NSF PR 99-64 - October 14, 1999
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NSF Announces $10-Million Center for Bioengineering
Educational Technology
A five-university partnership led by Vanderbilt University
(Tenn.) will develop bioengineering educational technologies
and curricula at a new Engineering Research Center
funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Through
a five-year, nearly $10-million cooperative agreement,
the center will support and enhance the education
of a new generation of bioengineers needed to strengthen
the industry.
The partnership includes Northwestern University (Ill.),
University of Texas at Austin, and the joint Division
of Health Sciences and Technology of Harvard Medical
School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"We need a new level of educational tools to advance
the frontiers of America's bioengineering industry,"
said Eugene Wong, NSF's assistant director for engineering.
"These tools need to integrate basic bioengineering
knowledge with the latest understanding of the learning
process and the latest computer-based educational
systems."
Bioengineers will join learning scientists and computer
scientists at the center to address this need.
The researchers expect to develop modular, computer-
based courseware, curricula, and educational technology
tailored to the needs of bioengineering education,
and to disseminate these products to engineering educators.
Industry partners and national laboratories will participate
in the research and education, and in developing ways
to transfer knowledge and technological advances to
industry.
Wong noted that two NSF directorates -- the Directorate
for Engineering and Social, Behavioral, and Economic
Sciences -- will participate in funding the center.
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