Congressman Andrews Announces Opening of Plasma Institute

Camden, NJ – Last Thursday, Congressman Rob Andrews celebrated the opening of the new A.J. Drexel Plasma Institute at a ribbon cutting ceremony in Camden.  The new center brings 25 permanent professorial and technical jobs to Camden as well as 50 undergraduate and graduate Drexel students.   Rep. Andrews helped secure more than $5 million in state and federal funds for the Plasma Institute.

“Attracting top talent to Camden is vital to stimulating the local economy,” said Rep. Andrews. “Having leading physicists and researchers in the area will be a boon to small businesses and hiring.”  

The new labs are larger and better equipped to support the research and training efforts of Drexel students, faculty, and research staff.  This institute will apply breakthroughs in high energy physics to three main research areas: energy, medicine, and the environment.  In energy, plasma has a variety of potential uses, including fuel conversion, hydrogen production, and green technology.  Medical applications include direct wound and burn treatment, as well as sterilization of hospitals and equipment.  The possible environmental applications are no less groundbreaking, including air and water treatment.

“Breakthroughs in energy and medicine will be found in this lab,” said Rep. Andrews.  “We are standing a block from where RCA made history by pioneering the first phonograph records; because of this plasma center we will make history here again for years to come.”

“Right now, at Cooper Hospital, there is no doubt a person suffering from a near-fatal car accident, a gunshot wound, or some debilitating disease,” said Rep. Andrews.  “We have the finest doctors in the world at Cooper, and plasma research is going to give them a tool to do their jobs faster and more effectively.”

The A.J Drexel Plasma Institute is approximately 10,000 square feet and is located at the Waterfront Technology Center at 200 Federal St. in Camden, N.J.  The Institute is one of only 15 plasma chemistry institutes in the United States, and is by far the largest in the country.  The faculty is largely from the Drexel College of Medicine, and the Institute has the distinction of being funded by both the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
 

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