The future security, economic growth, and competitiveness of the United States depend on its capacity to innovate. Major sources of innovative capacity are the new knowledge and trained students generated by U.S. research universities. However, many of the complex technical and societal problems the United States faces cannot be addressed by the traditional model of individual university research groups headed by a single principal investigator. Instead, they can only be solved if researchers from multiple institutions and with diverse expertise combine their efforts. The National Science Foundation (NSF), among other federal agencies, began to explore the potential of such center-scale research programs in the 1970s and 1980s; in many ways, the NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) program is its flagship program in this regard. The ERCs are "interdisciplinary, multi-institutional centers that join academia, industry, and government in partnership to produce transformational engineered systems and engineering graduates who are adept at innovation and primed for leadership in the global economy. To ensure that the ERCs continue to be a source of innovation, economic development, and educational excellence, A New Vision for Center-Based Engineering Research explores the future of center-based engineering research, the skills needed for effective center leadership, and opportunities to enhance engineering education through the centers.

Within the past decade, six Engineering Research Centers opened on university campuses across the United States. This book reviews the lessons learned as the centers got under way, and examines the interrelationship among universities, government, industry, and the research establishment. Leaders from business, government, and universities discuss in this volume the challenges now facing American industry; the roots and early development of the research center concept; the criteria used in selecting the six centers; the structure and research agenda of each center; the projected impact of the centers on competitiveness of U.S. technology; and the potential for further research in biotechnology, electronics, robotics, and related areas.

"Organized" and "innovation" are words rarely heard together. But an organized approach to innovation is precisely what America needs today. This book presents a blueprint for coordinating technology breakthroughs to advance America's global competitiveness and prosperity. That prosperity is at risk. As other nations bolster technology innovation efforts, America's research, development, and commercialization enterprise is falling behind. An "innovation gap" has emerged in recent decades, where US universities focus on basic research and industry concentrates on incremental product development. The country has failed to address the innovation gap because of three myths--innovation is about lone geniuses, the free market, and serendipity. These myths blind us from recognizing our dysfunctional system of unorganized innovation. In Organized Innovation, Currall, Frauenheim, Perry and Hunter provide a framework for optimizing the way America creates, develops, and commercializes technology breakthroughs. A roadmap for universities, business, and government, the book is grounded in the authors' seminal study of the National Science Foundation's Engineering Research Center program, which has returned to the US economy more than ten times the funding invested in it. For too long, our approach to technology innovation has been unorganized. The authors enable us to turn the page. They show us how to organize innovation for a more prosperous, hopeful future.

An absolutely essential survival kit for the lost doctoral candidate! Would you like to shorten your Time to Doctorate by at least ONE whole year? We can help you do it! Follow our step-by-step guide to managing your Ph.D. project as a Pro. The book is packed with practical and easy to apply tips about: - How to plan your research and organize your daily tasks - How to choose a topic and an adviser - How to communicate with your adviser in a win-win style - How to complete the doctorate on schedule - How to reduce the stress and increase the joy of staying in a graduate school - Learn from original examples of successful graduates Learn avoid and cope with potential crises in your doctoral program: - Professional crisis - Expectation crisis - Emotional crisis - Survival crisis - "International Student" crisis - Adviser crisis Each potential crisis is explained and treated to help you avoid it or solve it!

The future security, economic growth, and competitiveness of the United States depend on its capacity to innovate. Major sources of innovative capacity are the new knowledge and trained students generated by U.S. research universities. However, many of the complex technical and societal problems the United States faces cannot be addressed by the traditional model of individual university research groups headed by a single principal investigator. Instead, they can only be solved if researchers from multiple institutions and with diverse expertise combine their efforts. The National Science Foundation (NSF), among other federal agencies, began to explore the potential of such center-scale research programs in the 1970s and 1980s; in many ways, the NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) program is its flagship program in this regard. The ERCs are "interdisciplinary, multi-institutional centers that join academia, industry, and government in partnership to produce transformational engineered systems and engineering graduates who are adept at innovation and primed for leadership in the global economy. To ensure that the ERCs continue to be a source of innovation, economic development, and educational excellence, A New Vision for Center-Based Engineering Research explores the future of center-based engineering research, the skills needed for effective center leadership, and opportunities to enhance engineering education through the centers.

The way in which academic engineering research is financed and public expectations for the outcomes from such research are changing at an unprecedented rate. The decrease in support of defense-related research, coupled with the realization that many U.S. technological products are no longer competitive in the global market, has sent a shock wave through research universities that train engineers. This book argues for several concrete actions on the part of universities, government, and industry to ensure the flow and relevance of technical talent to meet national social and economic goals, to maintain a position of leadership in the global economy, and to preserve and enhance the nation's engineering knowledge base.