Researchers with a combined 15 patents will join forces in the University's Center of Excellence in Thin-Film Research and Surface Engineering.

Ten University of Dayton researchers with a combined 15 patents and more than 600 contributions to publications will join forces to establish a new Center of Excellence in Thin-Film Research and Surface Engineering (CETRASE). 

CETRASE researchers will focus on energy systems such as fuel and solar cells and batteries, electronics, optics, communication and sensor devices. These systems are found in medical devices and advanced medical imaging, cell phones and communications, among others.

The University will unveil the center at 4 p.m. Friday, April 12, in the School of Engineering Innovation Center in Kettering Labs.

"We want to find ways to make better, more efficient, cost-effective sensors, electronics, electro-optics, and energy systems and hopefully create new jobs in the region," said Guru Subramanyam, chair of the University of Dayton electrical and computer engineering department.  

The new center will be located labs in Kettering Laboratories, the College Park Center and the Science Center. The researchers come from the departments of electrical and computer engineering, materials engineering, biology, physics, the electro-optics graduate program and the University of Dayton Research Institute. Four are fellows of the society for optics and photonics.

"Many of us have collaborated or have been collaborating on similar projects," Subramanyam said. "It makes sense for us to put our heads together for a center where we can coordinate activities, interact and share common equipment and costs. We also will have strength in numbers when submitting proposals as part of a center."

In the addition to research, the faculty will continue to teach courses in nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, materials science, photovoltaics and biosensors. The center also plans to add courses in sensor materials and devices, nanomaterials and devices and advanced materials for electronics, photonics and sensors.

The University of Dayton ranks second in the nation in materials engineering research and has one of just a handful of electro-optics graduate programs in the nation.