The Center for Process Analytical Chemistry (CPAC) was established in 1984 at the University of Washington as a National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC). CPAC is now a self-sustaining organization, with a successful consortium of sponsors recruited from all sectors of industry, as well as several government agencies. The CPAC program can be summarized by three main components: (1) the investigation of new measurement approaches based on the miniaturization of traditional instrumentation and the development of new sensors and non-traditional instruments based on fundamentally different sensing mechanisms, often not associated with traditional analytical chemistry techniques; (2) the investigation of issues related to the integration of process measurement with process modeling and control, including: process analyzer and process model robustness, process sampling, improved analyzer data treatments, and cross-cultural education between measurement and control communities; and (3) the improvement of mechanisms for interaction, collaboration, and communication of Center activities, research programs, government agencies, and the general measurement and control community.
In addition, CPAC is also involved in a variety of initiatives for enhancing the development of measurement strategies that complement new directions in manufacturing technology, including: combinatorial approaches and high throughput screening for new materials discovery (ranging from catalysis to biological materials), issues of process optimization (including development and diagnostics), and the concept of just-in-time manufacturing.
CPAC has an established track record in fostering academic/industrial/national laboratory interactions, which aim at bridging the gap between basic research and full-scale process/product development. The CPAC Summer Institute is part of this mission to provide continuing education opportunities in the areas of Process Analysis and Control. The first Summer Institute (SI) was conducted in July 1996. The workshops are held in an informal format, with technical presentations, and time allotted for both open discussion of the presentations and general brainstorming on topics that arise from this interaction. The overall focus of these gatherings, Topics in Process Analysis and Control, has from its onset placed special emphasis on developing trends in micro-instrumentation. The informal environment has created a successful format for bringing together measurement scientists and process engineers from industry, government, and academic institutions drawn from both CPAC and non-CPAC sponsors. The recent theme has been "Micro Instrumentation for High Throughput Experimentation and Process Intensification: A Valuable Tool for Process Analytical Technology (PAT)" and the next SI will occur July 18-20, 2007 in Seattle.
In response to the growing emphasis on global competitiveness, CPAC has created the following sponsor focus groups (both industry and technology-based) as a forum for discussion and guidance concerning the industrial relevance of research projects undertaken by the Center.
Industry Focus Groups: |
Technology Focus Groups: |
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CPAC Initiatives and Platforms : |
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CPAC initiated a concept called the Interactive Program in direct response to industry needs and priorities. Among the important elements of the Interactive Program that have been achieved are:
 | Engaging the best academic talent nationally in an expanded research program emphasizing multidisciplinary interactions. |
| Serving as a national forum for process analytical issues of common interest. |
| Facilitating an effective technology transfer program in all phases of technology development through to commercialization. |
CPAC is a multidisciplinary team of faculty, research staff, visiting scientists, and graduate students from a selection of universities. Presently, CPAC is supporting research projects across a number of academic disciplines including: chemistry, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, health sciences/genetics and food science, and selected universities including: Arizona State University, University of Delaware, University of Maine, University of Minnesota, University of California at Davis, and the University of Washington. CPAC is also conducting collaborative research with several research institutes, including: the Norwegian Food Research Institute (MATFORSK), Instituto di Chimica, Pisa, Italy. Universities are selected according to technologies of interest to sponsors and how they enhance CPAC technology programs.
Previous recent collaborations have included researchers at the Universities of Alberta, Arkansas, Clarkson, Michigan and Texas Tech, as well as Institut d'Automatique Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland.