We will have two excellent outside speakers: Dr. Robert Metcalfe, inventor of the Ethernet, founder of 3Com, winner of the National Medal of Technology, and now a venture capitalist, will speak on “Enernet: Lessons from Internet History About Meeting Global Needs for Cheap and Clean Energy ” and Dr. Bernard Amadei, founder of Engineers Without Borders-USA and a civil engineering professor at the University of Colorado–Boulder, will address the participants on “Engineering Innovation and Research with a Human Face.”
The anticipated benefits of this meeting to the ERCs and to the NSF ERC Program are:
for new ERCs—
- An opportunity to meet as a class with experienced ERC leaders and NSF to receive guidance in best practices
- A concentrated exposure to the ERC “culture” and style of operation
for all ERCs—
- An opportunity to discuss and elucidate, across the centers, issues that may in many cases pertain to the individual ERCs
- Hearing from colleagues in other ERCs how they have addressed fulfilling various ERC key features and functions, what works and what doesn’t, and how these functions and features of ERCs have evolved over time, thus gaining a better sense of how to position the center for continued future success as an ERC and beyond
- Learning about how some graduated ERCs have transformed their fields and how they did it
- Learning about new opportunities for collaboration with other ERCs and other NSF-funded programs
- Exposure to new ways of thinking about engineering research and its applications, from outside speakers with innovative and diverse perspectives
- The chance for staff to network with their counterparts at other ERCs
- An opportunity to hear the vision of the designated new Assistant Director for Engineering, Professor Thomas Peterson, Dean of Engineering, University of Arizona
for the ERC Program—
- Input from ERCs regarding important issues in the funding and oversight of ERCs
- Improved program efficiencies and impacts
- Potentially greater return on investment through improved center reporting and more focused performance indicators
- Greater efficiency and effectiveness in management of current and future centers.
If you have questions regarding the annual meeting agenda, please contact Court Lewis at 321-253-0153. If you have any questions about meeting logistics or your registration, feel free to contact Kate Ryan, Ann Becker and Associates, Inc., at direct telephone 262-334-3844 or by fax 262-334-3808.
Return to the ERC Association webpage.
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