Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 12, 1993 TAG: 9303120313
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
VA. TECH GETS OPTICAL RESEARCH GRANT FROM NAVY
The Navy has awarded Virginia Tech's Department of Electrical Engineering $6.5 million for optical science research.The grant is the largest the department has ever received, Bill Stephenson, head of the department, said Thursday.
"This will put us in a leadership position in this type of research," he said, adding that Tech's Fiber and Electro-Optics Research Center, which will conduct the research, is already nationally known.
The center, which was the first technology development center established by Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology, also has had several smaller contracts with the U.S. Department of Navy, Stephenson said.
Rick Claus, who heads the center and will do the research along with Tech's Kent Murphy, learned about the grant a few days ago.
So on Thursday, his "Yippee," was spoken, not shouted.
"Some of the stuff we're going to do will be very broad," he said. "We're doing the research for the Navy, but the research will have a lot of applications. Most of it can be used in the commercial sector."
The research "will look at a whole range of fiber optic applications as they relate to potential military and commercial uses," said Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, who announced the grant from his Washington office.
Some of the research is classified. But the main area of research involves the development and testing of new types of glass and other materials to improve the production and overall quality of optical fibers.
The researchers also will study the use of fiber optics as sensors.
Optical fibers can operate as nerves to measure different properties of the environment, such as temperature, strain and vibration. They could be used in technologies for "smart highways," Boucher said, and they could help enhance the transmission of information at high speeds.
Claus said he learned about the grant from "what was essentially an ad in the newspaper."
The Commerce Business Daily printed an announcement that the government was looking for someone to do a wide range of research in the optical sciences.
Claus said the grant is especially helpful now, when funding is tight at universities, especially in Virginia.
Fiber optics has grown at a rapid rate in Virginia, especially from Roanoke south toward Blacksburg and Radford.
"It's a hotbed," Claus said. "We're glad to pitch in our 2 cents' worth. Or $6.5 million worth."