I am very pleased to announce that the FCC has been awarded an MURI - Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative - in the amount of $5,000,000 over 5 years. The award actually goes to a team of researchers from academia, a government lab, and industry. However, we were the lead institution. The award is to study "The Mechanism of Al Alloy Corrosion and the Role of Chromate Inhibitors." Basically, the Air Force has decided that the effort to develop an effective and environment-friendly replacement for chromate will be greatly facilitated by the development of a better understanding of the mechanism of chromate inhibition itself. The team includes Susan Smialowska, Professor Emeritus of Materials Science and Engineering, and Richard McCreery, Professor of Chemistry, both at Ohio State. Also involved are Dr. Hugh Isaacs from Brookhaven National Lab, Prof. Clive Clayton from SUNY Stony Brook, Dr. Richard Granata from Lehigh University, Prof. Martin Stratmann from Univ. of Erlangen, and Dr. Martin Kendig from Rockwell Science Center. This is perhaps an unprecedented accumulation of talents and resources to study a single corrosion problem. I am very excited about it. For more information, please check out the FCC Projects page or contact me at the FCC.
On another matter, please mark your calendars for the annual Fontana Corrosion Center gathering at NACE Corrosion 97 in New Orleans. Bob Bartlett is helping to arrange the dinner. If you have any thoughts on the matter, contact Bob at 504-837-6776, fax 504-837-7410.
Please stay in touch.
Jerry