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Caltech
Mechanical and Civil Engineering Division of Engineering and Applied Science

Our faculty are involved in various Institute-level centers and initiatives.

CURRENTLY ACTIVE CENTERS

Center for Geomechanics and Mitigation of Geohazards (GMG)

The Center for Geomechanics and Mitigation of Geohazards (GMG) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) that facilitates productive, meaningful partnerships between universities and industry.  

Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST)

The Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST) promotes interdisciplinary research and the exchange of ideas in the expanding area of autonomous systems. These systems include, but are not limited to, drones and robots for use in science, industry, and medicine. The research conducted by the center addresses sensing, control, vision, and other emerging areas. The center promotes a synergic environment where machines and humans share the workplace. It also serves as an arena for ideas to translate into reality and be demonstrated to academic researchers as well as to the general public through educational outreach.

Community Seismic Network (CSN)

CSN is a new earthquake monitoring system based on a dense array of low-cost sensors. The goal of the system is to produce block-by-block estimates of strong shaking.

Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS)

Established at Caltech in January 2008 with a $24 million grant over 8 years from the W. M. Keck Foundation. The Institute is a "think and do tank," whose primary purpose is to bring together a broad spectrum of scientists and engineers for sustained technical interaction aimed at developing new space mission concepts and technology.

Resnick Sustainability Institute

The Resnick Sustainability Institute is Caltech's studio for sustainability focused on the breakthroughs that will change the balance of the world's sustainability. It marries bold creativity and deep scientific knowledge by encouraging original thinking and orthogonal ideas. Through research, education and communication, the Institute address critical challenges in renewable energy and sustainability science directed toward outcomes that have the potential to make a global impact.

The Kavli Nanoscience Institute

The Kavli Nanoscience Institute (KNI) at Caltech is an intellectual hub and facilitator of groundbreaking research at the nano-scale, ranging from electronics and photonics, to quantum matter and technology, to medical and bio-engineering, to additive manufacturing and sustainability.

Center for Sensing to Intelligence

INACTIVE CENTERS

While the centers below are no longer active, their websites contain many interesting and useful resources.

Center for Bioinspired Engineering (CBE)

The Center for Bioinspired Engineering develops new approaches to pressing technological challenges in energy, defense, and biomedicine by exploiting engineering solutions found in nature.