Organized Research Units (ORUs) & Organized Research Programs (ORPs)

Organized Research Units

The purpose of an organized research unit is to foster research that crosses boundaries among disciplines, departments, and schools or colleges and that cannot readily be done within the administrative structure of a single department or other administrative unit.

Institute for Data Analysis and Visualization (IDAV) (formerly Center for Image Processing and Integrated Computing - CIPIC) was approved as a UC Davis Organized Research Unit in 1989. IDAV's main research thrusts are (1) large-scale scientific data visualization, computer graphics, geometric modeling, and virtual reality; (2) data analysis and exploration; and (3) digital image and sound processing. The Institute is collaborating closely with, and developing innovative software solutions for, national laboratories, industry, and state and federal agencies related to fundamental and applied problems in massive data processing, compression, visualization, manipulation, and exploration. As an Organized Research Unit, the Institute involves faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and students from a variety of disciplines and departments, including computer scientists, applied scientists, electrical and computer engineers, applied mathematicians, neuroscientists, geologists, civil engineers, and members of the Graduate School of Management.

The Institute's computing infrastructure includes various parallel computers and clusters of computers; in addition, IDAV scientists have access to most of the supercomputing facilities at, for example, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The Institute for Transportation Studies (ITS-Davis), approved as an ORU in 1991, addresses environmental impacts, advanced vehicle technology, "intelligent" transportation system technologies, travel behavior, and economics. Increasing population in California and worldwide, escalating demand for personal transport, and growing concern for environmental and climate change impacts pose great challenges for the design, management, and control of future systems. To address these challenges, the Institute has created a new Fuel Cell Vehicle Center and a Center of New Mobility Studies - the latter launched with a large endowment from Honda Motor Company. Faculty members in the College of Engineering, School of Management, and various social and environmental science departments are collaborating on projects funded by industry, private foundations, and state and federal agencies.

Nanomaterials in the Environment, Agriculture, and Technology (NEAT)

Organized Research Programs

Center for Advanced Laboratory Fusion Science and Engineering (CALFUSE)

Many climate studies have concluded that the heavy use of fossil fuels to meet the world's ever-increasing energy demand may have the consequence of deleterious global climate change. To limit carbon dioxide emission, alternative energy sources must be developed. Many prominent environmentalists and politicians view the use of nuclear energy as the best solution to curb greenhouse effects on global climate.

At present, nuclear energy is produced commercially in fission reactors. However, energy production by nuclear fusion rather than fission may have significant advantages. In contrast to fission, fusion offers the potential of energy production with enormously reduced environmental impact. Unlike the enriched uranium used in fission reactors, the fuel used for fusion is comparatively safe, abundant and widely distributed geographically. Fusion reactions, and the conditions required to create them, are scientifically well understood. (The most familiar fusion reactor is the Earth's sun, whose energy is provided by hydrogen fusion.) For controlled nuclear fusion on Earth, the deuterium found in seawater would be sufficient to supply the world's energy needs for billions of years.

In order to create a commercially successful fusion reactor, many physics questions will need to be answered, and new technologies must be developed. The purpose of the CALFUSE Center is to coordinate all facets of fusion science and engineering research, and to participate in worldwide fusion energy development. The Center will enlist all areas of research and welcome all research organizations which may have fusion-related applications.