* To provide a forum for the I/UCRC Directors, Evaluators, and other I/UCRC stakeholders to interact and exchange information and ideas about best practices, common issues, and concerns;

* To enable NSF to brief the I/UCRCs on news and policies related to the program;

* To facilitate direct technical interactions among Centers to enhance funding opportunities and inter-Center collaboration;

* To illuminate economic, public policy, corporate, and related trends, and explore implications for the Centers and their success; and

* To provide an opportunity for the I/UCRC Directors Association to announce its annual award and brief directors on its activities.

Supplemental Funding Options at NSF
Timely and detailed information on a favorite topic, designed for all attendees.
Mary Poats, Program Manager, Engineering Education and Centers Division, Directorate of Engineering, NSF

Role of Evaluator
Review the basic duties of the I/UCRC Evaluator and practices that add value for key counterparts: NSF I/UCRC Program office, Center Directors, Operations Personnel, peer Evaluators, and others. For new Evaluators and Directors, Operations Personnel, and others interested in the role.
Facilitator: Eric Sundstrom, NSF Evaluator, University of Tennessee

Panelists: Ron Beck, NSF Evaluator, U.S. Army TARDEC (Retired); Jane Laux, Business Manager, Connection One (C1), Arizona State University; Don Price, Executive Director, Center for Engineering Distribution and Logistics (CELDi), Vice President for Research and Professor, Emeritus. University of Florida at Gainesville; and Jennifer Schneider, Graduate Research Assistant, I/UCRC Evaluation Project, Dept. of Psychology, North Carolina State Universit

Welcome and brief introductory remarks
Ann Becker, President, Ann Becker and Associates, Inc.

Remarks
Gary Gabriele, Division Director, Engineering Education and Centers Division, Directorate for Engineering, NSF

Timely topics of importance to centers, with a focus on possible programmatic and funding changes
Alex Schwarzkopf, Program Director, I/UCRC, Engineering Education and Centers Division, Directorate for Engineering, NSF

Draft of the NCSU 2005 NSF I/UCRC Directors Report

Alex DSS: NSF Decision-Support Systems Project
Avelino Gonzalez, Professor, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Central Florida

Logistical Announcements
Ann Becke

Over the past five years, approximately 20 I/UCRCs have “graduated” from the I/UCRC program and have had to face “life after NSF.” In this session, directors of self-sufficient centers will describe and discuss some of the challenges they faced when working towards self-sufficiency and the strategies they used to overcome them, including making significant modifications of the I/UCRC model.
Chair: Karl Reid, Former Director, Web Handling Research Center (Class of 1991), Dean and Professor, College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology, Oklahoma State University

Panelists: James Capistran, Director, Center for Research on Polymers (CUMIRP, Class of 1997), University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Sudhir Sastry (presented by Denis Gray), Site Director, Center for Advanced Processing and Packaging Studies (CAPPS, Class of 2004), Ohio State University; and John Ringo, Director, Center for Design of Analog/Digital Integrated Circuits (CDA/DIC, Class of 2004), Washington State University

View 2-3 current center websites and learn about their use and effectiveness as marketing tools; see how the NSF website portrays the I/UCRC program and how it can be integrated into center websites. Learn how easy it is to stay in touch with your center colleagues through the NSF listservs, and to use the online I/UCRC Directory to manage center staff data.
Jane Laux
Michelle Gregoire, Communications Coordinator, Biomolecular Interactive Technologies Center (BITC), University of New Hampshire
Glenn Larson, I/UCRC Systems Engineer, Engineering Education and Centers Division, Directorate for Engineering, NSF
Kate Ryan, Ann Becker and Associates, Inc. (ABA)

Directors’ Small Group Discussions by Topic
Participate in a facilitated small group discussion focused on a specific topic of importance to centers, and share outcomes of the discussion with the entire group. Proposed topics include:

• NSF supplemental funding follow-up discussion – Mary Poats, NSF
• Recruitment and retention – Alan Greenberg, Director, Membrane Applied Science and Technology (MAST) Center, University of Colorado at Boulder
• Technology transfer and IP issues – Ed Clancy, NSF
• Managing the multi-university center – Don Price, CELDi
• Implementing a self-sufficiency strategy -- John Ringo, Washington State University
• Globalization and international opportunities – Ian Pepper, Director, Arizona Water Quality Center (WQC), The University of Arizona
• Managing the university-center interface – Dennis Ray, Executive Director, Power Systems Engineering Research Center (PSERC), University of Wisconsin-Madison

Evaluators Breakout I: Research Reports
Report on Evaluator research, including progress of current projects, priorities for future projects, and research agenda.
Moderator: Dave Tansik, NSF Evaluator and Evaluator Research Coordinator, The University of Arizona

Research project updates by:

Denis Gray, NSF Evaluator and Professor, Dept of Psychology, North Carolina State University -- I/UCRC Evaluation Project results
Don Davis, NSF Evaluator and Professor of Psychology, Old Dominion University – Center Director Upward Leadership: Impact on Center Director and Center Outcomes (Janet L. Bryant, Co-author)
Jennifer Schneider – I/UCRC Student Satisfaction and Outcome Study
Drew Rivers, Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. of Psychology, North Carolina State University– I/UCRC Marketing and Recruitment Study

Recruiting new center members is the life blood for new I/UCRCs and the source of stability and growth for established I/UCRCs. Drawing on the results of a recent survey of directors and the experiences of successful directors, this session will highlight effective recruiting approaches, including formal marketing strategies, ways to involve your IAB, and the use of outside consultants.
Chair: Flaura Winston, Director, Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies (CChIPS), TraumaLink, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Panelists: Denis Gray, Evaluator, North Carolina State University;
John Van Zee, Director, Center for Fuel Cells, University of South Carolina;
Benham Pourdeyhimi, Director, Nonwovens Cooperative Research Center, North Carolina State University; and Richard Haber, Co-Director, Ceramic and Composite Materials Center, Rutgers University

I/UCRC Marketing & Recruiting Survey, Descriptive Data

Presented by the I/UCRC Directors Association to “an individual or team comprised of University student, faculty, or research staff that has recently worked in an I/UCRC, demonstrating exemplary research contributions to technology innovation in support of the Center's mission.”

Bruce Thompson, Chair, I/UCRC Directors Association, Director, Center for Nondestructive Evaluation (CNDE), Iowa State University

2006 Awardee: Kris Pister, Founder and CTO, Dust Networks; affiliated with the Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center (BSAC)

Representatives from three federal agencies provide an overview of new initiatives and/or changes in programmatic focus that may provide opportunities for center funding. Each speaker will subsequently attend one of three Synergy Group discussions in order to learn more about I/UCRC research pursuits and explore possible inter-center collaborations.
Chair: Ed Clancy, Program Director, I/UCRC Program, NSF

Deborah Crawford, Deputy Assistant Director, Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), NSF

Laura Petonito, Deputy Director, University Programs, Office of Research and Development, Science and Technology Directorate, U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) – unable to attend

Christine Chalk, Program Analyst, Office of Science, Planning and Analysis Division, U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE)

Synergy Groups – Potomac A, B, and C
Directors break into three broad Synergy discussion groups, each featuring one of the federal agency representatives from the morning plenary session. Each director has 1-2 minutes to share their current or emerging research. Then, the federal agency representative will share their thoughts on what they have heard in terms of research that might be a good fit for funding by their agency, and research synergies that might appeal to their agency for funding. Facilitated group discussion will also ensue.

Alan Greenberg, MAST, with Deborah Crawford

Ed Haug, Director Emeritus, Center for Virtual Proving Ground Simulation, The University of Iowa; Robin Murphy, Co-Director, Safety Security Rescue Research Center (SSR-RC), University of South Florida; and Larry Hornak, Co-Director, Center for Identification Technology Research (CITeR), West Virginia University

Janis Terpenny, Co-Director, Center for e-Design, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and Christine Chalk

Evaluators Breakout II: Evaluating the Evaluator
Provide an update on the Evaluator Program, and an initial forum for exploring current practices by Center Directors and others for evaluating how individual Evaluators perform their roles. Review draft Evaluator Questionnaire, including question content, administration, and reporting at the June meeting. Review and select from proposed options for June meeting. Review and rank prospective invitees as outside speakers in June.
Co-moderators and Joint Presenters: Eric Sundstrom, and Denis Gray

Evaluators Contact List

Operations Breakout II: Marketing Your Center
Share and discuss samples of center marketing items (newsletters, brochure mailings, events). What is the benefit of their use to the center? What works and what doesn’t?
Jane Laux
Parvathy Menon, Coordinator, Center for Child Injury Prevention Science (CChIPS), TraumaLink, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia