A research team from Auburn will lead and coordinate efforts at AU, six other universities and a national laboratory that will study aircraft cabin air quality and conduct assessments of chemical and biological threats, said AU Vice President for Research Michael Moriarty.

The FAA announcement calls the new center a source of research that will be of great benefit to the flying public.

"We have brought together some of the brightest minds science has to offer to focus on cabin air quality and chemical and biological threats to protect passengers and crew members," said FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey.

Other participating institutions are the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, Purdue University, Harvard University, Boise State University, Kansas State University, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

"Auburn's selection as lead institution in the consortium is the result of its assets in biological and chemical detection and decontamination," said William Gale, Alumni Professor in AU's materials engineering program and principal investigator in the consortium. "The work at Auburn will be multi-disciplinary and will involve researchers in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, the College of Sciences and Mathematics, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the College of Agriculture and others."

As lead institution in the consortium, Auburn is charged with program administration and coordination.

"The direction of the research will be a true team effort among the participating institutions," Gale said.

The FAA announced that the U.S. government will appropriate approximately $1 million for the center the first year for start-up and leveraging funds.

Gale noted that the consortium already has more than $20 million in external research support commitments from private industry.

"We already have a number of high profile companies who have agreed to sponsor our research," he said. "Among them are such names as Boeing, Delta Airlines, Honeywell, General Electric Aircraft Engines and many others."

In addition to the center headed by Auburn, the FAA has funded seven other Centers of Excellence for computational modeling of aircraft structures, airport pavement technology, operations research, airworthiness assurance, general aviation, aircraft noise, aviation emissions mitigation and advanced materials.

More information about the FAA's Centers of Excellence program can be found at its web site at www.coe.faa.gov.