WASHINGTON – The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) has awarded $8 million to the University of Illinois at Chicago to lead a new Center of Excellence in the area of Properties of Materials under Extreme Conditions as part of the Stewardship Science Academic Alliances (SSAA) program.

Launched in 2002, the SSAA program supports areas of fundamental research and development relevant to NNSA’s stockpile stewardship mission and helps recruit the next generation of highly-trained scientists and engineers for the Nuclear Security Enterprise. 

“This work will expand the boundaries of knowledge in materials and high pressure science, while also developing the next generation of scientists to support the stockpile stewardship mission,” said Dr. Mark Anderson, Assistant Deputy Administrator for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation in NNSA’s Office of Defense Programs. 

The University of Illinois at Chicago will receive $8 million over four years to manage the Chicago/DOE Alliance Center (CDAC) – a Center of Excellence for High Pressure Science and Technology led by Dr. Russell Hemley.

CDAC will conduct high pressure-temperature investigations of the properties of materials in the full range of regimes relevant for stewardship science. The Center will also help develop the next generation of scientists for work in this field by training graduate students in CDAC laboratories and facilitating interactions between NNSA laboratory scientists and academic groups.