The Mitsubishi Chemical Center for Advanced Materials (MC-CAM) is an interdisciplinary materials research center that commenced operations in May 2001 at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). The Center enables a research partnership between the Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC) and the greater materials science community housed in UCSB's College of Engineering and physical science departments. This partnership specifically targets the area of functional soft materials and has put into place MCC-funded research projects in this area on the UCSB campus.