From left, Cornell professors Ken Birman, computer science, and Michael Isaacson, applied engineering physics, describe Department of Defense-funded basic research projects at Cornell to U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. Bob Livingston (R-Louisiana) as part of a Department of Defense Demonstration Day reception held May 7 on Capitol Hill. Birman and Isaacson explained Cornell projects on developing survivable, secure and fault-tolerant computer systems; developing large-scale computational methods to address complex problems, such as fluid flow in rockets and spacecraft; creating the knowledge bases for various advanced technologies needed to understand, for instance, the safe destruction of obsolete chemical weapons; and designing and constructing novel electronic and photonic devices.