• USC received a total of $300 million in federal funds for research and development activities. Based on research funding, USC ranks among
  • the top 10 private universities, and
  • the top 20 private and public universities.
• The Viterbi School of Engineering ranks in the top three engineering schools in research funding. It receives over $100 million per year in research funding.
  

• The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering alone receives $5 million per year in research funding.

Laboratories

• The Strong Motion Data Processing Laboratory uses computers to process and archive strong-motion records obtained during earthquakes. It provides immediate access to more than 1,300 digitized components of strong-motion data and to structural response data from the recent earthquakes in Southern California, including the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.
• The Dynamics Laboratory is equipped with several shake tables, a shock machine, and a computer for real-time control and data acquisition. It is equipped with a dual shake table activated by dual MTS servo controllers.
• The Leroy Crandal Geotechnical Laboratory employs soil testing equipment for advanced computer-controlled soil testing.
• The Wave Mechanics Laboratory consists of a shortwave channel with a programmable wave plate and the associated hardware for digital control of experiments.
• The Ernest Hix Concrete Technology Laboratory has a high intensity mixer with a 4 cu. ft. capacity, along with equipment for evaluating the properties of coarse and fine aggregates. A one-million pound capacity SAETEC compression load frame is available for testing high-strength concrete.
• The Brandow and Johnston Structural Components Laboratory employs two test frames, each with an axial load capacity of 800 Kips, which can be combined with hydraulic actuators to provide various loading combinations on structural components. This lab is also equipped with a 600,000 pound capacity SAETEC universal test system, which is useful for tension and compression testing.
• The Environmental Engineering Laboratories are equipped with state-of-the-art analytical and experimental research instruments. Equipment includes two atomic absorption spectrophotometers, several gas chromatographs, two high-performance liquid chromatographs, a Fourier Transform infrared spectrophotometer, a liquid scintillation counter, two GE/MS analyzers, an ion chromatograph, an ICP spectrometer, two total carbon analyzers, and many other standard instruments. There is substantial capability for environmental microbiology, utilizing incubators, sterilizers, microscopes, and support hardware.