Interdisciplinary Glossary

Why we have a Center Glossary...

Reason #1

People work more effectively when they understand each other.

Reason #2

The success of the Center for Biofilm Engineering depends upon cross-disciplinary research. At the CBE, students, engineers, microbiologists, chemists, and others constantly exchange valuable knowledge and expertise. These people come not only from various disciplines, but from diverse organizations, universities, government, and industry. Consequently, a rich mixture of technical terms and concepts is found at the CBE.

This glossary attempts to identify and clarify problematic terms. In some cases a term may have different meanings in different disciplines. More often, a term which has a specific meaning in one discipline is understood and used in a less precise way by people in other disciplines. In addition, there are many concepts and acronyms used at the CBE which are probably unfamiliar to people outside the CBE.

Communicating your ideas and understanding those of other researchers is key to successful research. It can also be a confusing and frustrating experience. We hope that this glossary will acquaint you with the basics of the technical language used at the CBE, and help you to communicate better with your CBE contacts.

The development of this glossary is an on-going process. If you have any suggestions for improving it, please email Peg Dirckx or Diane Williams.