Past Research Centers

The Biological Network Modeling Center brings together Caltech biologists, bioengineers, mathematicians, and computer scientists to develop and apply state-of-the-art computationaltools for modeling and analyzing complex biological systems.

CACR exists to ensure that Caltech is at the forefront of computational science and engineering (CS&E). CS&E is the practice of computer-based modeling, simulation, and data analysis for the study of scientific phenomena and engineering designs.

The Center for Bioinspired Engineering develops new approaches to pressing technological challenges in energy, defense, and biomedicine by exploiting engineering solutions found in nature.

CCSER has as its goal to transform the industrialized world from one powered by fossil fuels to one that is powered by sunlight. Initially we are focused on three efforts: (1) solar electric generation, (2) solar-driven fuel synthesis, and (3) fuel cell development. (Activity from CCSER has been incorporated into the Resnick Institute)

CSEM addresses both research and educational aspects of polymeric, structural, photonic, and ferroelectric materials that will be necessary to solve critical societal needs of the twenty-first century. The Center pioneers a number of exotic and futuristic materials and applications such as liquid metals, responsive gels, and tiny medical sensors.

To develop software for neutron scattering research, DANSE is organized around five scientific subfields. Each subproject is a small team led by a scientist who has identified new opportunities for computing in neutron scattering science. The five subfields are 1) Diffraction, 2) Engineering Diffraction, 3) Small-Angle Scattering, 4) Reflectometry, 5) Inelastic Scattering. The five subfields require different types of data analysis, owing in part to the different physical phenomena under investigation.

Caltech has been awarded a Multi-disciplinary University Research Initiative on "Multiscale modeling and process optimization for engineered microstructural complexity". Focus is on the use of appropriate theory and targeted experimentation as a tool for development of complex materials and materials systems.

The purpose of the Lee Center for Advanced Networking is to create a global communication system that is reliable and robust. Current wireless communication systems are plagued by static and lost connections. But Lee researchers envision a global system as reliable as a basic utility—like tap water, sewage or natural gas—which consumers will take for granted. The skeleton of this new global communication system will consist of a combination of wireless radio frequencies and high-speed fiber-optic cable.

The "Light-Material Interactions in Energy Conversion" Energy Frontier Research Center (LMI-EFRC) is a national resource for fundamental optical principles and phenomena relevant to solar energy conversion, and for design of the optical properties of materials and devices used for energy conversion. The LMI-EFRC features a team that spans the campuses of Caltech, Berkeley and Illinois, and creates a foundational partnership between scientific leaders in optical properties of matter with experts in solar photovoltaic and photochemical energy conversion and innovators in the design and fabrication of novel electronic and photonic materials.

This ARO-administered MURI project seeked to exploit principles of crystallographic compatibility and phase coexistence to discover materials that undergo extremely low hysteresis structural transformation between phases with unusual combinations of electromagnetic, optical and mechanical properties.

The primary goal of the Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program (PSAAP) is to bring about validated, large-scale, multidisciplinary, simulation-based "Predictive Science" as a major academic and applied research program. Caltech's role in the PSAAP is to establish a Multidiscipline Simulation Center (MSC) to develop a multidisciplinary Predictive Science methodology focusing on high-energy-density dynamic response of materials as it arises in hypervelocity impact. PSAAP succeeds ASCI (Center for Simulation of Dynamic Response of Materials).

The main mission of Caltech's Physical Biology Center for Ultrafast Science and Technology (UST) is to develop the science and technology for 4D visualization of biological complexity and materials behavior.

The VTP was established by Caltech President David Baltimore and MIT President Charles Vest in December 2000 to prevent a recurrence of the problems that threatened the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election. Specific tasks of the project include: evaluate the current state of reliability and uniformity of U.S. voting systems; establish uniform attributes and quantitative guidelines for performance and reliability of voting systems; propose specific uniform guidelines and requirements for reliable voting systems.