Four new NSF Engineering Research Centers announced

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced four new Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) that will focus on agriculture, health, manufacturing and smart cities. The research centers will receive $104 million over five years and will be aimed at finding more sustainable solutions to food production, autonomous manufacturing systems, human health and the built environment, and hyperlocal street technology. The four research centers are: 

• NSF Engineering Research Center for Advancing Sustainable and Distributed Fertilizer Production, which involves five partners: Texas Tech University (lead), Case Western Reserve University, Florida A&M University, Georgia Tech and MIT. 
• NSF Engineering Research Center for Hybrid Autonomous Manufacturing Moving, which involves four partners: The Ohio State University (lead), Case Western Reserve University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Northwestern University and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. 
• NSF Engineering Research Center for Precision Microbiome Engineering, which involves five partners: Duke University (lead), North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
• NSF Engineering Research Center for Smart Streetscapes, which involves five partners: Columbia University (lead), Florida Atlantic University, Lehman College, Rutgers University and the University of Central Florida.

The ERC program has funded 75 centers that receive support for up to 10 years since its founding in 1985. The programs support convergent research, education and technology translation that are meant to outlast the lifetime of the ERC. More information about the new engineering resource centers can be found here.