Engineering Research Center (ERC) on Mid-Infrared Technologies for Health and the Environment (MIRTHE)

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Intellectual merit: MIRTH will develop knowledge, technologies and engineering systems based on mid-infrared spectroscopy that will provide unprecedented optical and chemical sensing capabilities for environmental monitoring, homeland security and medical diagnostics. In five thrusts, MIRTH will invent and optimize tunable laser sources, detectors, and ultra-sensitive sensor systems, developing these devices to a maturity level characteristic of ubiquitous and affordable technologies. These devices, which take advantage of the underutilized mid-infrared spectrum, are made possible by the recent breakthrough inbentions in quantum cascade lasers and advances in cavity-enhanced optical metrology. MIRTH will accelerate the development of this nascent set of technologies, creating new tools for scientific research, industry and consumers across many fields and applications. MIRTH will demonstrate specific applications of mid-infrared lasers, sensors and systems through testbeds in environmental sensing - urban air quality control or carbon cycle chemistry - and in medical diagnostics - liver and kidney dysfunction or oxidative stress. These technologies will create better standards of living and improve our understanding of human physiology and the environment, thus helping to transform society, and creating new product lines for significant industry sectors, such as the semiconductor, test and measurement, chemical and pestro-chemical, and medical equipment sectors. Broader impacts: MIRTH's wide range of research and educational programs includes electrical, bio-, civil, and environmental engineering, physics, chemistry, as well as the medical sciences; the center's impact will reach from urban planning to space science, and from cell physiology to bedside patient care. MIRTH will provide a broadly interdisciplinary education in fields essential for the wealth and well-being of the nation. In an outreach strategy designed for maximal impact, MIRTH will develop education modules (K-12/14) and new undergraduate and graduate level courses that integrate research findings into the classroom. MIRTH will provide opportunities for students and teachers to gain research experience through summer internships (REU/RET), support science fairs, develop activities and exhibits for public Science Centers, produce feature films for public television, and Web-based communication tolls to disseminate the newfound knowledge. MIRTH's diversity strategy will amplify its core partners' existing LSAMP and AGEP programs by directly integrating their diverse student populations into MIRTH's core research, learning, training, and teaching activities. A vigorous student exchange program among the partners and with industry will optimize the students' propsects for career advancement. MIRTH will engage its faculty and staff in talent identification, career development, and mentoring. MIRTH's outreach and diversity programs are closely coupled with the research thrusts, enabling integrated teams that are diverse in gender, race, and ethnicity. By so doing, MIRTH will educate a new, diverse generation of engineering professionals for an internationally competitive workforce. MIRTH will conduct a dynamic industrial outreach program and deliver new expertise and "turn-key" prototypes for new product lines. MIRTH willpartner with government labs to provide unprecedented sensing capabilities for remote atmospheric monitoring and applications in homeland security.