NSF/EPA NTE 2003 Home Page

Announcement
of Opportunity

The Most Recent
NTE Solicitation is:
NSF 03-510

FY 2003 Home Page for the
New Technologies for
the Environment (NTE) Program
(Remediation, Treatment, and Sensing)

Our easy-to-remember shortcut URL is: www.eng.nsf.gov/nte

| NTE FY 2003 Program Overview | NTE FY 2003 Program Synopsis |

| NTE 2000 Proposal and Grant Summary | NTE Award Grants | Questions ? |

| NSF Program Officers | EPA Program Coordinator and Program Officers |

| FastLane Submission Clarification |

NTE FY 2003 Program Overview

In FY 2003, the New Technologies for the Environment (NTE) program has been combined with the Technology for a Sustainable Environment (TSE) program into the 2003 Environmental Technologies and Systems (ETS) solicitation of the NSF/EPA Partnership for Environmental Research. Details of each program can be found in solicitation NSF 03-510.

NTE FY 2003 Program Synopsis

As population continues to grow, there are increased pressures on society and the ecosystem that supports it, including the global climate. Scarce resources are being depleted. Air and water pollution causes human disease, damages ecosystems, and harms organisms. Collectively, these pressures are one significant reason for human conflict. These pressures are relieved by advancing our scientific understanding of nature and the world around us, as scientific solutions are implemented in engineered systems. Engineered systems can cope with increased societal pressures, provide cleaner air and water, and thereby reduce risks from environmental pollutants. This provides economic benefits that enable a society to move forward, to care for its people, to provide quality education and health care, and to feed, clothe, and protect itself.

The New Technologies for the Environment program (NTE) focuses on entirely new technologies that can be applied to environmental sensing, remediation, and treatment. The program has two parts: Phase I (exploratory feasibility studies) and Phase II (regular research). All three technology areas described below are appropriate for Phase I proposals. If a Phase I exploratory project has already been successfully completed in area 1 or area 3 (not area 2), the PI may apply for a Phase II grant on the same research area.

Phase I of NTE emphasizes high-risk / high-return, exploratory feasibility studies of entirely new technologies applied to the environment. Emphasis is placed on the novelty and potential impact of the approach. Successfully completed Phase I studies may compete for Phase II awards. A subsequent Phase II competition may be held to allow successfully completed Phase I projects to compete for Phase II funds. However, a Phase I award in the current 2003 competition does not necessarily imply that the next solicitation will include Phase II, or that Phase II projects will be funded in the future.

Description of Possible NTE Research Projects

Proposals submitted must focus on one or more of the following three areas of environmental technology.

1. Remediation - NSF solicits research on new technologies for environmentally benign remediation through biological processes, catalytic chemical processes, transport and separation processes, and thermal and / or fluid processes.

Some examples include:

Studies of microbial and plant communities and their interactions in contaminated environments, and the use of native and non-native species to effect remediation,

Exploration of novel tailored biocatalysts, membranes and micro- or nano-scale environments such as micelles for separations, segregation, and targeted chemical transformations,

Transport through porous media such as soil, membranes and macro-fluid and air systems,

Transformations driven by electric field processing to ameliorate existing and potential chemical and particulate environmental hazards, and

Exploration of new materials and process technologies for capture of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from effluent streams, such as powerplant stack gases.

Use of cutting-edge molecular simulation and modeling, micro- and nano-scale technology and hybrid technologies (e.g., Bio plus Non-Bio) is encouraged. Fundamental research leading to new remediation technologies in the following focus areas is of special interest: source characterization of pollutants, cost-effective separation technologies for dilute metals and liquid contaminants, heavy metals removal from incineration gases, and remediation of other gases potentially affecting global climate. Other areas may be acceptable, depending on program interests.

2. Treatment Technologies for Arsenic in Small Drinking Water Systems - EPA is soliciting innovative, exploratory Phase I proposals that address the treatment of arsenic in small drinking water systems. These systems must provide low capital and operating cost, simplify operation, require minimal monitoring and maintenance, and reduce residual waste generation. EPA is particularly interested in highly innovative approaches that would be significantly less costly than current treatment approaches. Proposals on this topic should address this cost comparison issue.

Research technologies should be applicable to providing clean drinking water with less than 10 ppb arsenic in a range of systems from dispersed individual to small scale municipal (which serve less than 10,000 persons). Work may involve innovative processes including ion exchange materials, new adsorption methods, coagulation/filtration technologies, electrodialysis, novel membrane processes, reverse osmosis, and / or point of use (at the tap) / point-of-entry technologies.

For more information regarding arsenic in drinking water, please visit:
< http://www.epa.gov/epahome/hi-arsenic.htm > and
< http://www.epa.gov/safewater/arsenic.html >. Support for this activity is primarily from EPA.

3. Environmental Sensing - NSF solicits research on new sensing technologies to assess the impact of anthropogenic (manmade) factors on natural and / or built environments. Examples of new technologies applied to sensing and measurement could include:

Molecular bioengineering,

Large and high-density sensor arrays,

Wireless transfer of data from sensor arrays,

Robust micro-sensors in the aquatic environment,

Intelligent-nose technology, combining on-going research into environmental systems technology, sensor fusion or mixed-signal VLSI to enable breakthrough capabilities in detecting trace organics in the environment,

Sensor fusion from multiple modalities with on-board intelligent processing of environmental signals,

Engineered sensor systems relevant to monitoring gases that might stress and/or potentially change the global climate, and

NOTE: Prior to submitting proposals, we recommend that Principal Investigators contact the relevant NSF Program Director(s), via email, to determine the current degree of general interest in the technical or project area. EPA generally does not recommend these contacts prior to proposal submission.

ALSO NOTE: This solicitation calls for all proposals to have an Impact Statement included in the Abstract, in addition to all relevancy comments in the Body of the proposal. Any proposals that do not contain the Impact Statement will be returned without review.

NTE FY 2000 Proposal and Grant Summary

In FY 2000 (the most recent previous competition), the NTE Program received a total of 227 NTE proposals. Of these, 31 were awarded in FY 2000, for an overall success rate of 14%. Grants awarded are posted on the web as indicated below in the Award Grants links.

NTE Award Grants

Information on past and current NTE award grants is provided below.

Fiscal Year | 2000 | 2003 |

Questions ?

Please feel free to contact Dr. Robert Wellek < rwellek@nsf.gov >, or
Dr. Bruce Hamilton < bhamilto@nsf.gov > at NSF, if you have any
general questions concerning the NTE Program.

Questions concerning specific technical areas should be addressed to the appropriate NSF Program Officer(s) listed below.

All non-arsenic related questions should be addressed to NSF personnel.

EPA generally does not recommend contacts prior to proposal submission. For arsenic related questions, you may contact EPA personnel as indicated below, after submission of proposals.

NSF Program Officers for NTE

NSF FY 2003 NTE Program Contacts
Bioengineering and Environmental Systems Division - BES Nicholas Clesceri nclescer@nsf.gov Environmental Engineering Cynthia Ekstein cekstein@nsf.gov Environmental Technology Fred Heineken fheineke@nsf.gov Biochemical Engineering James Lee jlee@nsf.gov Biochemical Engineering & Biotechnology Thomas Waite twaite@nsf.gov Environmental Engineering
Civil and Mechanical Systems Division - CMS Richard Fragaszy rfragasz@nsf.gov Geomechanics and Geotechnical Systems
Chemical and Transport Systems Division - CTS Cyrus Aidun caidun@nsf.gov Particulate and Multiphase Processes Michael Plesniak mplesnia@nsf.gov Fluid Dynamics and Hydraulics Geoffrey Prentice gprentic@nsf.gov Separation and Purification Processes Glenn Schrader gschrader@nsf.gov Kinetics, Catalysis & Molecular Processes Richard Smith rsmith@nsf.gov Thermal Transport and Thermal Processing Robert Wellek rwellek@nsf.gov Interfacial, Transport and Thermodynamics
Design, Manufacturing, and Industrial Innovation Division - DMII Delcie Durham ddurham@nsf.gov Engineering Design Jan Twomey jtwomey@nsf.gov Manufacturing Enterprise Systems
Electrical and Communications Systems Division - ECS Paul Werbos pwerbos@nsf.gov Control, Networks, & Computational Intelligence

EPA Program Coordinator and Program Officers for NTE

EPA FY 2003 NTE Program Contacts ( Area 2 Research Only )
Stephen Lingle lingle.stephen@epa.gov Environmental Engineering Research Division Director Barbara Karn karn.barbara@epa.gov Environmental Engrg Research Division April Richards richards.april@epa.gov Environmental Engrg Research Division NOTE: Generally, EPA does not recommend contacts prior to submission of proposals.

FastLane Submission Clarification

A FastLane Advisory has been posted (27 January 2003). The FastLane Advisory web page contains important answers to recent queries about Solicitation NSF 03-510. It clarifies and summarizes current issues, comments, and other important information. The FastLane Advisory will be updated periodically, until the deadline closing date for proposals in each of the two respective programs.

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EPA NCER / TSE