Scientists searching for a stronger composite material, a more durable medical polymer, or a heat-responsive soft material may soon be able to test hundreds of possibilities at UC Santa Barbara without leaving their home institutions. 

UCSB has been selected to lead the Computation-Optimized Automated Soft materials Technology Programmable Cloud Laboratory (COAST PCL), one of 20 remotely accessible and interconnected research nodes supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as part of a newly announced national network of programmable cloud laboratories. Through the NSF’s PCL Test Bed Initiative, UCSB will receive $20 million over four years to create a national resource for automated polymer and soft-materials research. 

COAST PCL will connect instruments, robotics, software, data systems and artificial intelligence in a laboratory that scientists can access through the cloud. Researchers will be able to design experiments remotely, have automated systems carry them out and use AI to help determine what should be tested next.

“I am particularly excited by the opportunity to fundamentally change how the next generation of scientists and engineers think about experimental design,” said materials professor Christopher Bates, who will serve as co-director of COAST PCL. “The ability to automate workflows and perform them remotely could revolutionize materials research from start to finish.” 

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