  The STAR experiment at RHIC is a TPC-based, general purpose detector designed
to obtain charged particle spectra, with an emphasis on hadrons over a large
phase space. An electromagnetic calorimeter provides measurement of electrons,
photons, pi-zeros and jets. Data-taking with Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s)= 200
GeV/c**2 begins in Fall 1999. The STAR experiment's investigation of techniques
and signals using hard probes to study the high energy-density matter at RHIC
and to search for quark-gluon plasma formation will be described.
