  The campus boasts a large number of interdisciplinary centers and industrial consortia to coordinate and enhance such efforts.  These centers provide access to state of the art technology for a "critical mass" of talented students, faculty, and professional research staff, and focus on innovations destined to enhance the competitive position of U.S.  engineering and technology.  Many of these centers and consortia operate with direct industry participation.  This permits students to obtain first hand knowledge of modern industrial research needs and to establish important links between the industrial participants and the department.  Among these centers and consortia are: <A HREF="http://www.engr.wisc.edu/centers/ercpam/">Engineering Research Center for Plasma-Aided Manufacturing</A>, <A HREF="http://www.xraylith.wisc.edu/">Center for X-ray Lithography</A>, <A HREF="http://www.engr.wisc.edu/consortia/wempec/">Wisconsin Electric Machines and Power Electronics Consortium (WEMPEC)</A>, <A HREF="http://www.engr.wisc.edu/consortia/wmarc/">Wisconsin Manufacturing Automation and Robotics Consortium</A>, Thin-Film Research Consortium, Materials Science Industrial Consortium, and Wisconsin Information Sciences and Communications Consortium.  <P>
