About NSF Funding Publications News & Media Search Site Map Staff Directory Help
Engineering Education and Centers Banner

Tel: 703-292-8320
Fax: 703-292-9098

E-Mail:
Webmaster

Bruce K. Hamilton
Division Director

 

 

Directorate for Engineering link to the eng home page

Welcome

Division of Bioengineering and Environmental Systems (BES)

The Bioengineering and Environmental Systems (BES) Division supports research and education in the rapidly evolving fields of bioengineering and environmental engineering.  BES has two principal goals.  The first goal is to enable and facilitate the deployment of new technologies in BES's fields in service to society for use in the biotechnology, medical, and environmental arenas.  The second goal is to advance bioengineering and environmental engineering education, particularly through the development of innovative programs by new faculty. 

The BES Division has three program clusters:

Biochemical Engineering & Biotechnology: Overview - Details

Biomedical Engineering: Overview - Details

Environmental Engineering: Overview - Details

The BES Division supports research that:

a)  Advances the knowledge base of basic engineering and scientific principles of bioprocessing at both at the molecular level (biomolecular engineering) and the manufacturing scale (bioprocess engineering). Many proposals supported by BEB programs are involved with the development of enabling technologies for production of a wide range of biotechnology products and services by making use of enzymes, mammalian, microbial, plant, and/or insect cells to produce useful biochemicals, pharmaceuticals, cells, cellular components, or cell composites (tissues). Major target products are predominantly high-value and high efficacy biotechnology drugs, new secondary metabolites active against resistant pathogens, non-toxic agricultural biochemicals, cells, cellular components, and tissues of economic importance. Current areas of BEB program emphasis include proteome- and genome-enabling technology, quantitative systems biotechnology, metabolic pathway engineering, nanobiotechnology, bioinformatics (biotechnology related information technology), ex vivo and stem cell culture engineering, tissue engineering, biochip technology, high throughput analytical technology, and others.

b)  Applies engineering principles to the understanding of living systems, development of new and improved devices, and products for human health care. Emphasis is placed on engineering research that contributes to better and more efficient health care delivery and aid to people with disabilities.

c) Improves our ability to apply engineering principles to avoid and/or correct problems that impair the usefulness of land, air and water. Current interest areas include technologies for the avoidance of pollution; industrial ecology; environmental remediation, especially with respect to understanding the fate and transport of surface and groundwater pollutants; novel processes for water and waste treatment, including gaseous, liquid and solid wastes.

nsf.gov About NSF Funding Publications News & Media Search Site Map Staff Directory Help
National Science Foundation celebrating 50 years The National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22230, USA
Tel: 703-292-5111, FIRS: 800-877-8339 | TTD: 703-292-5090

Policies
Contact NSF
Customize

Last updated:
11-Aug-2004

link to the nsf home page