SCIENTISTS FOLLOWING NEW PATH; COMMERCE SHARES STATUS WITH MILITARY AT ROCKWELL CENTER.Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer The Rockwell Science Center has been making history in technology for more than three decades, but increasingly faces customers who want less expensive products sooner. Welcome to the post-Cold War situation of a research laboratory no longer insulated in·su·late tr.v. in·su·lat·ed, in·su·lat·ing, in·su·lates 1. To cause to be in a detached or isolated position. See Synonyms at isolate. 2. from the commercial marketplace by the Department of Defense. About half of the Science Center's $75 million in annual research and development remains related to its contracts directly with the Department of Defense. Other work is for Rockwell's own three principal companies and the aerospace and defense businesses that the company sold to Boeing two years ago. Customers include former Rockwell businesses Meritor Automotive Inc. and Goss n. 1. Gorse. Graphic Systems, and the center will support Rockwell's Semiconductor Systems business after it is spun off in December. ``The driving force is where the money comes from. We follow the customer who is willing to pay,'' said Derek T. Cheung, vice president and chief scientist for the center. ``We're schizophrenic schiz·o·phren·ic adj. Of, relating to, or affected by schizophrenia. n. One who is affected with schizophrenia. here,'' he said. ``We can understand the culture of both defense and commercial customers. We appreciate the constraints they work under.'' Rocketdyne Propulsion and Power, based in Canoga Park, is one of the former Rockwell divisions that now is a Science Center customer. Transition is smooth In two years since the sale to Boeing, the transition has been almost invisible, officials at Rocketdyne said. They said the only change in the relationship with the Science Center, under agreements with Boeing, has been the business approach. ``That's been a very positive change in my mind,'' said Gene Jackson, director of advanced analysis for Rocketdyne's engineering department. ``They're more focused in working with us in laying out what we need and making sure the end product is something that can be transitioned into our workplace more readily.'' Nestled among trees above ranch homes and horse properties, the Rockwell Science Center helped spark the space-shuttle program and produces some promising commercial technology. Founded in 1962, the center was originally available only to Rockwell and focused on defense and aerospace. Since the end of the Cold War, electronic controls and communications have been the focus of the center's research and development programs for customers in electrical engineering electrical engineering: see engineering. electrical engineering Branch of engineering concerned with the practical applications of electricity in all its forms, including those of electronics. , physics, computer science, mathematics, materials science materials science Study of the properties of solid materials and how those properties are determined by the material's composition and structure, both macroscopic and microscopic. . Serving multiple masters has been a big cultural change for the nearly 400 scientists, engineers and business professionals working on the two-building campus in the Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. area and at a small station in Palo Alto Palo Alto, city, California Palo Alto (păl`ō ăl`tō), city (1990 pop. 55,900), Santa Clara co., W Calif.; inc. 1894. Although primarily residential, Palo Alto has aerospace, electronics, and advanced research industries. . ``There's more thinking than just taking a product and working on it for years,'' Cheung said. ``We are no longer very purist pur·ist n. One who practices or urges strict correctness, especially in the use of words. pu·ris  tic adj. . We are pragmatic.'' Cheung explained the Science Center's goal of having customers take new technologies to produce usable applications. ``For research you cannot carry those things forever. At some point you have to transfer the technology,'' he said. ``If you can associate those two, the value of that new technology all of a sudden jumps.'' New challenge faced Rockwell International Rockwell International was the ultimate incarnation of a series of companies under the sphere of influence of Willard Rockwell, who had made his fortune after the invention and successful launch of a new bearing system for truck axles in 1919. Corp.'s decade-long transformation into a corporation focused on commercial markets has required the Science Center to sharpen its technological edges. It's a welcome challenge for a laboratory accustomed to making technological history. The lab has supported work for the space shuttle space shuttle, reusable U.S. space vehicle. Developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), it consists of a winged orbiter, two solid-rocket boosters, and an external tank. orbiter and main engines, for advanced aircraft including the B-1B bomber, and for military electronic programs such as the global positioning Satellites. For example, the Science Center developed lightweight advanced metal alloys and silicon dioxide silicon dioxide: see silica. (SiO2) A hard, glassy mineral found in such materials as rock, quartz, sand and opal. In MOS chip fabrication, it is used to create the insulation layer between the metal gates of the top layer and the silicon elements below. tiles for the shuttle. It also has developed the statistical analysis program to assess a mission's success. The Science Center has played a key role in analyzing the space shuttle's main engine and booster engines A booster engine for steam locomotives is a small two-cylinder steam engine back-gear-connected to the trailing truck axle on the locomotive or, if none, the lead truck on the tender. A rocking idler gear permits it to be put into operation by the engineer. for the Atlas, Titan and Delta rockets that carry satellites into space. The center's scientists are working on software for more exact analysis of how fluids flow through the turbo props, valves and combustion chambers of rockets. ``They are pushing the envelope to make tools faster and more accurate to get the job done quicker and better than before,'' said Jackson at Rocketdyne. ``If they are able to deliver as promised, which they are usually able to do, then we will have a world-class product.'' Advanced imaging arrays for defense, as well as for astronomy and commerce, were developed at the Science Center. Infrared bands, or thermal radiation thermal radiation Process by which energy is emitted by a warm surface. The energy is electromagnetic radiation and so travels at the speed of light and does not require a medium to carry it. , are converted into thermal images. The military uses the imaging in satellite surveillance from space and in aiming smart weapons. The technology is used in the Hubble telescope See Hubble Space Telescope. in deep-space astronomy, and its commercial uses may include helping motorists see farther at night. Commercial uses grow Defense technology frequently overlaps into commerce, as in making liquid crystal displays liquid crystal display (LCD) Optoelectronic device used in displays for watches, calculators, notebook computers, and other electronic devices. Current passed through specific portions of the liquid crystal solution causes the crystals to align, blocking the passage of light. on aircraft flight decks easier to view. Using knowledge about laser systems to communicate with a submarine, scientists developed a film placed on the cockpit display panel. Rockwell's principal businesses are Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation NYSE: ROK is an industrial automation company. Its products include Allen-Bradley controls and engineered services and Rockwell Software factory management software. The company headquarters are located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. , Rockwell Collins Rockwell Collins, Inc. (NYSE: COL) is a large United States-based international company headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, primarily providing aviation and information technology systems, solutions, and services to governmental agencies and aircraft manufacturers. and Rockwell Electronic Commerce. Rockwell Automation is the largest, serving customers in transportation, forest products, metals, petroleum and mining, consumer products and entertainment. Rockwell supplies communications, navigation and sensor products, as well as flight control and management systems for aircraft manufacturers, airlines and business aircraft owners. As a pioneer in computer and fax modems, Rockwell mixes analog and digital circuitry on ever-smaller chips found in cellular and cordless phones, TV boxes, personal computer-based videoconferencing A real time video session between two or more users or between two or more locations. Although the first videoconferencing was done with traditional analog TV and satellites, inhouse room systems became popular in the early 1980s after Compression Labs pioneered digitized video systems and entertainment systems. Notable technological innovations include: Ultrahigh-speed semiconductor technology used in most U.S. digital cellular telephone hand sets. Low-cost imaging technology in mainstream video, electronic and industrial cameras. Diagnostic software used in some of the world's leading automated manufacturing plants to enable high-volume, round-the-clock operations. Software that lets busy telephone centers manage millions of reservations, catalog purchases, service-center transactions, outgoing sales calls and other business. ``Our defined purpose has always been to work in partnership with our businesses to help them win in the marketplace, providing the technical winning edge,'' said Joe Longo, vice president and general manager of the Science Center's. ``What has changed is that when we were only serving Rockwell, it was in the company's best interest to encourage synergy across the organization. Now that we're a shared resource Sharing a peripheral device (disk, printer, etc.) among several users. For example, a file server and laser printer in a LAN are shared resources. Contrast with shared logic. , it's our responsibility to capture that kind of synergy for all customers.'' Rockwell, Boeing share The Science Center's fate was one of the final issues decided when Rockwell sold its aerospace and defense businesses to Boeing in 1996. The center remained with Rockwell, but operates as a shared resource. The Science Center has developed an approach tailored to the customers, Cheung said. He said lab personnel aim to anticipate competition and spot new opportunities for customers. ``We've transformed from a protected, kind of guaranteed environment under a parent company to a more market-driven business model. . . . We deliver, not just talk about it,'' he said. ``Ideas are good, but ideas are cheap.'' CAPTION(S): 4 Photos PHOTO (1--Color) (Ran in Simi and Conejo Editions only) Kadri Vural, assistant director of electronic-devices research at the Rockwell Science Center in Thousand Oaks, holds a chip carrier. (2-3--Color) (Ran in Simi and Conejo Editions only) Scientist Jian Ma, above, adjusts holographic-data storage equipment while workers in a sterile room concentrate on infrared imaging wafers. (4) (Ran in Simi and Conejo Editions only) Scott Schroeder works at a metal prototyping machine at the Rockwell lab that has become more diverse since the Cold War ended. Michael Owen
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