National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Centers (ERC) Program

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National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering
Research Centers (ERC) Program

• Lynn Preston
• Leader of the Engineering Research Centers (ERC)
  Program
• Deputy Division Director
• Division of Engineering Education and Centers
• lpreston_at_nsf.gov
• 703-292-5358

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Engineering Research Centers ProgramGuiding
Goals - 20 Years

• Create and sustain an integrated,
  interdisciplinary research environment to advance
  fundamental engineering knowledge and engineered
  systems
• Educate a globally competitive and diverse
  engineering workforce from K-12 on, and
• Join academe and industry in partnership to
  achieve these goals

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Core Key Features of an ERC

• Guiding strategic vision for transforming
  engineered systems and the development of a
  globally competitive and diverse engineering
  workforce
• Strategic plans for research, education, and
  diversity to realize the vision
• Complex, integrated, interdisciplinary research
  program -- fundamental to systems research and
  proof-of-concept test beds
• Integrating research and education from
  precollege to practitioners (courses, course
  modules, new degree programs)
• Partnership with industry/practitioners to
  formulate and evolve the strategic plan,
  strengthen research and education, speed
  technology transfer
• Leadership, cohesive and diverse
  interdisciplinary team, effective management
• Cross-institutional commitment to facilitate and
  foster the interdisciplinary culture and
  diversity of the ERC

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FY 2007 Engineering Research Centers
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ERC Class of 2006

• Quality of Life Technology ERC, Carnegie Mellon
  and the U. of Pittsburgh, 2006
• Rutgers University with Purdue, New Jersey
  Institute of Technology and UPRM, ERC for
  Structured Organic Composites for Pharmaceutical,
  Nutraceutical, and Agrochemical Applications,
  2006
• Princeton U. with the City University of New
  York, John Hopkins, Texas A M, U. Maryland
  Baltimore County, and Rice, Engineering Research
  Center for Mid-Infrared Technologies for Health
  and the Environment, 2006
• University of California, Berkeley with Harvard
  U., the MIT, Prairie View AM, and the UC, San
  Francisco - Synthetic Biology ERC, 2006
• U. Of Minnesota with GA Tech, Purdue, U. of
  Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Vanderbilt,
  Engineering Research Center for Compact and
  Efficient Fluid Power, 2006

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NSF Engineering Research CentersFY 2007

• BioEngineering
• U. of Washington - - Bioengineered Materials,
  1996
• Georgia Tech with Emory University School of
  Medicine- - Engineering of Living Tissue, 1998
• Johns Hopkins with CMU and MIT, Brigham Womens
  Hospital and Johns Hopkins University Hospital -
  - Computer Integrated Surgical Systems, 1998
• Vanderbilt University with Harvard-MIT,
  Northwestern Univ. and U. of Texas-Austin - -
  VaNTH ERC for Bioengineering Educational
  Technologies, 1999
• U. of Southern California with Caltech and
  UC-Santa Cruz Biomimetic Microelectronic
  Systems, 2003
• University of California, Berkeley with Harvard
  U., the MIT, Prairie View AM, and theUC, San
  Francisco - Synthetic Biology ERC, 2006

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NSF Engineering Research CentersFY 2007

• Microelectronics, Optics, and Information
  Technology Systems
• U. of Southern California - - Integrated Media
  Systems, 1996
• VPI with NC AT, and U. of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez,
  Rensselaer, and Wisconsin - - Power Electronic
  Systems, 1998
• U. of Michigan with Mich. St., Mich.
  Technological Univ. - - Wireless Integrated
  Microsytems, 2000
• Northeastern U. with Boston U., U. of Puerto
  Rico-Mayaguez (UPRM), Rensselaer - - Subsurface
  Sensing Imaging Systems, 2000
• Colorado State (CSU) with CU-Boulder and UC
  Berkeley -- Extreme Ultraviolet ST, 2003
• UMass-Amherst with CSU, U. of Oklahoma, and U.
  of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez Collaborative Adaptive
  Sensing of the Atmosphere, 2003
• Princeton U. with the City University of New
  York, John Hopkins, Texas A M, U. Maryland
  Baltimore County, and Rice, Engineering Research
  Center for Mid-Infrared Technologies for Health
  and the Environment, 2006
• Quality of Life ERC, Carnegie Mellon and the U.
  of Pittsburgh, 2006

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NSF Engineering Research CentersFY 2007

• Manufacturing and Processing
• U. of Michigan - - Reconfigurable Machining
  Systems, 1996
• Clemson with MIT- -Advanced Engineering of Fibers
  and Films, 1998
• U. of Kansas-Lawrence with U. of Iowa and
  Washington U at St. Louis Environmentally
  Beneficial Catalysis, 2003
• Rutgers University with Purdue, New Jersey
  Institute of Technology and UPRM, ERC for
  Structured Organic Composites for Pharmaceutical,
  Nutraceutical, and Agrochemical Applications,
  2006
• U. Of Minnesota with GA Tech, Purdue, U. of
  Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Vanderbilt,
  Engineering Research Center for Compact and
  Efficient Fluid Power, 2006

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NSF Earthquake Engineering Research CentersFY
2007

• University of California at Berkeley - - Pacific
  Earthquake Engineering Research Center, 1997
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - -
  Mid-America Earthquake Center, 1997
• State University of New York at Buffalo - -
  Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake
  Engineering Research, 1997

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Engineering Research Centers Program

• Generation 3 ERCs
• Partnerships in Transforming
• Research, Education and Technology
• NSF 07-

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New Key Features of Gen 3 ERCs

• Build a culture of discovery and innovation in
  academe
• Link scientific discovery to technological
  innovation by directly engaging small innovative
  firms in the ERCs research teams, using core
  funds to carry out translational research to
  speed innovation
• Build partnerships with at least one academic,
  state and local government, and other program
  designed to stimulate entrepreneurship, with
  start-up firms, and otherwise speed the
  translation of academic knowledge into
  technological innovation
• Engage ERC students in all phases of the
  innovation process so they understand what is
  required to translate fundamental knowledge
  discoveries into innovations
• Strategically designed education programs to
  produce creative, innovative engineers
• Provide faculty and students with cross-cultural,
  global research experiences through partnerships
  with foreign universities or other means
• Build long-term sustained partnerships with a few
  pre-college institutions to increase the
  enrollment of domestic students in engineering
  and science degree programs

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Eligibility

• Lead Organization - US academic institutions with
  undergraduate, masters, and doctoral engineering
  programs with sufficient depth and breadth to
  support the vision
• PI - Tenured faculty member at lead institution
  with a full or joint appointment in an
  engineering department. Engineer or scientist
  with substantial career experience in engineering
• No limit on proposals per lead organization or
  per partner institution

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Configuration Eligibility Requirements (ER)

• Configuration Eligibility Requirements
• 1. Multi-university configuration (ER), no
  specific number but must be manageable,
• 2. At least one university/college partner serves
  groups underrepresented in engineering (women,
  racial ethic minorities, disabled) ER
• 3. Long-term partnerships with a few middle and
  high schools to involve teacher students in ERC
  (ER)
• 4. Partnership with an organization ( state or
  local gov. or academic) devoted to speeding
  innovation entrepreneurship - New Feature (ER)
• 5. Full proposal will include letters from
  firms/agencies indicating commitment to
  participation in the ERCs industrial/practitioner
  partnership program (ER)
• 6. Preliminary and full proposal will include
  commitment from the lead institution for
  headquarters space for the ERC (ER)
• Proposal may include a foreign university partner
  - New Feature but US funds cannot pay for foreign
  partnership, foreign funds will be in place
  during year 1 if awarded. Not an eligibility
  requirement.

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Research

• Systems vision for an emerging and potentially
  revolutionary or transforming engineered system
  at the cusp of emerging discoveries in science
  and engineering
• Factor in societal and/or natural systems in
  which the system will function
• Strategic plan using ERC 3-Plane Chart
  identifying critical paths (erc-assoc.org)
• Challenging barriers at fundamental, enabling
  technology, and systems level
• Leading edge role in bridging the gap between
  discovery and innovation, build culture that
  links discovery to innovation through
• Proof-of-concept test beds
• Involvement of small firms as members of the
  research team to carry out translational research
  with teams of students - New Feature
• Collaboration with industrial/practitioner
  members
• Involvement of undergraduate and graduate
  students in research in academic year plus a
  Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)
  Program within the core effort

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ERC Strategic Framework Its not an ERC if it
doesnt do all three
Societal/Natural System Interface
Graduates Technology
Deliverables
Identify Societal/Market Needs, Define System
System Requirements
Systems Architecture
Testbed
Testbed
Testbed
Technology Integration
Integrate Fundamental Knowledge into Enabling
Technology
Enabling Tech. Research
Deliverables
Enabling Tech. Research
Technology Base
Develop Useful Insights from Fundamental Knowledge
Deliverables
Knowledge Base
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University Education - Newly Designed

• Strategically nurture and develop graduates who
  are adaptive, creative innovators with the
  capacity to advance fundamental knowledge and
  exploit it to create innovations - New Feature
• Structure to develop graduates who have the
  knowledge, skills, and experiences needed to be
  successful in a globally connected,
  innovation-driven world- New Feature
• Include development of new course materials
  derived from ERCs interdisciplinary and systems
  research, and if suitable, degree programs and
  options
• Strategic plan specifies desired characteristics,
  proposes how education program will impart these
  to students, and how it will measure and assess
  progress and impacts through longitudinal data -
  New Feature

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Pre-College Education

• Long-term partnerships with a small number of
  pre-college institutions (middle and high school)
  that are committed to - New Feature
• Including engineering concepts in pre-college
  education
• Increasing the enrollment of pre-college students
  in college-level engineering degree program
• Increasing the diversity of students interested
  in engineering
• Involve pre-college teachers in ERCs research to
  enable them to develop course modules to bring
  engineering concepts to the pre-college classroom
  (an ERC RET Program within the core effort)
• Offer promising high school students a Young
  Scholars research opportunity in the ERCs
  laboratories - New Feature
• ERCs faculty and students will participate in
  pre-college activities as mentors and their
  efforts will be recognized and rewarded by their
  administrations - New Feature

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Partnerships for Innovation

• Strategically designed to optimize innovation and
  speed commercialization/utilization of ERCs
  findings/technology
• Partnership with an organization devoted to
  speeding innovation entrepreneurship (state or
  local government, university or other
  organization) - New Feature
• Include small innovative domestic firms in
  research programs to translate ERC research into
  innovation through collaboration with ERCs
  students - New Feature
• Partnership program comprised of industrial firms
  and, if appropriate practitioner organizations,
  to provide guidance on strategic planning,
  research opportunities, education, the role of
  innovation in the ERC and to speed the
  translation of research into new processes and
  products
• No requirements for industrial support in cash or
  in kind because this support is considered cost
  sharing by NSF - New Feature
• Governed by a center-wide membership agreement
  and IP policy
• Industrial/Practitioner Advisory Board

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Infrastructure

• Team
• Center Director and Deputy Director
• Thrust Leaders
• Investigators (faculty, post docs, staff,
  undergraduate and graduate students)
• Education Program Director (faculty), supported
  by staff as needed
• Pre-College Education Program Director (faculty
  or staff), supported by staff
• Industrial Collaboration and Innovation Director
• Administrative Director
• Student Leadership Council
• Scientific and Industrial Advisory Boards
• Internal Academic Policy Board
• Council of Deans, led by Dean of Engineering of
  lead institution
• Team Diversity - Team will be diverse in gender,
  race, and ethnicity and include persons with
  disabilities at levels that exceed national
  engineering-wide averages, governed by a
  diversity strategic plan developed in
  collaboration with participating institutions and
  the departments providing faculty and students to
  the ERC

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Infrastructure

• Organization and Management Systems
• ERC reports to the Dean of Engineering who leads
  a Council of Deans
• Effective organizational and financial management
  systems
• Assessment systems including input from
  scientific and industrial advisory boards
• Facilities, Equipment, and Headquarters
• Appropriate facilities and equipment to achieve
  goals
• Headquarters large enough to support the
  leadership, management, and collaboration
  functions of the ERC
• Supported by cyberinfrastructure with appropriate
  software and staff to enable effective
  cross-campus collaboration - New Feature
• Institutional Commitment
• Facilitate partnership across institutional lines
  in research and education
• Promotion and tenure policies reward
  interdisciplinary research, research on
  education, research to advance technology, and
  mentoring faculty and students at the university
  and pre-college levels - New Feature
• Pre-college partners are committed to long-term
  partnerships involving teachers and students and
  including engineering information in curricula -
  New Feature

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Proposal Information

• Letter of Intent - Required
• Vision, and key participants
• Preliminary Proposals - Submitted through
  FastLane Grants.gov
• List of Participants and separately submitted on
  Excel spreadsheet via ercintent_at_nsf.gov
• Slides of Vision and strategic plan separately
  submitted via ercintent_at_nsf.gov
• 25 pages extended by length of list of
  participants
• Letters from required institutional partners
  (university and pre-college administrators
  innovation partners) up to 10 from
  firms/practitioners committed to membership
• Full Proposals - Submitted through FastLane
  Grants.gov
• List of Participants and separately submitted on
  Excel spreadsheet via ercintent_at_nsf.gov
• Slides of Vision and strategic plan separately
  submitted via ercintent_at_nsf.gov
• 40 pages extended by length of list of
  participants
• Letters from required institutional partners
  (university and pre-college administrators
  innovation partners) all firms/practitioners
  committed to membership

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Due Dates Funding

• February 02, 2007 - Letters of Intent - Required
• May 3, 2007 - Preliminary Proposals Due
• August 1, 2007 - Invitations
• October 30, 2007 - Invited Full Proposals Due
• January - February 2008 - Site Visits
• August 2008 - Awards
• Five Awards Planned, funded under cooperative
  agreements with potential for ten years of
  funding
• Base funding levels flat for first five years at
  3.25 M per year
• Growth possible each year through supplemental
  funding, limited to a total of 20 over five
  years
• Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) and
  Teachers (RET)Programs required to be supported
  by base funds but additional funds may be
  available through submission to the REU RET
  solicitations
• No requirements for academic cost sharing or
  other third-party support, such as industrial
  support - New Feature

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Cognizant NSF Staff

• ERC Program - Lynn Preston, Leader of the ERC
  Program, lpreston_at_nsf.gov and Bruce Kramer,
  bkramer_at_nsf.gov
• University Education - Win Aung, waung_at_nsf.gov
• Pre-College Education - Mary Poats,
  mpoats_at_nsf.gov
• Bioengineering Leon Esterowitz, Bioengineering
  and Photonics, lesterow_at_nsf.gov, Bruce Hamilton,
  Bioprocess Engineering bhamilto_at_nsf.gov, Fred
  Heineken, Bioengineering, fheineke_at_nsf.gov, Sohi
  Rastegar, ERC PD, srastega_at_nsf.gov
• Chemical Engineering Judy Raper, jraper_at_nsf.gov
• Infrastructure Vilas Mujumdar, ERC PD,
  vmujumda_at_nsf.gov, Joy Pauschke, ERC PD,
  jpauschk_at_nsf.gov
• Manufacturing and Processing Bruce Kramer, ERC
  PD, bkramer_at_nsf.gov, George Hazelrigg,
  ghazelrig_at_nsf.gov
• Microelectronics and Optics Deborah Jackson,
  ERC PD, djackson_at_nsf.gov, Larry Goldberg,
  lgoldber_at_nsf.gov, Barbara Kenny, ERC PD,
  bkenny_at_nsf.gov, Rajinder Khosla, rkhosla_at_nsf.gov
• Small Business Murali Nair, mnair_at_nsf.gov,
  Deborah Jackson, Barbara Kenny