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The Center for Nanosensor Technology (CNT) is a Department of Defense funded
university center of excellence within the College of Science Engineering and
Mathematics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The mission of the CNT
is to develop a program in advanced manufacturing technology for microelectronic
devices using the technologies from Tessera and to preserve long term Department
of Defense access to the critical manufacturing technology that enables the
production of affordable sensors.
The Geophysical Institute carries out research in the regions between
the center of the sun and the center of the Earth. It comprises 8 groups, 6 of
which are connected with specific geophysical areas of interest. They include
space physics, atmospheric science, snow ice and permafrost, seismology,
volcanology, and tectonics and sedimentation. In addition we have groups
specializing in remote sensing and environmental optics. It has approximately
400 employees, including 65 scientists, 80 students, and service departments
including a business office, machine shop, electronic shop, digital imaging
center, operations office, information office, and proposal center. The annual
budget is $25 million, of which 88% is currently from external sources such as
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the NSF, the DOE, and the
Department of Defense. It participates in the mission of the campus through
research, public service, the teaching of faculty, and the educational
involvement of graduate and undergraduate students in research.
The Institute of
Marine Science was founded in 1960 and has the responsibility for
carrying out research and instruction in marine and related areas. A core of
faculty was established on the campus at Fairbanks. Coastal research was carried
out originally from a station on Douglas Island near Juneau, and since 1970 is
based at the Seward Marine Center. The 80-foot research vessel Acona was acquired in 1964 and replaced in 1980 by the 133-foot R/V Alpha Helix.
The ship is based at Seward Marine Center and currently spends more than 200
days per year at sea in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering and Chukchi Seas.
With a faculty of over 20, a number of professional researchers, the Institute
of Marine Science conducts oceangraphic studies of arctic and Pacific subarctic
waters. The faculty and professional staff provide expertise in marine geology,
physics, chemistry and biology. The research efforts cover a wide range of
disciplines, and some projects are components of large national and
international cooperative programs.
Institute of
Northern Engineering (INE) is a research unit at the University of
Alaska Fairbanks. INE researchers conduct fieldwork all over Alaska, from
Kodiak Island to the North Slope, and throughout the world, from Iceland to the
South Pole. INE provides research opportunities and facilities to
UAF faculty and students. Although many INE supported projects are related
to some aspect of engineering, the institute accepts proposals on almost
any subject from any UAF affiliate. INE members conduct research in
atmospheric, electrical, environmental, mechanical, civil, and
transportation engineering, in mathematics, design of computer software, and
many other fields.
The International Arctic
Research Center (IARC) is a place where scientists from around
the world can work together to study global climate change and arctic phenomena.
At the IARC, we seek answers to questions such as: 1) Are we seeing climate
change due to the greenhouse effect as predicted by global climate models? 2)
Are the changes in climate due to natural or manmade causes? It is hoped
that the IARC will serve as a focal point of excellence for international
collaboration in working on these questions that are crucial for the future of
mankind. Toward this goal, we have taken up the Community Arctic Modeling
Project (CAMP), which attempts to improve modeling calibration for the
generation of twenty-first century scenarios of arctic change. The CAMP will
become the focal point of observational activities, such as the Nansen and
Amundsen Basins Observational System (NABOS) and the establishment of permafrost
and methane database centers, which will provide data to CAMP with specific
formats. The CAMP will become a crucial tool for a major arctic project,
the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA), in predicting global change in the
Arctic.
The Water and Environmental
Research Center's (WERC) objective is to serve as the premier center for
scientific and engineering studies related to water resources and environmental
quality in the arctic and subarctic. WERC’ s mission is to perform basic
and applied research related to water and environmental resources, to train
graduate students at master’s and PhD levels in this field, and to disseminate
pertinent research information to the public. Research disciplines at WERC
include environmental, civil, and mechanical engineering; oceanography;
limnology; hydrology; microbiology; geochemistry; and hydraulics. WERC
scientists are conducting cutting-edge research to help improve the quality of
life for arctic inhabitants while supporting careful and sustainable development
of Alaska’s bountiful natural resources, protecting fragile ecosystems, and
seeking to better understand the role of the arctic and subarctic in the global
system.
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