AGENTS OF CHANGE: NSF’S ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTERSA HISTORY

ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTERS AGENTS OF CHANGE

The Engineering Research Centers (ERC) Program is the largest and most ambitious engineering program in the history of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Launched in 1984, this flagship program was aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of U.S. industry at a time when our postwar leadership in manufacturing and advanced technology was being threatened by emerging economies around the world.

From its outset, the goal of the ERC Program was to develop a new cross-disciplinary culture in engineering research and education, in partnership with industry, using a systems approach to advance knowledge and technology. This new culture would educate new generations of engineers who understood industrial practice and the process of advancing technology, so as to be ready to work productively in industry upon graduation. In other words, the goal of the Program was nothing less than revolutionizing engineering research and education in the U.S. to meet the challenges of a changing world.

ERC HISTORY E-BOOK CONTENTS

The history of the ERC Program has now been told, written by longtime ERC Program leader Lynn Preston and communications consultant Courtland Lewis and published in August 2020. It is available, free of charge, as an online e-book. Agents of Change: NSF’s Engineering Research Centers describes key achievements of the ERCs in terms of discoveries, technologies, and advances in education. The e-book provides a thoroughgoing and highly readable account of how the program has evolved continuously across decades to address the challenges and meet the needs of a changing world. To read the in-depth story of this landmark NSF Engineering experiment, visit https://erc-history.erc-assoc.org/.

Chapter 1 ERC Program Origins

Chapter 2 ERC Program at Startup

Chapter 3 ERC Generations -1 to -3: How they Evolved

Chapter 4 University Perspective: Formulating, Operating, and Sustaining an ERC

Chapter 5 Research

Chapter 6 Industrial Collaboration and Advancing Technology

Chapter 7 Education and Outreach Programs

Chapter 8 Evolution of the ERC Leadership Teams and Post-ERC Careers

Chapter 9 NSF Program Management

Chapter 10 Major Impacts on Academic Engineering

Chapter 11 Impacts on Engineering Research and Technology

Chapter 12 Perspectives & Lessons Learned

A TIMELINEMAJOR MILESTONES & EVENTS IN ERC HISTORY

By 2020 there had been a total of 75 ERCs awarded—most of them multi-university centers. By 2020, 47 had successfully completed their 10-year term of NSF funding and of those 47, over 80% continue to be self-sustaining with many of their ERC features of research, education, and industrial collaboration still intact.

ERC program annual meetings initiated

First site visits with external reviewers

21 total Gen-1 ERCs established

First Gen-2 ERCs awarded

ERC Best Practices Manual (1st ed.) published

First 6th-year renewal reviews

ERC Association website launched

ERC data collection system initiated

Post-award oversight system initiated

Strategic research planning required

First six ERCs awarded (Gen-1)

National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Guidelines for ERCs published (February)

ERC Program established (April)

1984 1988 19951985 1986 1987 1990 1994 1996

ERCs impact competitiveness of 67% of Gen-1 member firms

ERC graduates reported to be more effective in industry

3-plane strategic planning concept implemented

19981997

Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in ERCs started ERCs found to

have had $75B economic impact

First four Gen-4 ERCs awardedPrecollege outreach

required

Diversity plan included in ERC cooperative agreements

ERCs impact competitiveness of 75% of Gen-2 member firms

Total degrees granted to ERC students passes 10K

Increased involvement of small firms

First five Gen-3 ERCs awarded

ERC Innovation Awards

Planning for Gen-3 ERCs

52 total Gen-1, -2 & -3 centers formed

71 total Gen-1, -2 & -3 centers formed.

NAE New Vision for Center-Based Engineering Research published

2006 2008 2010 20202002 2004 2007 2009 2013 2017

Longtime ERC Program Leader Lynn Preston steps down

PR

NSF ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTERS 1985-2020LEAD AND CORE PARTNER INSTITUTIONS

MAP KEY

0 1-5 6 -10

21+

Note: Only one dot per institution; many institutions are/were part of more than one ERC

Lead Institutions Core Partner Institutions

16-2011-15

Since 1985, a total of 75 ERCs have been formed, with 38 U.S. states and territories hosting either an ERC lead or core partner institution, or both. Most ERCs involve multiple partner institutions. Of the 47 ERCs that have successfully completed their ten-year term of NSF support as of 2020, 39 of them still exist as a center with some degree of ERC-ness in that a group of faculty pursue cross-disciplinary research on engineered systems with the collaboration and support of industry. This is 83% of all former centers—just one indication of the strength and impact of the ERC concept, along with the fact that more ERCs are still being established, most recently in 2020.

INNOVATIONS AND IMPACTSERC TECHNOLOGY TREE

The ERC Program has been the catalyst for advancing and even initiating a number of important new fields of technology, leading to hundreds of important innovations. A study conducted in 2010 found something on the order of $75 billion in downstream economic value of ERC-developed technologies, not even counting hundreds of startup companies with thousands of employees, and thousands more graduates who have proven to be unusually effective in advancing technology and serving as leaders in globalized industry. Just some of these ERC-derived advances are illustrated here.

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING

Flexible/Intelligent Manufacturing

Interfacial Engineering

Nanomanufacturing Process Systems

Cell Manufacturing

Synthetic Biology

Pharmaceutical Process Engineering

ENERGY

Solar Technologies

Electric Energy Transmission Networks

Combustion Engineering

Offshore Technology

Fluid Power

ENVIRONMENT

Biorenewable Chemicals

Environmentally Benign Semiconductor Manufacturing

OPTOELECTRONICS

Optical Access Networks

Optical Signal & Image Processing

Extreme Ultraviolet Sources

Smart Lighting

Surface Sensing & Imaging

Mid-infrared Technologies

COMMUNICATIONS

Satellite-based Internet Access

Immersive Media

Lightwave Transmission Systems

INFRASTRUCTURE

Earthquake Engineering

Urban Water treatment

Collaborative and Adaptive Sensors/Radars

Integrated Building Systems

MICROELECTRONICSData Storage Systems

Nanoscale Multiferroic SystemsIntegrated Electronics Packaging

BIOENGINEERING & HEALTH CARE

Bioprocess Technologies

Tissue Engineering

Biofilm Engineering

Robotic Surgical Systems

Biological Engineering

Biomaterials

Self-powered Nano Health Systems

Biomimetic Microelectronic Systems

Neuroprosthetics

THE ERC FAMILY

Consistent, supportive management of the ERC Program across more than three decades produced the “ERC Family,” a cooperative, collective team undertaking of a kind that has seldom been seen in the history of government funding programs. Its highly diverse members ranged from NSF and Center leadership and staff to faculty and students, even including precollege students.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grants Nos. 1719257 and 1836833, prepared under subcontract to the American Society for Engineering Education.

ERC History E-bookhttps://erc-history.erc-assoc.org/