NSF Engineering Directorate Overview and Priorities Pramod P. Khargonekar Assistant Director for Engineering National Science Foundation Presentation at USNC/TAM 2015 Annual Meeting May 1, 2015 1
NSF ENG Investing in engineering research and education and fostering innovations to benefit society 2 Credits, left to right: Google; Shanti Hamburg, MAE, West Virginia University; NSF; NSF; Franz X. Kärtner and Greg Hren, MIT.
Directorate for Engineering (ENG) Emerging Frontiers and Multidisciplinary Activities (EFMA) Sohi Rastegar Directorate Operations Officer Judy Hayden Assistant Director Pramod Khargonekar Deputy Assistant Director Grace Wang Senior Advisor Mihail Roco Program Director for Evaluation and Assessment Alexandra Medina-Borja Engineering Education and Centers (EEC) Don Millard (acting DD) Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET) JoAnn Lighty (DD) Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI) Deborah Goodings (DD) Electrical, Communications, and Cyber Systems (ECCS) Samir El-Ghazaly (DD) Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP) Barry Johnson (DD) 3
ENG R&RA Budget ($M) FY 2014 Actual* FY 2015 Estimate FY 2016 Request Change over FY 2015 Estimate Amount Percent CBET $167.76 $177.82 $192.26 $14.44 8.1% CMMI 195.23 209.52 222.73 13.21 6.3% ECCS 100.37 110.43 119.24 8.81 8.0% EEC 119.50 117.49 110.39-7.10-6.0% IIP 205.99 226.98 248.11 21.13 9.3% SBIR/STTR 159.99 177.11 194.36 17.25 9.7% EFMA 44.27 50.07 56.49 6.42 12.8% ENG TOTAL $833.12 $892.31 $949.22 $56.91 6.4% 4 * FY 2014 actuals were adjusted to reflect EFMA reallocations in order to facilitate comparison across fiscal years.
Larger Context Employment, economic growth & competitiveness, and sustainability imperatives Mega problems: food, health, energy, water, security, education, infrastructure, Global flows of components, products, services, knowledge, and people Stubborn long-standing issues in STEM talent, diversity, and education Federal support of research funding and public policy issues 5
Major Trends and Forces Ubiquitous computing and communications Computational modeling, data, simulation, optimization pervasive in all fields of engineering Networks and computation deeply integrated into engineered systems Machine intelligence Systems science and engineering Multi-scale analysis, design, and optimization Integration of physical and cyber components Range: nano- to micro- to macro-scale Scale and complexity: large numbers of components Safety, robustness, resilience, 6
Major Trends and Forces Nanoscale science and technologies Improving understanding and new tools at the atomic and molecular scales Progressing from passive components to active systems, design, and manufacturing Biology/Medicine Frontier Interaction of engineered systems and biology at all scales DNA to cells to organs to organisms to eco-systems Engineering for neuroscience and brain Synthetic biology Plants, food, and agriculture Advanced biomanufacturing Biologically inspired engineering 7
Major Trends and Forces Behavioral/economic/cognitive sciences Human behavior and game theory in engineered systems and technology design Prominent role in infrastructure systems such as electric grid, transportation, water, gas Economic, regulatory, policy issues Design, creativity, aesthetics, 8
ENG Initiatives and Priorities Address National Interests Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems Risk and Resilience Cyber-Enabled Materials, Manufacturing, and Smart Systems Advanced Manufacturing Understanding the Brain National Nanotechnology Initiative Optics and Photonics Education and Broadening Participation IUSE: Improving Undergraduate Science and Engineering INCLUDES: Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners that have been Underrepresented for Diversity in Engineering and Science Innovation Corps 9
Risk and Resilience - Critical Resilient Interdependent Infrastructure Systems and Processes (CRISP) $17M Improve the resilience, interoperation, performance, and readiness of critical infrastructure Advances knowledge of risk assessment and predictability Supports the creation of novel tools, technologies, and engineered systems solutions for increased resilience CRISP: jointly supported by ENG, CISE, and SBE Enhance the understanding and design of interdependent critical infrastructure systems and processes that provide essential goods and services, both under normal conditions and despite disruptions and failures from any cause 10
Cyber-Enabled Materials, Manufacturing, and Smart Systems (CEMMSS) Focus on breakthrough materials, advanced manufacturing, robotics, and cyber-physical systems materials discovery, property optimization, systems design and optimization, certification, manufacturing and deployment research on the networked integration of manufacturing machines, equipment, and systems into an increasingly accessible manufacturing service infrastructure electronic, mechanical, computing, sensing devices and systems, controls, and intelligent systems that enable ubiquitous, advanced robotics to be realized intelligent decision-making algorithms and hardware into physical systems 11
Advanced manufacturing is a family of activities that (a) depend on the use and coordination of information, automation, computation, software, sensing, and networking, and/or (b) make use of cutting edge materials and emerging capabilities enabled by the physical and biological sciences, for example nanotechnology, chemistry, and biology. It involves both new ways to manufacture existing products, and the manufacture of new products emerging from new advanced technologies. President s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Report to the President on Ensuring American Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing 12
Nano-Manufacturing Context and Challenges Tremendous scientific and engineering progress in nanoscience and nanotechnology Steady progress along Moore s Law Major next challenge: How do we go from materials and devices to products and associated scalable manufacturing processes and systems? 13
Number of new materials to market Materials Genome Initiative Time Materials Continuum Today Discovery Property Certification Deployment optimization Vision: Advanced materials are essential to economic security and human wellbeing and have applications in multiple industries, including those aimed at addressing challenges in clean energy, national security, and human welfare. To meet these challenges, the Materials Genome Initiative will enable discovery, development, manufacturing, and deployment of advanced materials at least twice as fast as possible today, at a fraction of the cost. 18 20 years Development System Manufacturing design and integration Sustainability and recovery 14
MGI - Key Challenges and Goals Leading a culture shift in materials research to encourage and facilitate an integrated team approach that links computation, data, and experiment and crosses boundaries from academia to industry; Integrating experiment, computation, and theory and equipping the materials community with the advanced tools and techniques to work across materials classes from research to industrial application; Making digital data accessible including combining data from experiment and computation into a searchable materials data infrastructure and encouraging researchers to make their data available to others; Creating a world-class materials workforce that is trained for careers in academia or industry, including high-tech manufacturing jobs. http://www.whitehouse.gov/mgi MGI Strategic Plan, 2014 15
National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) Foundational nanotechnology research in electronics and photonics, advanced materials and manufacturing, bio- and neurotechnology, and nano-ehs. Emerging research areas: controlled self-assembly; nanomodular materials and systems by design; novel aspects of semiconductors, nanophotonics and plasmonics; and nanotechnology for water-energy-food processes NNI Signature Initiatives: sustainable nanomanufacturing, nanoelectronics for 2020, nanotechnology for energy, knowledge infrastructure, and sensors Research infrastructure including the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) and Network for Computational Nanotechnology (NCN) Technology translation and collaboration with industry, especially in nanomanufacturing, through partnership activities 16
Clean Energy Technology Invests in fundamental research related to clean energy technologies, including: Solar energy, wind energy, energy harvesting, and other forms of sustainable energy generation Biofuels and bioenergy Energy storage and smart grid technologies Energy efficiency, systems engineering and optimization for energy A significant portion of the NSF SBIR/STTR portfolio is related to clean energy technology 17
Education and Career Development The Directorate strategically invests in CAREER awards NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) and Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeships (IGERT) programs New approaches to address engineering education challenges, in connection with Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) ENG Professional Formation of Engineers (PFE) supports research and development for interventions that improve both the quality and quantity of engineering graduates 18
INCLUDES: Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners that have been Underrepresented for Diversity in Engineering and Science Goal: To mobilize STEM research and education communities for scalable solutions to broadening participation challenges Specific inspirational targets - community-driven selection Two evidence based pilots: Networks for STEM Excellence Empowering ALL Youth for STEM Coherent expansion of discipline-based BP efforts Engagement of other stakeholders ENG will align its investments to increase participation of underrepresented groups with the NSF-wide INCLUDES effort 19
Innovation Corps (I-Corps ) Provides experiential entrepreneurial education to capitalize on NSF investments in basic research Supports I-Corps Teams, Sites, and Nodes to further build, utilize, and sustain a national innovation ecosystem What have we done so far? 500 I-Corps Teams ~45% started companies 37 I-Corps Sites 7 I-Corps Nodes I-Corps L NSF I-Corps I-Corps in Mexico Scaling I-Corps TM I-Corps with ARPA-E I-Corps @NIH Lab- Corps 20
QUESTIONS? IDEAS, SUGGESTIONS! pkhargon@nsf.gov 21 May 14, 2015