A gift that keeps on giving: UCF gets cutting-edge tech patents

University Business, Oct, 2004

Sometimes gifts can't be measured in dollar amounts. That's the case with the Northrop Grumman's gift to the University of Central Florida. Sure, on paper it amounts to some $24 million, but in reality the defense contractor's gift--$22 million in intellectual property including patents and patent applications, plus $2 million in equipment--will help position UCF as a leader in developing super-small computer chips.

The gift will fuel UCF's College of Optics and Photonics' research in extreme ultraviolet Lithography, a process that computer chip manufacturers expect to begin using in about four years because it will allow for smaller, denser features to be imprinted on chips. "This now gives us a platform to train the future scientists and engineers who are going to be needed as this new form of lithography comes into being," say Martin Richardson, who will be the first Northrop Grumman Professor of X-Ray Photonics at UCF. "We can now broaden our optics program into a program of major impact in the extreme ultraviolet lithography field."

UCF and Northrop Grumman have worked together on research related to lasers, communications systems, and land mine detection systems.