Centers and Institutes

The Advanced Radar Research Center (ARRC) mission is to solve challenging radar research problems, prepare the next generation of students, and serve to empower economic growth and development in the field of weather radar.

Cantec Carbon Nanotube Technology Center (CANTEC) is a multi-investigator program involving faculty members and students from the College of Engineering who collaborate to develop applications of carbon nanotubes.

CIRE leverages expertise in diverse areas with focus on the nanoscale to generate innovative technologies. These areas include heterogeneous catalysis, nanomaterials, colloidal and interfacial science, thermodynamics, and molecular modeling.

Center for Restoration of Ecosystems and Watersheds (CREW) was founded at OU in fall 2004 to address the need for holistic research on environmental impacts and the development of sustainable environmental remediation and restoration technologies.

The Center for Symbiotic Media Research is dedicated to the study of the symbiotic relationships between humans and machines. In particular, we examine:

• machines as models of how biological systems represent and learn motor and cognitive skills,
• primates as inspiration for new robot control and learning techniques, and
• the interaction of humans with machines.

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The Dynamic Structures Sensing and Control (DySSC) Center (formerly the Center for Structural Control) was established in 1994 to investigate and demonstrate the effectiveness of using semi-active adjustable hydraulic dampers and associated software to mitigate the dynamic response of a wide class of structures.

Institute for Applied Surfactant Research (IASR) was established in 1986 as the first Research Center/Institute/Consortia at the University of Oklahoma. Although research grants from Federal and State agencies are an important part of the Institute, our core mission is to provide our industrial sponsors with the highest quality applied surfactant research in their areas of interest.

The Risk-Based Systems Analysis Laboratory focuses on the development of theory, methodology, and application towards risk-based decision making in engineering systems. Primary areas of interests lie in (i) modeling the reliability, resilience, and interdependent economic impacts of disruptions to critical infrastructure networks and (ii) enhancing data-driven decision making for large-scale system sustainment.

The Sooner Engineering Education Center (SEED) was established in 2008 by the College of Engineering (CoE) to recruit, nurture, and retain students within the engineering supply chain ranging from elementary school to the graduate level.

The Southern Plains Transportation Center, consisting of eight consortium members, seeks to engage in research that provides solutions for climate-related transportation challenges including extreme temperatures, droughts, freeze-thaw cycles and flash floods. The center was established in 2013 based on an award from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) to conduct a multidisciplinary program of transportation research, education, and technology transfer.

The Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology (IBEST) spans research and education activities in bioscience and biomedical engineering on the Norman and Oklahoma City campuses. Faculty from the lead departments – School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering, School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering – work with bioscientists and biomedical engineers from the OU Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation in Oklahoma City and OU College of Arts and Sciences in Norman.

The CBR is one of several key elements of the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center. We are focused on the development of the science and technologies for the thermo-catalytic conversion of biomass to finished products that meet the needs of the fuels and chemical industries in a sustainable manner.

The Center for Intelligent Transportation Systems provides software and hardware development services to government agencies for the state of Oklahoma in pursuit of effective and viable solutions to modern problems ranging from traffic control to reporting to enforcement. Since 1997, the OU ITS lab has worked with the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the United States Department of Transportation on numerous projects, successfully improving and extending the safety of Oklahoma's streets and highways, and furthered the productivity of the law enforcement agencies devoted to keeping the Oklahomans on them safe.

The Water Technologies for Emerging Regions (WaTER) center was formed to meet a growing need for university-based programs with the personnel and resources to assume a leadership role in the international water development scene that includes not only technical innovations, but educational opportunities for US students and citizens of the affected regions.