ultra-hard, wear-resistant surfaces on a variety of materials.

The 14-member PSII research group is headed by John R. Conrad, Wisconsin Distinguished Professor of Engineering Physics. Other partnership members include A.O. Smith Corporation, Harley-Davidson, General Motors, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The Advanced Technology Program provides cost-shared funding to industry for high-risk research and development projects with the potential to spark important, broad-based economic benefits for the United States.

For more information, contact:

John R. Conrad
Tel: 608/263-1609
Fax: 608/262-6707
E-mail: conrad@engr.wisc.edu
www.engr.wisc.edu/ep/faculty/conrad_john.html

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