New research facility consolidates work in environmental technologies

Sen. Thad Cochran and MSU President Malcolm Portera discuss the planning that went into the new DIAL facility with DIAL director emeritus Steve Shepard

A new 58,000-square-foot research facility dedicated in April will allow closer collaboration among faculty members seeking to minimize the environmental impact of nuclear and industrial technologies.

Federal and state dignitaries, including Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), were on hand for ceremonies officially opening the new home of the Diagnostic Instrumentation and Analysis Laboratory. The $8.8 million structure is located adjacent to campus in the Mississippi Research and Technology Park.

"Through this facility we can show that here in Mississippi research can be carried out that can help solve some of the problems facing the country," Cochran said in his keynote address.

DIAL has been a major College of Engineering research unit since 1980, making it the university's longest continuous research program. Primary support for DIAL comes from the technology development program of the Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management.

Gerald Boyd, acting deputy assistant secretary for science and technology at DOE, announced that the federal agency has committed to funding the research program through 2003.