Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Coordinated Science Laboratory
open-in-new
<h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>Established in 1951 as a classified defense laboratory, the Coordinated Science Laboratory (or CSL) was originally designed to be a center for research in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110807192531/http://www.csl.illinois.edu/research-groups/remote-sensing-and-space-science">remote sensing and space sciences</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110807192554/http://www.csl.illinois.edu/research-groups/signal-processing">signal, image and speech processing</a> and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110807192650/http://www.csl.illinois.edu/research-groups/thin-film-electronics">thin film electronics</a>. </p> <h2 id="faculty-and-funding">Faculty and funding</h2> <p>Research at CSL is conducted by more than 100 faculty members spanning 11 departments in the university. The lab also employs more than 500 graduate and undergraduate students. </p><p>CSL is funded by many federal, state and private programs. It receives the majority of its operating and research budget from <a href="/facts/DARPA/Uf9sarhT">DARPA</a>, the <a href="/facts/National_Science_Foundation/FlDT8TbW">National Science Foundation</a>, <a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a>, and from private corporations. Corporate funders have included <a href="/facts/AT%26T/y3Lo9uhk">AT&T</a>, <a href="/facts/Cisco_Systems/ocDgQt6T">Cisco</a>, <a href="/facts/Hewlett-Packard/abuNSYNu">Hewlett-Packard</a>, <a href="/facts/Intel/SMF0gJJX">Intel</a>, <a href="/facts/Lucent/uzgpVmLa">Lucent</a>, <a href="/facts/Microsoft/nGIDDXdx">Microsoft</a>, <a href="/facts/NVIDIA/8QfCgqbu">NVIDIA</a>, and <a href="/facts/Sun_Microsystems/VJ9EzEFd">Sun Microsystems</a>. </p> <h2 id="major-centers-and-institutes-within-csl">Major centers and institutes within CSL</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://www.adsc.illinois.edu">Advanced Digital Sciences Center</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150525035018/http://publish.illinois.edu/exascale-plasma/">Center for Exascale Simulation of Plasma-Coupled Combustion</a></li> <li><a href="http://compgen.illinois.edu">CompGen</a></li> <li><a href="http://healtheng.illinois.edu">Health Care Engineering Systems Center</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.iti.illinois.edu">Information Trust Institute</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110807191850/http://www.csl.illinois.edu/ethics-center">National Center for Professional and Research Ethics</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110423154206/http://www.csl.illinois.edu/institutes/parallel-computing-institute">Parallel Computing Institute</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.sonic-center.org/">Systems on Nanoscale Information fabriCs (SONIC)</a></li></ul> <h2 id="notable-research-contributions">Notable research contributions</h2> <ul><li>Electric <a href="/facts/Vacuum/BTk3goyV">vacuum</a> <a href="/facts/Gyroscope/UjXGsfMq">gyroscope</a> (the central component of inertial navigation systems, primarily used by <a href="/facts/Submarine/6fhcAKHV">submarines</a>)</li> <li>Portable <a href="/facts/Radar/jk9BTbFA">radar</a> systems</li> <li><a href="/facts/PLATO_(computer_system)/p4RNhjwV">PLATO</a> (the first computer-based education system)</li> <li>Flat panel <a href="/facts/Plasma_screen/1RqxrYBo">plasma displays</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Deuterium/Bv4wfCkw">Deuterium</a> Method for processing <a href="/facts/Integrated_circuit/fjn6vg7C">microchips</a> (extends the life of microchips by 10 to 50 times normal length)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Quantum/4x5QTxGB">Quantum</a> wire <a href="/facts/Laser/jk6PTvvT">lasers</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Quantum_dot/K5Ytv8Yw">Quantum dots</a></li></ul> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Grainger_College_of_Engineering/nrMem3Rn">Grainger College of Engineering</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Beckman_Institute_for_Advanced_Science_and_Technology/czbgQVyp">Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Carl_R._Woese_Institute_for_Genomic_Biology/D4X478sM">Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/National_Center_for_Supercomputing_Applications/vNNK19se">National Center for Supercomputing Applications</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://www.csl.illinois.edu/">Coordinated Science Laboratory</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110317212655/http://www.csl.illinois.edu/decision/history">History of the Decision and Control Laboratory</a>, a research group within CSL</li></ul>