Braga Golding grows diamonds ...by reacting inexpensive gases in a high-temperature plasma. Since diamond is very hard and works well at high temperatures, a thin coat of diamond on a drill bit can increase the tool's lifetime by a factor of ten. If brown with a small amount of impurities, diamond conducts electricity and can be used to build electronic circuits that operate under extreme conditions such as the high temperatures of a space shuttle engine.

Golding, a condensed matter physicist, directs the MSU Center for Sensor Materials (CSM), one of 25 centers in the nation established by the National Science Foundation to conduct research on the properties of materials. Diamond, magnets, and polymers are just some of the materials under study. The center carries out basic research in physics and chemistry in conjunction with more applied engineering disciplines. For example, besides growing diamond for applications, the center also studies at a very fundamental level the way in which it conducts electrical charge. .

CSM is unique in its focus on sensor materials useful in the automotive industry, the largest industrial consumer of materials in the country. The lab's work on flow visualization, as it is called, is a collaboration among scientists in physics, chemistry, and mechanical engineering. "Ford, GM, and Chrysler are all interested in how complicated flow takes place in engine cylinders," says Golding. "Flow is critical to engine performance. We are also developing sensors to improve performance and to detect emissions harmful to the environment." .

Such science is not directed at next year's model. "What we do," says Golding, "is longer term. A lot of industries are depending on universities to do long-range research. The key is to get people of different backgrounds to work together. It doesn't matter what your degree is in when you're focused on a problem." .