Project Title:
Primary Investigator:
Background and Results: (Approximately 200 words)
In terms of intellectual merit, why is this outcome notable and/or important?
In terms of broader impacts, why is this outcome notable and/or important?
Does this highlight represent transformative research?
Does this highlight represent Broadening Participation?
Are there any existing or potential societal benefits, including benefits to the U.S. economy, of this research of which you are aware?
]]>During operation, the device is run continuously and cyclically through a series of steps, including: growth of cell cultures to a preset density; induction of cellular recombination machinery or introduction of inducer molecules; washing of the cultures through rounds of filtration and re-suspension; addition and delivery of DNA material; and re-suspension of the electroporated cells with growth media. Any number of DNA materials can be delivered into the cells, including synthetic oligonucleotides, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products, plasmids, and phage. For the purpose of creating cellular chasses, pools of different oligonucleotides that target different loci in the E. coli chromosome are continuously and cyclically introduced into the cells to promote rapid, site-specific changes to these locations in a large set of genomes. The desired chassis or set of chasses are then isolated through a simple selection or screen. The integrated componentry of the MAGE device represents a scalable, cost-efficient, and high-throughput solution for rapid multiplex genome engineering.
Primary Strategic Outcome Goal:
Engineering Research Centers
Secondary Strategic Outcome Goals:
In terms of intellectual merit, why is this outcome notable and/or important?
Synthetic biology is a new field that is advancing rapidly, and this ERC is developing an array of novel tools for genetic engineering. The development described here is a cost-efficient, high-throughput system for automating the engineering of genomes.
In terms of broader impacts , why is this outcome notable and/or important?
Merit Review Broader Impacts Criterion: Representative Activities, July 2007
Every Engineering Research Center involves the participation of several institutions across the U.S., as well as a diverse faculty and student body. Both undergraduate and graduate students are involved in the research. The new technology will be disseminated broadly throughout the synthetic biology research community to accelerate progress in this field, which offers potential benefits in medicine, agriculture, homeland security, environmental protection, and many other fields.
Does this highlight represent transformative or potentially transformative research? If so, please explain why. For more information, see Report to Congress: Transformative Research at the National Science Foundation, April 16, 2008
Yes
Automating the engineering of genomes through synthetic biology will move genetic engineering to a new level of possibility.
Does this highlight represent Broadening Participation? If so, please explain why.
For more information, see Broadening Participation at the National Science Foundation: A Framework for Action
Yes
Every Engineering Research Center involves the participation of several institutions across the U.S., as well as a diverse faculty and student body.
Are there existing or potential societal benefits of this research? It is important for NSF to be able to provide examples of NSF-supported research that have societal benefits, including benefits to the U.S. economy.
For more information, see Excerpt from Merit Review Broader Impacts Criterion: Representative Activities, July 2007
Yes
Advances in genetic engineering such as this technology offer potential benefits in medicine, agriculture, homeland security, environmental protection, andmany other fields.
ENG/EEC 2009 ]]>
Created by Jack Wolfe and Richard Liu–both professors in the college’s electrical and computer engineering department and RET Teachers Chris Garside and Michael Jenkins–the cuff is smaller and more sensitive than currently available technology. It can obtain readings from tiny nerves within the insect while the telemetry system allows readings to be transmitted wirelessly to a receiver for analysis.
Professors from the Cullen College of Engineering and two RET participants have created an implantable single electrode cuff and a wireless telemetry system allowing researchers to better understand how certain neurons in locusts' brains process sensory information.
These devices are a crucial component in the research to help understand the real significance of messages the brain is generating, related to jump escape behaviors, in the locust. The locusts, which can move freely, walk through a tunnel and onto a platform where the insects are exposed to looming stimuli on a nearby computer screen.
The battery-powered radio was engineered by Liu and Zhong and weighs only .5 grams. It is designed to transmit signals from the nerve cord wirelessly to a receiver approximately two meters away. The receiver records the spikes of the neuron as the locust prepares to jump and fly from the projected stimuli. These spikes are compared to high-speed video taken simultaneously and analyzed to determine exactly how the neuronal activity correlates to the insect’s actual behavior.
Primary Strategic Outcome Goal:
Biological Sciences
Engineering Research
Secondary Strategic Outcome Goals:
K-12 Education
Teacher Education and In-service Professional Development
In terms of intellectual merit, why is this outcome notable and/or important?
The Cullen College of Engineering provides a diverse group of undergraduates the opportunity to collaborate with highly experienced and nationally recognized faculty in the field of nanotechnology, and to make important contributions to ongoing research efforts at UH.
In terms of broader impacts , why is this outcome notable and/or important?
Merit Review Broader Impacts Criterion: Representative Activities, July 2007
Students who are under-represented in the field of engineering on the basis of their ethnicity or gender, as well as students from non-research institutions were recruited for participation in this program.
Does this highlight represent transformative or potentially transformative research? If so, please explain why. For more information, see Report to Congress: Transformative Research at the National Science Foundation, April 16, 2008
Yes
Though the project is driven by basic neuroscience, Wolfe said “every one of the technologies that has been developed has enormous potential for other applications.” For example, one day scientists may use the radio backpack to remotely control and monitor animals’ activities.
Does this highlight represent Broadening Participation? If so, please explain why.
For more information, see Broadening Participation at the National Science Foundation: A Framework for Action
Yes
The students who participate in our REU program are likely to pursue graduate education to further their interests in research, enhancing the diversity and number of research and development-oriented technological leaders and helping to fill our nation’s need to establish and maintain a diverse, technological workforce.
Are there existing or potential societal benefits of this research? It is important for NSF to be able to provide examples of NSF-supported research that have societal benefits, including benefits to the U.S. economy.
For more information, see Excerpt from Merit Review Broader Impacts Criterion: Representative Activities, July 2007
Yes
Though the project is driven by basic neuroscience, its findings may be relevant to a number of fields in science and engineering.
ENG/EEC 2009
]]>Dr. Warner’s research is part of the work of the Gordon-CenSSIS, an NSF Engineering Research Center. This new discovery potentially opens up a large number of new applications for CenSSIS technologies for detecting hidden objects. The four core academic partners of Gordon-CenSSIS are Northeastern University (lead institution), Boston University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez.
Primary Strategic Outcome Goal:
Engineering Research Centers
In terms of intellectual merit, why is this outcome notable and/or important?
The discovery of lipid rafts on the surface of preimplantation mouse embryos is very important because lipid rafts are where many signaling molecules that mediate embryo health reside. This helps to answer the question as to how signals from the environment are transmitted from the
outside to the inside of an embryo’s cells. The new fluorescent technique utilizing Quantum Dots is also important.
In terms of broader impacts , why is this outcome notable and/or important?
Merit Review Broader Impacts Criterion: Representative Activities, July 2007
Although this research uses the mouse as a model system, the long-range goal of the research team is to apply its findings to improve the success rate of human in vitro fertilization.
Does this highlight represent transformative or potentially transformative research? If so, please explain why. For more information, see Report to Congress: Transformative Research at the National Science Foundation, April 16, 2008
No
Does this highlight represent Broadening Participation? If so, please explain why.
For more information, see Broadening Participation at the National Science Foundation: A Framework for Action
Yes
Every Engineering Research Center involves the participation of several institutions across the U.S., as well as a diverse faculty and student body.
Are there existing or potential societal benefits of this research? It is important for NSF to be able to provide examples of NSF-supported research that have societal benefits, including benefits to the U.S. economy.
For more information, see Excerpt from Merit Review Broader Impacts Criterion: Representative Activities, July 2007
Yes
The potential is to improve the success rate of human in vitro fertilization, which is currently low.
ENG/EEC 2009 ]]>
The US and Chilean Research Group
Primary Strategic Outcome Goal:
Teacher Education and In-service Professional Development
Secondary Strategic Outcome Goals:
Engineering Research
In terms of intellectual merit, why is this outcome notable and/or important?
The RET Research Assistants worked on materials science and engineering and biologyand environmental science research projects that have successfully competed in the peer review process. They have contributed to the research enterprise and have developed instructional units for classroom instruction. It is through the delivery of the instructional units that students will also benefit from the research experience.
In terms of broader impacts , why is this outcome notable and/or important?
Merit Review Broader Impacts Criterion: Representative Activities, July 2007
The SDSM&T RET Site impacts the lives and teaching of the RET Research Assistants and their students through sharing of instructional units to educators who were not RET participants. This will propagate the knowledge, concepts and ideas gained to an even broader audience of students.
Does this highlight represent transformative or potentially transformative research? If so, please explain why. For more information, see Report to Congress: Transformative Research at the National Science Foundation, April 16, 2008
No
Does this highlight represent Broadening Participation? If so, please explain why.
For more information, see Broadening Participation at the National Science Foundation: A Framework for Action
Yes
Both experiences were extremely successful from the standpoint of participating teachers and faculty mentors. For the teacher returning to the Chemical Engineering lab for a second summer, the most evident outcomes were greater understanding of the conduct of research and further grounding in science and engineering processes.
Are there existing or potential societal benefits of this research? It is important for NSF to be able to provide examples of NSF-supported research that have societal benefits, including benefits to the U.S. economy.
For more information, see Excerpt from Merit Review Broader Impacts Criterion: Representative Activities, July 2007
Yes
For the teachers participating in the international experience the dual immersion into research and culture made for an incredibly powerful experience with lasting ramifications. International teacher participants spoke of the rich dynamic of working with Chilean Post Doc fellows by negotiating language and meaning as it related to the electro-chemistry research environment. Another key outcome was the ability to better understand the heightened sense of frustration and struggle that students who are non-native English speakers often deal with. Teacher participants will now be able to better relate and accommodate ESL learners afterhaving experienced the difficulty in communicating with an unfamiliar language.
ENG/EEC 2009
This progress in n-channel MOSFET is a major step toward the ultimate demonstration of a high-voltage MOS-gated bi-directional switch in GaN. But before such a demonstration could be made, what was needed was a complementary pair of reverse blocking MOSFETs connected in parallel. In 2007, CPES researchers achieved this signficant milestone by successfully demonstrating the world’s first high-voltage, monolithically integrated GaN MOSFET/Schottky rectifier pair that functions in parallel. (A rectifier is an elec trical device that converts alternating current to direct current). This integrated device, with its schematic cross-section shown in Fig. 1 and a microphotograph of one of the test devices shown in Fig. 2, has forward and reverse blocking and conduction capabilities. The CPES investigators have characterized functional devices with forward and reverse blocking voltages as high as 770V and 1050V, respectively. This integrated GaN MOSFET/rectifier is a new, generic device building-block, with fewer components or packaging problems–allowing power electronics systems to deliver power more efficiently.
GaN power devices are expected to be much more efficient than their silicon counterparts, thus reducing energy consumption and eliminating or at least reducing the cooling accessories needed in power electronics systems. In addition, and very importantly, the GaN MOS process that CPES has developed is compatible with and usable in state-of-the-art silicon chip foundries in terms of temperature, thin film deposition, and process equipment-unlike the silicon carbide MOS processes, which are not compatible and require higher temperatures.
Primary Strategic Outcome Goal:
Engineering Research Centers
Secondary Strategic Outcome Goals:
Other Infrastructure and Research Resources
How does this highlight address the strategic outcome goal(s) as described in the NSF Strategic Plan 2006-2011 ?
GaN power devices using GaN MOSFETs integrated with rectifiers, as developed and demonstrated here, will be much more energy efficient than their silicon counterparts, and easier to manufacture in high volume in existing chip foundries. The research underlying this advance is highly innovative, cross-disciplinary, and requires a complex systems approach.
Does this highlight represent transformative or potentially transformative research? If so, please explain why. For more information, see Report to Congress: Transformative Research at the National Science Foundation, April 16, 2008
No
Does this highlight represent Broadening Participation? If so, please explain why.
For more information, see Broadening Participation at the National Science Foundation: A Framework for Action
No
Are there existing or potential societal benefits of this research? It is important for NSF to be able to provide examples of NSF-supported research that have societal benefits, including benefits to the U.S. economy.
For more information, see Excerpt from Merit Review Broader Impacts Criterion:
Representative Activities, July 2007
Yes
The ability to use a silicon MOS-like process for building integrated circuits in gallium nitride will enable a new generation of digital and power electronics devices for use in computer and other technologies that reduces energy consumption with reduced need for cooling.
ENG/EEC 2008 ]]>
The UC Berkeley team (above) won the gold medal award at the 2008 iGEM competition in the software tool category, and was also a finalist in the experimental category. UC Berkeley is the home of NSF-funded Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center.
The iGEM competition is growing rapidly, in 2008 hosting 84 teams from 21 countries, with more than 800 student participants. Over the course of a weekend, teams composed of students from all over the world come together to share their passion for synthetic biology. The teams that presented at the Jamboree in November 2008 applied innovative approaches to a diversity of areas-from foundational advances to applications of synthetic biology in environmental, food, and health sciences. Several of the top teams were from SynBERC partner institutions, including the University of California at San Francisco, UC Berkeley, and Harvard University. UC Berkeley’s Clonebots team won a gold medal and was a finalist in the overall competition. The UC Berkeley Tools team won gold for “Best Software Tool.” Harvard was a gold-medal finalist in the “Best Food or Energy Project” category. UCSF took bronze for a project in the “Best New Application” area.
This year’s iGEM competition was remarkable for the larger-than-usual participation of high school students-a trend that SynBERC has spearheaded-which shows how the engineering focus of synthetic biology can excite students at all levels of science education. Also, several teams initiated international student exchange programs, for example with students in China and Slovenia, strengthening the program’s spirit of international collaboration.
Primary Strategic Outcome Goal:
K-12 Education
Undergraduate Education and Undergraduate Student Research
Graduate Education and Graduate Student Research
International Research Experiences for Undergraduate & Graduate Students
In terms of intellectual merit, why is this outcome notable and/or important?
This is a highly innovative education program that brings together teams of high school, undergraduate, and graduate students from around the world to “learn by doing” about one of the most promising and potentially high-impact new fields of science and engineering.
In terms of broader impacts , why is this outcome notable and/or important?
Merit Review Broader Impacts Criterion: Representative Activities, July 2007
The program involves students from precollege through graduate school in a highly collaborative, team-based learning activity that requires a sophisticated understanding of recent research advances in an emerging field. A broad diversity of students are involved, representing female and minority students as well as students from many countries around the world. The result is a rapidly growing network of students in the U.S. and elsewhere who are excited and knowledgeable about further education and research in this important field, one that has major potential benefits in medicine and other areas.
Does this highlight represent transformative or potentially transformative research? If so, please explain why. For more information, see Report to Congress: Transformative Research at the National Science Foundation, April 16, 2008
No
Does this highlight represent Broadening Participation? If so, please explain why.
For more information, see Broadening Participation at the National Science Foundation: A Framework for Action
Yes
Every Engineering Research Center involves the participation of several institutions across the U.S., as well as a diverse faculty and student body. iGEM is certainly an example of this, leveraged even farther by the participation of universities and other institutions worldwide.
Are there existing or potential societal benefits of this research? It is important for NSF to be able to provide examples of NSF-supported research that have societal benefits, including benefits to the U.S. economy.
For more information, see Excerpt from Merit Review Broader Impacts Criterion: Representative Activities, July 2007
Yes
iGEM is creating a rapidly growing network of students in the U.S. and elsewhere who are excited and knowledgeable about further education and research in this important field, one that has major potential benefits in medicine, environmental protection, and other areas. Even those students who do not choose to pursue synthetic biology will be more likely to go into other fields of science and engineering by exposure to the excitement this program generates.
ENG/EEC 2009
Healionics was named the “most promising new biotech firm” by the Seattle Business Monthly , and was awarded first place for best technology investment by the 2007 Zino Zillionaire Investment Forum. The company, headed by Robert Brown as president and CEO, is the first spin-off of the Ratner Biomedical Group (RBG), founded in 2006 as an incubator of companies. RBG deploys its licensed intellectual properties that are focused on medical devices, biocompatible materials, tissue engineering, and drug delivery. RBG provides early-stage funding for startups in its portfolio and helps them to develop the management teams and the corporate partnerships that are necessary for sustained growthand capitalization.
Dr. Buddy D. Ratner, Director of the NSF-funded UWEB, serves as chair of the Science Advisory Board for both Ratner Biomedical Group and Healionics. Many of RBG’s technologies, like those applied by Helionics, are derived from UWEB research. UWEB itself focuses on exploiting specific biological recognition mechanisms in order to develop a new generation of biomaterials for medical implants that will heal in the body in a facile, physiologically normal manner. Through companies such as Helionics, UWEB’s basic research and inventions will be further developed and applied to medical implants that enhance healing.
Primary Strategic Outcome Goal:
Engineering Research Centers
Secondary Strategic Outcome Goals:
Graduate Education and Graduate Student Research
How does this highlight address the strategic outcome goal(s) as described in the NSF Strategic Plan 2006-2011 ?
An important part of the mission of all ERCs is to transfer their technologies to industry. This is an excellent example. The research underlying the technology being deployed by Healionics is highly innovative, cross-disciplinary, and requires a complex systems approach.
Does this highlight represent transformative or potentially transformative research? If so, please explain why. For more information, see Report to Congress: Transformative Research at the National Science Foundation, April 16, 2008
No
Does this highlight represent Broadening Participation? If so, please explain why.
For more information, see Broadening Participation at the National Science Foundation: A Framework for Action
No
Are there existing or potential societal benefits of this research? It is important for NSF to be able to provide examples of NSF-supported research that have societal benefits, including benefits to the U.S. economy.
For more information, see Excerpt from Merit Review Broader Impacts Criterion: Representative Activities, July 2007
Yes
As a promising new biotech firm, Healionics is poised to enter the emerging and potentially very large international market for biomaterials that enhance the biocompatibility and performance of implanted medical devices.
ENG/EEC 2008 ]]>
Michelle bringing the probe into the sample on the STM
The project also partnered with the multi-site Science Museum of Virginia to both develop exhibits on nanoscience for the museum, and to work jointly on nanoscience training of K-12 students and teachers across the Commonwealth of Virginia through a course for Danville K-12 teachers on the teaching of nanoscience.
Primary Strategic Outcome Goal:
K-12 Education
Teacher Education and In-service Professional Development
Undergraduate Education and Undergraduate Student Research
Secondary Strategic Outcome Goals:
Engineering Research
In terms of intellectual merit, why is this outcome notable and/or important?
The intellectual merit of the course is in its message that it is precisely at the nanometer scale that the weird and unfamiliar principles of quantum mechanics come strongly into play. For this reason, the size and shape of a nanometer scale object becomes more important in determining its properties than its atomic composition. As a result, students are challenged to develop a new intuition, for a new set of rules. To ensure this result, the course is centered on the use of revolutionary table-top instruments that can provide students with personalized experiences of the new nanoworld.
In terms of broader impacts , why is this outcome notable and/or important?
Merit Review Broader Impacts Criterion: Representative Activities, July 2007
To facilitate student understanding, and to ensure the course’s broader impact, the instructors built upon experience and infrastructure gained in the development of the “UVA Virtual Lab” website. This public science-education website employs 3D animations to explain the inner workings of scientific instruments such as scanning electron microscopes and atomic force microscopes. Building upon the international use of the existing website helps to ensure, from day one, that a large, diverse and growing user base is aware of the courseware offerings available. Dissemination is facilitated by UVA’s Research Experience for Teachers (RET) site under which the class materials will enhance the experience of K-12 teachers interning at UVA. By use of these dissemination paths, the new course not only impacts a cross-section of UVA students, but also provide resources for teachers well beyond the bounds of the university.
Does this highlight represent transformative or potentially transformative research? If so, please explain why. For more information, see Report to Congress: Transformative Research at the National Science Foundation, April 16, 2008
No
Does this highlight represent Broadening Participation? If so, please explain why.
For more information, see Broadening Participation at the National Science Foundation: A Framework for Action
No
Are there existing or potential societal benefits of this research? It is important for NSF to be able to provide examples of NSF-supported research that have societal benefits, including benefits to the U.S. economy.
For more information, see Excerpt from Merit Review Broader Impacts Criterion: Representative Activities, July 2007
Yes
The project provides opportunities to both undergraduate and pre-college students for discovery through both laboratory projects and virtual experiments on the world wide web, leading to a greater interest in exploring nanoscience as a career. For his work, the project PI was awarded by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers the Institute’s Undergraduate Teaching Medal. The IEEE is an over 400,000 member international organization that describes itself as “The world’s leading professional association for the advancement of technology.”
ENG/EEC 2009
Professor Manu Platt (left) works with Randy Ankeny, formerly a GTEC Research Experiences for Undergraduates student and now a student in the Bioengineering PhD program at Georgia Tech.
In early 2009, Dr. Platt returned to Georgia Tech to join the Biomedical Engineering faculty, where he is affiliated with GTEC. There, he will continue his research and his activities in mentoring the next generation of biomedical engineers.
Dr. Platt is currently investigating methods for improving the growth, differentiation, and survival of adult stem cells using specially treated biological scaffolds. This project is aimed at understanding how extracellular matrix and growth factors combine to generate the signaling network activities that govern mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) behaviors. His experimental technique employs a cue-signal-response paradigm based on modulating the environment of MSCs. Cells are cultured on a polymer containing both epidermal growth factor (EGF) and adsorbed extracellular matrix proteins to improve the differentiation, proliferation, and survival of adult stem cells.
Primary Strategic Outcome Goal:
Undergraduate Education and Undergraduate Student Research
Graduate Education and Graduate Student Research
Postdoctoral Education, including International Postdoctoral Fellowships
Broadening Participation to Improve Workforce Development
Secondary Strategic Outcome Goals:
Engineering Research Centers
In terms of intellectual merit, why is this outcome notable and/or important?
Research at an ERC such as GTEC involves undergraduate and graduate students directly in the research. This approach leads to greater numbers of students becoming enthusiastic about science and engineering and ultimately attaining positions in academic or industrial research. ERC-trained graduates are valued by industry for their understanding of engineered systems, their exposure to industrial drivers as students, their ability to work in teams, their leadership skills, and their greater orientation toward innovation.
In terms of broader impacts , why is this outcome notable and/or important?
Merit Review Broader Impacts Criterion: Representative Activities, July 2007
Research at an ERC such as GTEC involves both undergraduate and graduate students directly in the research. ERCs also emphasize the involvement of underrepresented minorities and women in their programs through outreach and active recruitment. The combination of these approaches leads to greater numbers of individuals from those groups attaining positions in academic research and industrial practice. By mentoring the next generation of biomedical engineers, Dr. Platt will extend the impact that GTEC had on his life-choices.
Does this highlight represent transformative or potentially transformative research? If so, please explain why. For more information, see Report to Congress: Transformative Research at the National Science Foundation, April 16, 2008
No
Does this highlight represent Broadening Participation? If so, please explain why.
For more information, see Broadening Participation at the National Science Foundation: A Framework for Action
Yes
Every Engineering Research Center involves the participation of several institutions across the U.S., as well as a diverse faculty and student body. In this case, an African American student at an affiliated HBCU became involved in ERC research as an undergraduate and ultimately became a faculty member at the ERC’s lead institution.
Are there existing or potential societal benefits of this research? It is important for NSF to be able to provide examples of NSF-supported research that have societal benefits, including benefits to the U.S. economy.
For more information, see Excerpt from Merit Review Broader Impacts Criterion: Representative Activities, July 2007
Yes
The involvement of individuals from underrepresented populations, through outreach efforts such as the REU program, is highly beneficial for the engineering enterprise and for the nation.
ENG/EEC 2009