New Centers Created by NSF

This week, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the establishment of four new Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSECs) and two new Engineering Research Centers (ERCs).

Materials Research Science & Engineering Centers

The MRSECs will explore innovative materials and stimulate the integration of research and education in the field of materials science. NSF will invest $24 million over five years in the new centerst to be located at the California Institute of Technology, the University of Oklahoma/University of Arkansas, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Virginia. Each award is initially for five years, and continued NSF support is possible through competitive review. State governments and industry partners will also contribute substantial support to the new centers.

NSF also announced new awards for 11 existing materials centers, for a total of $110 million over five years. They are located at Brown University, the University of California at Santa Barbara, Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland/Rutgers University, Northwestern University, the University of Pennsylvania, State University of New York at Stony Brook and the University of Wisconsin.

NSF currently supports 29 MRSECs with a total annual investment of $52.5 million. Each center focuses on a specialized area such as polymers, biomolecular, electronic or superconducting materials. They integrate their research and educational programs by involving students in research activities and contributing courses and materials to the academic institutions.

For information on the new and existing MRSECs, visit: http://www.nsf.gov/mps/dmr/mrsec.htm and http://www.mrsec.org

Engineering Research Centers 

NSF has launched two new Engineering Research Centers at the University of Michigan and Northeastern University in Boston Mass., with an estimated NSF investment of up to $32 million over five years. The two new ERCs, the Center for Wireless Integrated Microsystems and the Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging, were each awarded $2.6 million for the first operating year. Each center will also receive support from participating universities, industry and state governments; the centers will conduct pioneering research in the fields of wireless microsystems and subsurface sensing systems.

More than 20 companies, the state of Michigan, and a university partnership of the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Michigan Technological University will help support the Center for Wireless Integrated Microsystems. The center will develop low-cost, integrated microsystems capable of measuring or controlling a variety of physical parameters, interpreting the data and communicating with a host system over a bi-directional wireless link. Environmental monitoring and improved health care are two potential benefits which could result from this collaborative effort.

The Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems is supported by the state of Massachusetts, more than 30 companies, and a partnership of Northeastern University, Boston University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. The focus of this center will be on detecting, locating and identifying objects obscured beneath covering media, such as underground plumes, tumors under the skin or developmental defects in an embryo. Using probes based on electro-magnetic and acoustical radiation, the center will attack biomedical and environmental problems and develop techniques for sensing subsurface conditions. 

For general information on the engineering centers, visit http://www.eng.nsf.gov/eec/erc.htm