They attract the good students, they attract the money, they build the prestige and general worldwide image of the program. Kelley has hired 30 of the 32 faculty members in the college. With 300 graduate students, the program is the largest of its kind in the country. The college hosts about 60 post-doctoral visiting scientists. The model of the program is the master-apprentice system.
Research is a teaching function.
Graduates have done such substantial research by graduation that they qualify as independent researchers. At any time, the program has more than 100 research projects going on, supported by government and industry. Almost every industry now depends heavily on polymers because a greater volume is being made than all metals combined. Possibilities for polymers are endless, and the faculty and student researchers at the college are in the middle of exciting developments. A fair amount of the research done involves nanotechnologies.