NSF Announces New Engineering Research Centers

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced four new engineering research centers focused on bioengineering, electric vehicles, quantum technology, and precision agriculture. NSF is investing $104 million in the four new centers over the next five years. NSF first started creating engineering research centers in 1985 and has funded 75 centers over the years. Currently, NSF is supporting 18 centers, including the four new ones. Each center can receive NSF funding for up to ten years, and during that time the centers are expected to build partnerships with industry, academia, and government agencies so they are able to sustain themselves into the future.
 
Each of the four new centers has a specific research focus:

• NSF Engineering Research Center for Advanced Technologies for Preservation of Biological Systems aims to stop biological time by designing methods to cryogenically cool, hold and re-warm living materials without harm, extending our ability to bank and transport them. The center involves four partner universities: University of Minnesota (lead); Massachusetts General Hospital; University of California, Berkeley; and University of California, Riverside.
• NSF Engineering Research Center for Advancing Sustainability through Powered Infrastructure for Roadway Electrification seeks to create sustainable, equitable and widespread electrification of vehicles by creating low-cost, ubiquitous, and worry-free charging. The center involves four partner universities: Utah State University (lead), Purdue University, University of Colorado and University of Texas at El Paso.
• NSF Engineering Research Center for Quantum Networks aims to create foundations for the future quantum internet by developing key quantum technologies and new functional building blocks connecting quantum processors over local and global scales. The center involves four partner universities: University of Arizona (lead), Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University.
• NSF Engineering Research Center for the Internet of Things for Precision Agriculture seeks to ensure food, energy and water security with new systems to increase crop production while minimizing energy and water use and environmental impacts of agricultural practices. The center involves four partner universities: University of Pennsylvania (lead); Purdue University; University of California, Merced; and University of Florida.