Center Structure & Sites

Center Overview

The National Science Foundation (NSF), through their IUCRC program, is sponsoring the Center for High-Pressure Plasma Energy, Agriculture, and Biomedical Technologies (C-PEAB), a collaboration between Drexel University, George Washington University, and the University of Michigan.  C-PEAB is focused on partnerships with industry to jointly investigate basic plasma science in support of their development efforts in energy, agriculture, and biotechnology.

Drexel University Site

Director: Danil Dobrynin

The C. & J. Nyheim Plasma Institute was established in 2002 as a multidisciplinary research and educational institute at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. NPI involves 25 faculty members and 35 students from the College of Engineering, College of Medicine, School of Biomedical Engineering and Health Systems, and College of Arts and Sciences. Faculty and students of the Institute publish 40-50 papers annually in some of the most prestigious journals in their fields. Their cutting-edge research results in several inventions each year filling crucial gaps in modern technologies.

The C. & J. Nyheim Plasma Institute consists today of 6 laboratories, signifying 6 major directions of NPI research:

  • Plasma Energy Laboratory, led by Prof. Rabinovich, is focused on fuel conversion, fuel desulfurization and cleaning, CO2 sequestration, treatment of biomass, hydrogen production, waste-to-energy conversion, and recently on treatment and liquefaction of shale gas.
  • Plasma Water Treatment and Environmental Control Laboratory, led by Prof. Young Cho, is focused on water softening, desalination and disinfection, exhaust gas cleaning, and since 2011 on cleaning and disinfection of energy-field wastewater produced from exploration for shale oil and gas.
  • Plasma Medicine Laboratory, led by Prof. D. Dobrynin (bio engineering), and Prof. G. Friedman (engineering medicine). is focused on studying the role of plasma in prevention and treatment of many different diseases. Active projects examine the use of plasma sources for sterilization of different surfaces, including living tissues, disinfection of food, water and air streams; wound healing, tissue repair and regeneration, stimulation of angiogenesis, stimulation of cells of the immune system, treatment of cancers etc. Additionally, the laboratory is also focused on plasma’s in agricultural practices.
  • Applied Plasma Physics Laboratory, led by Prof. D. Dobrynin, is focused on development and characterization of novel plasma sources, including nanosecond pulsed plasma and plasma in liquids; development of plasma spectroscopy and other plasma methods of plasma diagnostics; as well as physics and chemistry of plasma catalysis and plasma assisted combustion.
  • Computational Physics Laboratory, led by Prof. D. Vainchtein,is focused on numerical and analytical methods, space and laboratory plasma, aerodynamics, and fluid mechanics.
  • Plasma Electrodynamics Laboratory, lead by Prof. A. Maltsev, is focused on investigations of physical phenomena related to hard electrons generation in dense gas discharge, on research of different forms of atmospheric discharges with runaway electrons and their action on gases, liquids, solid surfaces, and biological objects, as well as on study of synergetic action of atmospheric plasma and nano-particles (generated in air bubbles inside water) on water pollutants, and on development of effective technologies for deep removing of toxic ions and complex organic and biological pollutants from water.
 

George Washington University Site

Director: Michael Keidar

In 2007, Dr. Michael Keidar founded The Micro-propulsion and Nanotechnology Laboratory (MpNL) at the George Washington University (GWU) to expand our understanding of plasma and nanoscale phenomena. MpNL researchers focus mainly in three plasma-related applications: (1) propulsion, (2) nanotechnology, and (3) biomedicine.

MpNL research approach combines theoretical and empirical activities in synergy. Our theoretical research is primarily focused on developing analytic models and simulation methods, while our experimental activities aim to validate theoretical models or offer insights not provided by theory. MpNL has an array of sophisticated instrumentation and infrastructure to support fundamental and applied research in plasma and nanoscale physics. MpNL has ongoing collaborations with the GWU Institute for Nanotechnology and Plasma Medicine Program (GWIN/PMP), The GWU School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), other universities, and government laboratories.

GWIN actively involves about 25 faculty from three Schools from GWU: School of Engineering and Applied Science, School of Medicine and Arts and Sciences. GWIN and MpNL host bi-weekly seminars, offers major equipment sharing between collaborators, allows to co-advise graduate and undergraduate students, and promotes faculty participation as co-PIs on numerous research projects sponsored by: NSF, DOD, NIST, DOE, NASA, Department of Air Force, DARPA, and private foundations and industry.

Several GWU Laboratories are involved in the GWU IUCRC program: BioFluid Dynamics Laboratory (led by Prof. Michael Plesniak), The Bioengineering Laboratory for Nanomedicine and Tissue Engineering (led Prof. Lijie Grace Zhang) and The Flight Dynamics and Control Laboratory (led Prof. Taeyoung Lee). Prof. Jonathan Sherman leads efforts related to plasma efficacy and safety. As the Director of Neuro-surgical Oncology at George Washington University, Dr. Sherman provides the latest advances in treatment modalities to brain tumor patients in order to maximize quality of life and extend survival.

University of Michigan Site

Director: John Foster

Plasma Science is the study of ionized gas phenomena. Plasma Science is highly interdisciplinary in that it seeks an understanding of plasma occurrence or interaction in a multitude of environments ranging from space to wafer processing to biological systems. It therefore combines plasma physics with fields as diverse as chemistry, atomic physics, aerospace science and even biology. The fact that ionized gases exist and can be produced in so many different environments naturally leads one to speculate on harnessing such interactions for technological purposes. The beauty of such plasma systems in such diverse environments also leads one to seek understanding of such phenomena for purely academic appreciation. Such appreciation and better understanding also naturally leads to application. The goal of the Plasma Science and Technology Laboratory is to obtain a better understanding of plasma science phenomena leading to the conversion of that understanding to technological application. Specifically, we actively pursue plasma science research topics in four primary areas:

Space Propulsion

  • Engine lifetime Addressing failure modes
  • Engine efficiency Plasma source development

Environmental Hazard Mitigation

  • Terrestrial
  • Space

Aerospace

  • Hypersonic plasma
  • Plasma actuators

Energy Conversion

  • MHD plasma seeding
  • Thermionic energy converters

Research efforts are primarily experimental in nature with the goal being to develop a concrete understanding. The experimental data form the foundation of observational knowledge from which theory can be developed and tested, ultimately leading to a reasonably complete understanding.