image: University of Washington doctoral student Eric Rombokas interacts with a lifelike robotic hand that includes the same number of muscles and tendons as the human hand, allowing the possibility for a more seamless integration with the human nervous system. The robotic hand was built in the UW's Neurobotics Lab, which works on the interface between robotics and the human body. The group will be involved in the new NSF Engineering Research Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering. view more
Credit: Yoky Matsuoka, University of Washington
The National Science Foundation (NSF) today announced the award of $74 million to create four new Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) that will advance interdisciplinary research and education in partnership with industry.
During the next five years, the ERCs will share the goal of creating knowledge and innovations that address significant societal issues such as health and sustainability challenges while advancing the competitiveness of U.S. industry. The centers will support research and innovation in solar energy, water infrastructure, neural engineering and energy transmission.
For the first time, NSF's investment in two of these centers will be matched by another federal agency--NSF and the Department of Energy will co-fund the ERCs investigating solar energy and energy transmission.
"Through this partnership, as with partnerships between NSF and industry, we bring together complementary strategic objectives," said Thomas Peterson, NSF's assistant director for Engineering. "Jointly-funded ERCs will have unique opportunities to advance basic and translational research and to shape the energy workforce--all of which will be essential for energy innovation."
Since 1985, the ERC program has fostered broad-based research and education collaborations to focus on creating technological breakthroughs for new products and services and on preparing U.S. engineering graduates to successfully participate in the global economy. The four centers launched this year, as part of the third generation of NSF ERCs, place increased emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship, partnerships with small research firms, and international collaboration and cultural exchange.
"The Gen-3 ERCs are designed to speed the process of transitioning knowledge into innovation and to provide young engineers with experience in research and entrepreneurship, strengthening their role as innovation leaders in the global economy," said Lynn Preston, the leader of the ERC Program. "Because they build on the rich understanding we gained from two previous generations of ERCs, we expect these new centers to make even more significant impacts on the competitiveness of U.S. industry."
Including the new awards, NSF supports 17 ERCs in the areas of biotechnology and health care; energy, sustainability, and infrastructure; and microelectronics, sensing, and information technology. Brief descriptions of the new centers follow.
The NSF ERC for Re-inventing America's Urban Water Infrastructure, led by Stanford University, will seek sustainable urban water systems to supply, treat, and reuse water.
The NSF ERC for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering, led by the University of Washington, will pursue the ideal mind-machine interface and other devices to restore and augment health.
The NSF-DOE ERC for Quantum Energy and Sustainable Solar Technologies (QESST), led by Arizona State University, will aim to make solar energy technologies sustainable, ubiquitous, and multifunctional.
The NSF-DOE ERC for Ultra-wide-area Resilient Electric Energy Transmission Networks (CURENT), led by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will create transforming technologies to allow reliable, secure, and efficient operation of the electricity transmission infrastructure across vast distances.
Read more about ERCs and the innovation ecosystem in "What is an Innovation Ecosystem?"