The 2017 Biennial Meeting of Engineering Research Center (ERC) directors, key staff, faculty, and students was held between Tuesday October 31 and Thursday November 2, 2017. The meeting provided a forum for interaction between NSF and the ERCs, as well as among the attendees from all the centers, regarding programs, policies, progress, and plans.

The program for the day can be found at https://ercb.asee.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/2017-ERC-Biennial-Meeting-Agenda-and-Guiding-Questions.pdf.

The 2017 ERC Biennial Meeting was followed by a day-long workshop on Friday November 3 to discuss the outcomes of the National Academy of Engineering’s report, A New Vision for Center-Based Engineering Research regarding the future of the ERC program.

Highlights

Dr. Jay Keasling presented the keynote address.

15 graduate students of current ERCs competed in the Perfect Pitch competition. See the Perfect Pitch page for the winners and for videos of their winning pitches.

A panel comprising Jeffrey Engler, 2016-2017 Dean-in-Residence at the Council of Graduate Schools; Allison Huff, REU and RET Principle Investigator at CIAN; and Susan Margulies, The Wallace H. Coulter Chair Professor Georgia Tech & Emory’s Department of Biomedical Engineering discussed alternative models of center funding.