Three new Engineering Research Centers receive $55.5-M to advance US resiliency, sustainability

Three new Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) will receive $55.5 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF), a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education.

"The Engineering Research Centers program is one of NSF's signature activities, with far-reaching effects on future technology and innovation," said NSF assistant director for engineering, Pramod Khargonekar in the statement released by NSF.

The ERCs are the task to create novel technology platforms and transform industries, which will address national challenges in energy, sustainability and infrastructure.

The statement added that over the next five years, these flagship centers will generate knowledge and high-tech innovations while contributing to U.S. economic opportunities and the preparation of engineering graduates.

"The ERCs combine multi-disciplinary research excellence with broad academic and industry experience and provide unique environments to educate the engineering leaders of tomorrow," Khargonekar added.

The NSF ERCs have partnerships with the international school and private sectors to conduct research and to prepare the engineering students for the global economy.

The following are the three new ERCs to receive $55.5 million for an advance research:

The NSF Engineering Research Center for Power Optimization for Electro-Thermal Systems (POETS) for a compact mobile power to be led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in partnership with Howard University, Stanford University and the University of Arkansas.

For an off-grid drinking water, the in-charge is the NSF Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment Systems (NEWT) to be led by Rice University in partnership with Arizona State University, the University of Texas at El Paso and Yale University.

And, the nature-inspired soil engineering to be conducted by the NSF Engineering Research Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics (CBBG) and to be led by Arizona State University in partnership with the Georgia Institute of Technology, New Mexico State University and the University of California, Davis.