miliar with the research fields. The evaluations, in turn, are used by the Industrial Advisory Board—composed of one representative from each spon sor—to review and recommend how funds should be allocated. As it has evolved, the Industrial Ad visory Board has assumed a much more active role in running CPAC than was originally envisioned. "They have a real sense of ownership," says Kowalski. "We don't run their Indus trial Advisory Board meeting anymore; we just sit on the sidelines." As part of the board there is now an executive committee composed of the present, past, and future chairs, along with two other members. This commit tee meets on its own at different loca tions three to four times a year. Fur thermore, some of the board members travel to Seattle several times a year to interact with CPAC faculty. Says Ullman, "The more you put into it, the more you get out of it." Final decisions on funding rest with CPAC's directors. The directors sup port the advisory board by prescreening projects and recommending those to be presented at the meetings. There is also a Scientific Advisory Board, composed of university scientists who review projects and budgets. The group of funded investigators convenes peri odically to brainstorm. Finally, to deal with center policies that may conflict with university rules, the university vice-provost, deans of engineering and arts and sciences, and the chairs of the participating departments meet with the advisory board and center directors to iron out problems. In addition to its organizational presence, CPAC recently gained a sig nificant physical presence. Offices and laboratories for the center now occupy a renovated wing of the university's chemistry library building. These facil ities are in addition to the laboratory space already used by CPAC research ers as members of the faculty. One of the advantages of CPAC has been its impact on graduate and post doctoral students. Besides providing funds for training, CPAC encourages students to speak or present posters at sponsor meetings. There is even a des ignated time for sponsors to take a stu dent to lunch, offering an opportunity for the young researchers to chat with prospective employers. Kowalski also points out that be cause CPAC students are being trained in process analytical chemistry, they are better prepared for the workplace. "This is a real, sincere, authentic inter disciplinary program," he says. "These are students who know about engineer ing and require less retraining."
Chemistry students collaborate with engineers on projects and work with industry in a number of ways. For in stance, a cooperative program offers chemistry students the chance to per form thesis-related research in an in dustrial setting. The center also affects the pace of research. On a number of occasions university researchers have used their CPAC connections to obtain materials that were still in develop ment. CPAC is not without some short comings. There is the old problem that solutions that work well in an academic laboratory may be impractical for realworld applications. Furthermore, some people question how CPAC will sup port the technology once it is trans ferred to industry. Kowalski agrees. "A project that costs us $200 000 needs a minimum of five years and $2 million to develop." Even for instrument companies, these development costs are enormous. "Sponsors don't want us to build proto types." However, Kowalski sees this not as a CPAC problem, but rather as a nation al problem. "Our research is the envy of the world, but we don't take the tech nology far enough to use." According to Kowalski, the U.S. needs to address this missing step—something he says the Japanese do very well—if basic re search ideas are going to revitalize the American workplace. Despite all the discussion of prod ucts, much of CPAC's success lies in the allegiance that most sponsors feel with CPAC's faculty researchers. "It is the biggest p a r t , " says Baughman. "They are real colleagues of ours," adds Kowalski. "All of us could get funding with less hassle and less work, but it is the access that is important." Kowalski calls CPAC an ongoing ex periment: "We are trying to listen to companies about where they are going in the future." To maintain an edge CPAC has created an Ν + 1 research project that focuses on the center-uni versity-industry relationship. "Every one conducts the research—how can we do it better? We are continually in the quest," says Kowalski. For more information on CPAC, con tact the Center for Process Analytical Chemistry, BG-10, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 (206685-2326; FAX: 206-543-6506 or Bitnet: annalise(n cpac.bitnet) Alan R. Newman Suggested reading
Callis, J. T.; Illman, D. L.; Kowalski, B. R. Anal. Chem. 1987,59,624 A. Reibe, M. T.; Eustace, D. J. Anal. Chem. 1990,62, 65 A.
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ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 62, NO. 18, SEPTEMBER 15, 1990 · 967 A
