3/11/97 Contact: Robert Lilley, 614-593-1514

ATHENS, Ohio -- Robert Lilley, director of the Avionics Engineering Center at Ohio University, will serve as the Kohei Miura Visiting Professor Chubu University in Nagoya, Japan, during spring quarter. Lilley, also a professor of electrical engineering in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology, will travel to Ohio University's sister campus in Japan to deliver seminars and conduct research on avionics.

"This area of specialization may be new to many Chubu students and faculty. I am looking forward to the opportunity for an interchange of ideas and information," Lilley said. "The work will be done in their university's electronic engineering department."

The university began its relationship with Chubu University, a campus of a little more than 6,000 students and more than 200 faculty, in 1973. The Kohei Miura Visiting Professor program, which is named for the founder of Chubu University who died in 1975, started soon after that. Through the program, Ohio University sends one faculty member each spring to teach and conduct research at the campus in Nagoya.

"It's a very close and cordial relationship that involves many dimensions of exchange, including student and faculty exchanges between the two campuses," said Felix Gagliano, vice provost for international programs at Ohio University. "One aspect of that relationship is the visiting professor program, which provides our faculty with an enriching cultural and educational experience."

While in Japan, Lilley also plans to establish contacts in the avionics industry in that country.