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NSF PR 96-26 - May 23, 1996
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NSF Will Invest $48 Million to Spark Four New Engineering
Research Centers
The National Science Foundation (NSF) plans to fund
new Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) in California,
Massachusetts, Michigan and Washington State. The
four new awards would bring to 25 the number of NSF-sponsored
ERCs nationwide.
NSF intends to award over the next five years $12
million each to the University of Southern California,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University
of Michigan and the University of Washington to operate
the ERCs. ERCs may receive NSF funding for up to 11
years, dependent upon periodic progress reviews.
"The new ERCs will develop the next generation of
multimedia technology, create better biomaterials
for medical implants, develop a modular system for
rapid manufacturing, and improve the way firms integrate
design, manufacturing and product development," says
Joseph Bordogna, NSF's assistant director for engineering.
"The close collaboration of universities and industry
through these ERCs will provide an integrated context
for creating new knowledge and educating a new generation
of creative, skilled engineers to secure our nation's
leadership position in the world marketplace," says
Bordogna.
The new NSF Engineering Research Centers are:
Integrated Media Systems Center at the University
of Southern California, University Park: Max L. Nikias,
director, and Armand Tanguay, deputy director. The
center will seek to improve the technologies for combining
digital video, digital audio, computer animation,
text and graphics as multimedia displays to facilitate
the creation, dissemination and realtime interactive
access in mixed media. A California study projects
that multimedia and creative technologies will represent
a new total market of $40 billion by the year 2000,
with a wide range of applications in manufacturing,
education, vocational training, defense, entertainment,
publishing and communication. Some of the center's
industrial partners are: Apple Computer, Boss Film
Studios, CTV World Television, Digital Equipment Corp.,
Dolby Laboratories, Fuji-Xerox, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi
America, Hughes Aircraft, IBM, Intel, Lockheed Martin,
McDonnell Douglas, Motorola, National Semiconductor,
Pacific Bell, SEGA of America, Sierra Monolithics,
Silicon Graphics, Tanaka Video and TRW.
Center for Competitive Product Development at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Warren P. Seering,
director, and John Houser, deputy director. The center
is a collaboration between MIT's Engineering School
and the institute's Sloan School of Management. In
partnership with industry, the center will develop,
test and disseminate improved software tools and models
for facilitating the integration of engineering and
marketing in design and product development. The center
will study the processes of gathering accurate information
and making correct decisions in bringing a product
to market, including such factors as evaluating risk
in new technology and translating consumer preferences
into technical specifications. Some of the center.s
industrial partners are: Alcoa, AT&T, Ford Motor Co.,
Intel, ITT, Motorola, Navistar International., Polaroid,
Sun Microsystems, 3M, United Technologies, Xerox,
and Z Corp.
Center for Reconfigurable Machining Systems at the
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor: Yoram Koren, director,
and Galip Ulsoy, deputy director. The center will
develop a new system for manufacturing using hardware
and software that can be rearranged quickly and reliably.
These new systems will be modular, convertible, customizable,
integratable and diagnosable to dramatically reduce
the time companies need to launch new products and
upgrades. The concept of replacing modular systems
holds the potential for any number of industries,
but especially automotive, aerospace and computer
firms. Some of the center's industrial partners are:
Allen Bradley, Boeing, Caterpillar Inc., Chrysler
Corp., Cincinnati Milacron Inc., Ford Motor Co., General
Motors Corp., HewlettPackard Co., R&B Machine Tool
Co., and United Technologies Corp., along with the
U.S. Army.
University of Washington Engineered Biomaterials NSF
ERC: Buddy D. Ratner, director, and Thomas Horbett,
deputy director. The new center will study biological
recognition mechanisms to develop a new generation
of biomaterials for medical implants that will heal
in the body easily and normally. The research aims
to correct problems with many biomaterials which the
body rejects as foreign, by learning from the healing
process how to adjust the composition of the surface
of implant materials to make them recognizable to
the body. This new generation of engineered materials
will be able to interact with specific cell receptors
or bind appropriate proteins. Some of the center's
industrial sponsors and collaborative partners are:
Abbott Laboratories, Bausch & Lomb, Bayer, Johnson
& Johnson, Medtronic Promeon, Monsanto, Pfizer Inc.,
St. Jude Medical, 3M and Wright Medical Technology.
A total of 117 teams applied for the FY96 round of
awards. ERCs emphasize the integration of education
programs with research activities which, with input
from industry, provide new or improved undergraduate
and graduate student curricula, research opportunities,
and internships with corporate sponsors and collaborative
partners.
Attached: List of Engineering Research
Centers
Attachment
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTERS
as of June 1, 1996*
State |
Institution |
Engineering Research Center |
AZ** |
University of Arizona |
Environmentally Benign Semiconductor Mfg. |
CA |
CA Institute of Tech |
Neuromorphic System Eng. |
CA |
Univ of Southern Calif. |
Integrated Media Systems Center* |
FL |
University of Florida |
Particle Science & Technology |
GA |
GA Inst of Technology |
Low Cost Electronic Packaging |
CO |
University of Colorado/ Colorado State
Univ |
Optoelectronic Computing Systems |
IL |
University of Illinois |
Compound Semiconductor Microelectronics |
IN |
Purdue University |
Collaborative Manufacturing |
MA |
Mass. Inst of Tech |
Biotechnology Process Eng. |
MA |
Mass. Inst of Tech |
Competitive Product Development* |
MD |
University of Maryland |
Systems Research Center |
MI |
Univ of Michigan |
Reconfigurable Machining Systems* |
MN |
University of Minnesota |
Interfacial Engineering |
MS |
Mississippi State Univ |
Computational Field Simulation |
MT |
Montana State Univ |
Biofilm Engineering |
NC |
North Carolina State U |
Advanced Electronic Materials Processing |
NC |
Duke University |
Emerging Cardiovascular Technologies |
OH |
Ohio State University |
Net Shape Manufacturing |
PA |
Lehigh University |
Advanced Tech. for Large Structural Systems |
PA |
Carnegie Mellon Univ |
Engineering Design |
PA |
Carnegie Mellon Univ |
Data Storage Systems |
TX |
Texas A&M University & University of Texas
- Austin |
Offshore Technology |
UT |
Brigham Young Univ and University of Utah |
Advanced Combustion Eng. |
WA |
Univ of Washington |
Engineered Biomaterials* |
WI |
Univ of Wisconsin |
Plasma-Aided Manufacturing |
* pending cooperative agreement clearance.
** in cooperation with MIT and Stanford University
and in partnership with the Semiconductor Research
Corp.
NOTE: NSF also funds State/University/Industry Cooperative Research Centers,
State/University Cooperative Research Centers, Science and Technology Centers,
Minority Research Centers of Excellence, and Materials Research Science and
Engineering Centers.
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