New NSF engineering research centers focus on health, transportation, quantum tech, agriculture
NSF Engineering Research Centers build an innovation ecosystem and culture of inclusion to create far-reaching impacts from convergent research.
Credit: Utah State University
The U.S. National Science Foundation is pleased to announce the creation of four new engineering research centers. These new centers will focus on extending the viability of cells, tissues, organs and organisms; designing sustainable infrastructure for electrified vehicles; creating building blocks of the quantum internet; and realizing precision agriculture.
"For the last 35 years, engineering research centers have helped shape science and technology in the United States by fostering innovation and collaboration among industry, universities and government agencies," said NSF Director Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan. "As we kick off a new generation of centers, NSF will continue to work with its partners to ensure the success of these collaborative enterprises and the transformative, convergent research impact they produce."
NSF is investing $104 million in four new centers over the next five years. Each center has a specific research focus:
- NSF Engineering Research Center for Advanced Technologies for Preservation of Biological Systems aims to stop biological time by designing methods to cryogenically cool, hold and re-warm living materials without harm, extending our ability to bank and transport them. The center involves four partner universities: University of Minnesota (lead); Massachusetts General Hospital; University of California, Berkeley; and University of California, Riverside.
- NSF Engineering Research Center for Advancing Sustainability through Powered Infrastructure for Roadway Electrification seeks to create sustainable, equitable and widespread electrification of vehicles by creating low-cost, ubiquitous, and worry-free charging. The center involves four partner universities: Utah State University (lead), Purdue University, University of Colorado and University of Texas at El Paso.
- NSF Engineering Research Center for Quantum Networks aims to create foundations for the future quantum internet by developing key quantum technologies and new functional building blocks connecting quantum processors over local and global scales. The center involves four partner universities: University of Arizona (lead), Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University.
- NSF Engineering Research Center for the Internet of Things for Precision Agriculture seeks to ensure food, energy and water security with new systems to increase crop production while minimizing energy and water use and environmental impacts of agricultural practices. The center involves four partner universities: University of Pennsylvania (lead); Purdue University; University of California, Merced; and University of Florida.
Since the program's inception in 1985, NSF has funded 75 centers and will support 18 in this fiscal year, including the four new centers. Each center receives NSF funding for up to 10 years. During this time, centers build partnerships with industry, universities, and other government agencies that sustain them into the future. The centers also build an innovation ecosystem and culture of inclusion to help propel impacts from convergent research and technologies.
More information about the NSF engineering research centers can be found on NSF's website.
Media Contacts
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