diff --git a/src/compute_contact_atom.cpp b/src/compute_contact_atom.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ef3d4ff581
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/compute_contact_atom.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,197 @@
+/* ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+   LAMMPS - Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator
+   http://lammps.sandia.gov, Sandia National Laboratories
+   Steve Plimpton, sjplimp@sandia.gov
+
+   Copyright (2003) Sandia Corporation.  Under the terms of Contract
+   DE-AC04-94AL85000 with Sandia Corporation, the U.S. Government retains
+   certain rights in this software.  This software is distributed under
+   the GNU General Public License.
+
+   See the README file in the top-level LAMMPS directory.
+------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+#include "math.h"
+#include "string.h"
+#include "stdlib.h"
+#include "compute_contact_atom.h"
+#include "atom.h"
+#include "update.h"
+#include "modify.h"
+#include "neighbor.h"
+#include "neigh_list.h"
+#include "neigh_request.h"
+#include "force.h"
+#include "pair.h"
+#include "comm.h"
+#include "memory.h"
+#include "error.h"
+
+using namespace LAMMPS_NS;
+
+/* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+ComputeContactAtom::ComputeContactAtom(LAMMPS *lmp, int narg, char **arg) :
+  Compute(lmp, narg, arg)
+{
+  if (narg != 3) error->all(FLERR,"Illegal compute contact/atom command");
+
+  peratom_flag = 1;
+  size_peratom_cols = 0;
+  comm_reverse = 1;
+
+  nmax = 0;
+  contact = NULL;
+
+  // error checks
+
+  if (!atom->sphere_flag)
+    error->all(FLERR,"Compute contact/atom requires atom style sphere");
+}
+
+/* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+ComputeContactAtom::~ComputeContactAtom()
+{
+  memory->destroy(contact);
+}
+
+/* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+void ComputeContactAtom::init()
+{
+  if (force->pair == NULL)
+    error->all(FLERR,"Compute contact/atom requires a pair style be defined");
+
+  int count = 0;
+  for (int i = 0; i < modify->ncompute; i++)
+    if (strcmp(modify->compute[i]->style,"contact/atom") == 0) count++;
+  if (count > 1 && comm->me == 0)
+    error->warning(FLERR,"More than one compute contact/atom");
+
+  // need an occasional neighbor list
+
+  int irequest = neighbor->request((void *) this);
+  neighbor->requests[irequest]->half = 0;
+  neighbor->requests[irequest]->gran = 1;
+  neighbor->requests[irequest]->pair = 0;
+  neighbor->requests[irequest]->compute = 1;
+  neighbor->requests[irequest]->occasional = 1;
+}
+
+/* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+void ComputeContactAtom::init_list(int id, NeighList *ptr)
+{
+  list = ptr;
+}
+
+/* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+void ComputeContactAtom::compute_peratom()
+{
+  int i,j,ii,jj,inum,jnum;
+  double xtmp,ytmp,ztmp,delx,dely,delz,rsq;
+  double radi,radsum,radsumsq;
+  int *ilist,*jlist,*numneigh,**firstneigh;
+
+  invoked_peratom = update->ntimestep;
+
+  // grow contact array if necessary
+
+  if (atom->nmax > nmax) {
+    memory->destroy(contact);
+    nmax = atom->nmax;
+    memory->create(contact,nmax,"contact/atom:contact");
+    vector_atom = contact;
+  }
+
+  // invoke neighbor list (will copy or build if necessary)
+
+  neighbor->build_one(list->index);
+
+  inum = list->inum;
+  ilist = list->ilist;
+  numneigh = list->numneigh;
+  firstneigh = list->firstneigh;
+
+  // compute number of contacts for each atom in group
+  // contact if distance <= sum of radii
+  // tally for both I and J
+
+  double **x = atom->x;
+  double *radius = atom->radius;
+  int *mask = atom->mask;
+  int nlocal = atom->nlocal;
+  int nall = nlocal + atom->nghost;
+
+  for (i = 0; i < nall; i++) contact[i] = 0.0;
+
+  for (ii = 0; ii < inum; ii++) {
+    i = ilist[ii];
+    if (mask[i] & groupbit) {
+      xtmp = x[i][0];
+      ytmp = x[i][1];
+      ztmp = x[i][2];
+      radi = radius[i];
+      jlist = firstneigh[i];
+      jnum = numneigh[i];
+
+      for (jj = 0; jj < jnum; jj++) {
+        j = jlist[jj];
+        j &= NEIGHMASK;
+
+        delx = xtmp - x[j][0];
+        dely = ytmp - x[j][1];
+        delz = ztmp - x[j][2];
+        rsq = delx*delx + dely*dely + delz*delz;
+        radsum = radi + radius[j];
+        radsumsq = radsum*radsum;
+        if (rsq <= radsumsq) {
+          contact[i] += 1.0;
+          contact[j] += 1.0;
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  // communicate ghost atom counts between neighbor procs if necessary
+
+  if (force->newton_pair) comm->reverse_comm_compute(this);
+}
+
+/* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+int ComputeContactAtom::pack_reverse_comm(int n, int first, double *buf)
+{
+  int i,m,last;
+
+  m = 0;
+  last = first + n;
+  for (i = first; i < last; i++)
+    buf[m++] = contact[i];
+  return 1;
+}
+
+/* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+void ComputeContactAtom::unpack_reverse_comm(int n, int *list, double *buf)
+{
+  int i,j,m;
+
+  m = 0;
+  for (i = 0; i < n; i++) {
+    j = list[i];
+    contact[j] += buf[m++];
+  }
+}
+
+/* ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+   memory usage of local atom-based array
+------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+double ComputeContactAtom::memory_usage()
+{
+  double bytes = nmax * sizeof(double);
+  return bytes;
+}
diff --git a/src/compute_contact_atom.h b/src/compute_contact_atom.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c602131544
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/compute_contact_atom.h
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+/* ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+   LAMMPS - Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator
+   http://lammps.sandia.gov, Sandia National Laboratories
+   Steve Plimpton, sjplimp@sandia.gov
+
+   Copyright (2003) Sandia Corporation.  Under the terms of Contract
+   DE-AC04-94AL85000 with Sandia Corporation, the U.S. Government retains
+   certain rights in this software.  This software is distributed under
+   the GNU General Public License.
+
+   See the README file in the top-level LAMMPS directory.
+------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+#ifdef COMPUTE_CLASS
+
+ComputeStyle(contact/atom,ComputeContactAtom)
+
+#else
+
+#ifndef LMP_COMPUTE_CONTACT_ATOM_H
+#define LMP_COMPUTE_CONTACT_ATOM_H
+
+#include "compute.h"
+
+namespace LAMMPS_NS {
+
+class ComputeContactAtom : public Compute {
+ public:
+  ComputeContactAtom(class LAMMPS *, int, char **);
+  ~ComputeContactAtom();
+  void init();
+  void init_list(int, class NeighList *);
+  void compute_peratom();
+  int pack_reverse_comm(int, int, double *);
+  void unpack_reverse_comm(int, int *, double *);
+  double memory_usage();
+
+ private:
+  int nmax;
+  class NeighList *list;
+  double *contact;
+};
+
+}
+
+#endif
+#endif
+
+/* ERROR/WARNING messages:
+
+E: Illegal ... command
+
+Self-explanatory.  Check the input script syntax and compare to the
+documentation for the command.  You can use -echo screen as a
+command-line option when running LAMMPS to see the offending line.
+
+E: Compute contact/atom requires a pair style be defined
+
+Self-explantory.
+
+W: More than one compute contact/atom
+
+It is not efficient to use compute contact/atom more than once.
+
+*/
diff --git a/src/neigh_request.h b/src/neigh_request.h
index f5947cf729..af3e39839d 100644
--- a/src/neigh_request.h
+++ b/src/neigh_request.h
@@ -26,18 +26,18 @@ class NeighRequest : protected Pointers {
 
   // which class is requesting the list, one flag is 1, others are 0
 
-  int pair;
+  int pair;              // set by default
   int fix;
   int compute;
   int command;
 
-  // kind of list requested
+  // kind of list requested, one flag is 1, others are 0
   // set by requesting class
 
-  int half;              // 1 if half neigh list
+  int half;              // 1 if half neigh list (set by default)
   int full;              // 1 if full neigh list
 
-  int gran;              // 1 if granular list
+  int gran;              // 1 if granular list 
   int granhistory;       // 1 if granular history list
 
   int respainner;        // 1 if a rRESPA inner list
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ class NeighRequest : protected Pointers {
   int newton;
 
   // 0 if user of list wants no encoding of special bond flags and all neighs
-  // 1 if user of list wants special bond flags encoded
+  // 1 if user of list wants special bond flags encoded, set by default
 
   int special;
 
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ class NeighRequest : protected Pointers {
   int *iskip;            // iskip[i] if atoms of type I are not in list
   int **ijskip;          // ijskip[i][j] if pairs of type I,J are not in list
 
-  int otherlist;         // other list to copy or skip from
+  int otherlist;         // index of other list to copy or skip from
 
   // methods
 
diff --git a/src/neighbor.cpp b/src/neighbor.cpp
index 08a4b317b8..7dbcbb701f 100644
--- a/src/neighbor.cpp
+++ b/src/neighbor.cpp
@@ -528,6 +528,8 @@ void Neighbor::init()
               requests[j]->skip == 0 && requests[j]->half) break;
           if (requests[i]->full && requests[j]->pair &&
               requests[j]->skip == 0 && requests[j]->full) break;
+          if (requests[i]->gran && requests[j]->pair &&
+              requests[j]->skip == 0 && requests[j]->gran) break;
           if (requests[i]->half && requests[j]->pair &&
               requests[j]->skip == 0 && requests[j]->respaouter) break;
         }