Planning Grant for an Industry-University Cooperative Research Center in Coatings

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The U.S. coatings industry faces concurrent demands for improved quality, energy conservation, reduced pollution and elimination of unsafe materials, at the same time it is becoming increasingly vulnerable to foreign competition. The 1,100 companies that produce coatings and their raw material supplies are responding to these changes in different ways, including increasing research and development budgets. An Industry/University Cooperative Research Center is a possible approach that might provide industry with additional research addressing industrial needs. This planning grant is studying the feasibility and viability of an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center in coatings. The project is studying the alternative organization, policies, operations, and industrial research interests for an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center in Coatings at Eastern Michigan University and North Dakota State University, as a joint endeavor. The Co-Principal Investigator and the associated researchers at both universities are national recognized experts in their fields and have the industrial contact necessary to study the potential for an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center in Coatings. This project has been coordinated with Robert M. Wellek, Chemical, Biochemical, and Thermal Engineering in the Directorate for Engineering. The Program Manager recommends that Eastern Michigan University (with a subcontract to North Dakota State University) be awarded a grant of $49,927 for one (1) year of this project.