A New Vision for Center-Based Engineering Research

A New Vision for Center-Based Engineering Research PDF

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2017-08-18

Total Pages: 103

ISBN-13: 0309459052

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The future security, economic growth, and competitiveness of the United States depend on its capacity to innovate. Major sources of innovative capacity are the new knowledge and trained students generated by U.S. research universities. However, many of the complex technical and societal problems the United States faces cannot be addressed by the traditional model of individual university research groups headed by a single principal investigator. Instead, they can only be solved if researchers from multiple institutions and with diverse expertise combine their efforts. The National Science Foundation (NSF), among other federal agencies, began to explore the potential of such center-scale research programs in the 1970s and 1980s; in many ways, the NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) program is its flagship program in this regard. The ERCs are "interdisciplinary, multi-institutional centers that join academia, industry, and government in partnership to produce transformational engineered systems and engineering graduates who are adept at innovation and primed for leadership in the global economy. To ensure that the ERCs continue to be a source of innovation, economic development, and educational excellence, A New Vision for Center-Based Engineering Research explores the future of center-based engineering research, the skills needed for effective center leadership, and opportunities to enhance engineering education through the centers.

A Vision for the Future of Center-Based Multidisciplinary Engineering Research

A Vision for the Future of Center-Based Multidisciplinary Engineering Research PDF

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2016-09-22

Total Pages: 59

ISBN-13: 0309449731

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Out of concern for the state of engineering in the United States, the National Science Foundation (NSF) created the Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) with the goal of improving engineering research and education and helping to keep the United States competitive in global markets. Since the ERC program's inception in 1985, NSF has funded 67 ERCs across the United States. NSF funds each ERC for up to 10 years, during which time the centers build robust partnerships with industry, universities, and other government entities that can ideally sustain them upon graduation from NSF support. To ensure that the ERCs continue to be a source of innovation, economic development, and educational excellence, NSF commissioned the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to convene a 1-day symposium in April 2016. This event featured four plenary panel presentations on: the evolving global context for center-based engineering research, trends in undergraduate and graduate engineering education, new directions in university-industry interaction, and emerging best practices in translating university research into innovation. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the symposium.

The New Engineering Research Centers

The New Engineering Research Centers PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1986-02-01

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 0309035988

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Within the past decade, six Engineering Research Centers opened on university campuses across the United States. This book reviews the lessons learned as the centers got under way, and examines the interrelationship among universities, government, industry, and the research establishment. Leaders from business, government, and universities discuss in this volume the challenges now facing American industry; the roots and early development of the research center concept; the criteria used in selecting the six centers; the structure and research agenda of each center; the projected impact of the centers on competitiveness of U.S. technology; and the potential for further research in biotechnology, electronics, robotics, and related areas.

Grand Challenges for Engineering

Grand Challenges for Engineering PDF

Author: National Academy of Engineering

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2016-05-22

Total Pages: 43

ISBN-13: 0309438969

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Engineering has long gravitated toward great human ambitions: navigation of the oceans, travel to the moon and back, Earth exploration, national security, industrial and agricultural revolutions, communications, and transportation. Some ambitions have been realized, some remain unfulfilled, and some are yet to be determined. In 2008 a committee of distinguished engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and visionaries set out to identify the most important, tractable engineering system challenges that must be met in this century for human life as we know it to continue on this planet. For the forum at the National Academy of Engineering's 2015 annual meeting, 7 of the 18 committee members who formulated the Grand Challenges for Engineering in 2008 reflected on what has happened in the seven year since. Grand Challenges for Engineering: Imperatives, Prospects, and Priorities summarizes the discussions and presentations from this forum.

Ready, Set, SCIENCE!

Ready, Set, SCIENCE! PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2007-10-30

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 0309131944

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

What types of instructional experiences help K-8 students learn science with understanding? What do science educators, teachers, teacher leaders, science specialists, professional development staff, curriculum designers, and school administrators need to know to create and support such experiences? Ready, Set, Science! guides the way with an account of the groundbreaking and comprehensive synthesis of research into teaching and learning science in kindergarten through eighth grade. Based on the recently released National Research Council report Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8, this book summarizes a rich body of findings from the learning sciences and builds detailed cases of science educators at work to make the implications of research clear, accessible, and stimulating for a broad range of science educators. Ready, Set, Science! is filled with classroom case studies that bring to life the research findings and help readers to replicate success. Most of these stories are based on real classroom experiences that illustrate the complexities that teachers grapple with every day. They show how teachers work to select and design rigorous and engaging instructional tasks, manage classrooms, orchestrate productive discussions with culturally and linguistically diverse groups of students, and help students make their thinking visible using a variety of representational tools. This book will be an essential resource for science education practitioners and contains information that will be extremely useful to everyone �including parents �directly or indirectly involved in the teaching of science.

Directions in Engineering Research

Directions in Engineering Research PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1987-02-01

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 0309037476

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Surveying the dynamic field of engineering research, Directions in Engineering Research first presents an overview of the status of engineering research today. It then examines research and needs in a variety of areas: bioengineering; construction and structural design; energy, mineralogy, and the environment; information science and computers; manufacturing; materials; and transportation. Specific areas of current research opportunity are discussed in detail, including complex system software, advanced engineered materials, manufacturing systems integration, bioreactors, construction robotics, biomedical engineering, hazardous material control, computer-aided design, and manufacturing modeling and simulation. The authors' recommendations call for funding stability for engineering research programs; modern equipment and facilities; adequate coordination between researchers; increased support for high-risk, high-return, single-investor projects; recruiting of new talent and fostering of multidisciplinary research; and enhanced industry support. Innovative ways to improve the transfer of discoveries from the laboratory to the factory are also presented.

Educate to Innovate

Educate to Innovate PDF

Author: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2015-04-07

Total Pages: 102

ISBN-13: 0309368820

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Robust innovation in the United States is key to a strong and competitive industry and workforce. Efforts to improve the capacity of individuals and organizations to innovate must be a high national priority to ensure that the United States remains a leader in the global economy. How is the United States preparing its students and workers to innovate and excel? What skills and attributes need to be nurtured? The aim of the Educate to Innovate project is to expand and improve the innovative capacity of individuals and organizations by identifying critical skills, attributes, and best practices - indeed, cultures - for nurturing them. The project findings will enable educators in industry and at all levels of academia to cultivate the next generation of American innovators and thus ensure that the U.S. workforce remains highly competitive in the face of rapid technological changes. Educate to Innovate summarizes the keynote and plenary presentations from a workshop convened in October 2013. The workshop brought together innovators and leaders from various fields to share insights on innovation and its education. This report continues on to describe the specific skills, experiences, and environments that contribute to the success of innovators, and suggests next steps based on discussion from the workshop.

The Engineer of 2020

The Engineer of 2020 PDF

Author: National Academy of Engineering

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2004-06-14

Total Pages: 119

ISBN-13: 0309091624

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

To enhance the nation's economic productivity and improve the quality of life worldwide, engineering education in the United States must anticipate and adapt to the dramatic changes of engineering practice. The Engineer of 2020 urges the engineering profession to recognize what engineers can build for the future through a wide range of leadership roles in industry, government, and academia-not just through technical jobs. Engineering schools should attract the best and brightest students and be open to new teaching and training approaches. With the appropriate education and training, the engineer of the future will be called upon to become a leader not only in business but also in nonprofit and government sectors. The book finds that the next several decades will offer more opportunities for engineers, with exciting possibilities expected from nanotechnology, information technology, and bioengineering. Other engineering applications, such as transgenic food, technologies that affect personal privacy, and nuclear technologies, raise complex social and ethical challenges. Future engineers must be prepared to help the public consider and resolve these dilemmas along with challenges that will arise from new global competition, requiring thoughtful and concerted action if engineering in the United States is to retain its vibrancy and strength.