State law could cause U. of Illinois researcher Scott White to lose $11.5 million in federal grant money
The News-Gazette
November 2, 2010
The University of Illinois could lose millions of dollars in federal grant money for a single researcher because a California company is balking at the paperwork and guarantees required by a state law designed to fight corruption.
Scott White, a professor of aerospace engineering, might not be able to use about $11.5 million in two Air Force grants for materials research, because his California supplier decided it wasn't worth the trouble, for a roughly $70,000 sale, to follow the requirements under Public Act 96-0795, a law aimed at preventing corruption in a state infamous for it.
"I feel an extreme sense of frustration after many months of trying to make this work," said White, one of the Urbana campus' best-known researchers.
An autoclave – a device he employs to cure a self-healing composite material – is no longer functional, and White said he would not be able to meet the conditions of his grants without one.
White said he hoped there was a workaround.
"I have to think that somebody will wake up somehow and make it work, but I don't know how that would happen," he said.
