The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), which has been supporting the work of a research team headed by Karl H. Schoenbach, eminent scholar of electrical and computer engineering and director of the institute, recently allocated $250,000 to build a test facility where scientists can compare the various proposed methods of plasma generation in high-pressure gases, particularly air. The facility will be located at the university's Applied Research Center in Newport News.

"The importance of partially ionized gases at atmospheric pressure for defense and for commercial applications, particularly air pollution remediation and large-volume material processing, has led to strong research activities at several universities and industry laboratories in the United States," said Schoenbach.

Last year, Schoenbach, as a principal investigator, received two grants of more than $800,000 from AFOSR for research on high-pressure air plasmas.

Old Dominion is one of 13 institutions, including Stanford and Princeton, that comprise a research consortium on this topic. The consortium was established by AFOSR's Air Plasma Ramparts Program, and Old Dominion's new center will test atmospheric pressure plasmas developed by the consortium. Rolf Block, a research professor from Berlin, Germany, will serve as director of the new facility.

"The interest expressed by scientists from abroad indicates that the test facility has the potential to grow to an international center for commercial applications of high-pressure plasmas," Schoenbach said.