NSF Engines: Southwest Sustainability Innovation Engine

这项NSF引擎奖授予西南可持续发展创新引擎，将促进美国在三个相互关联的可持续发展领域的创新能力：(1)水安全，(2)可再生能源，(3)净碳排放。美国西南地区正在迅速变化，像世界上许多地区一样，正在经历越来越恶劣的气候条件——从破坏基础设施和构成严重健康风险的极端天气事件到威胁经济繁荣的日益严重的水和能源不安全，影响范围广泛。由犹他州、内华达州和亚利桑那州组成的西南地区特别容易受到极端干旱和高温以及人口快速增长的影响（2020年美国人口普查显示，犹他州、内华达州和亚利桑那州在2010年至2020年期间的人口增长分别排名第一、第四和第五）。事实上，随着经济的快速增长与严重的水资源短缺之间的冲突日益加剧，西南地区的经济发展正达到一个关键的门槛。例如，凤凰城目前的气温接近115华氏度，像周围的城市一样，经常受到极端天气、干旱和野火的影响。在未来10年内，气温将上升到华氏120度以上，干旱状况将更加严重。这种状况如果持续下去，将威胁到西南地区的活力、宜居性和经济前景。除了关注技术创新外，NSF引擎还将关注政策和治理方面的可持续性创新。如果成功，NSF引擎将把西南地区转变为国家创新中心，不仅会带来积极的气候影响，还会带来高工资就业、经济增长、技术型创业公司和风险投资。为了实现这一愿景，NSF引擎将(1)作为催化剂，连接并制度化分布式区域可持续创新生态系统——行业、研究人员、创新者、投资者、决策者和社区领袖；(2)鼓励技术和治理方面的共同创新，以克服社区和经济发展的限制，促进公正和公平的水和能源未来；(3)通过创业和知识产权许可扩大包容性知识转化的基础设施和能力，促进经济和人口的持续和可持续增长；(4)培养一支多样化、高技能的可持续创新劳动力队伍，通过大规模利用教育和培训创新，创造新业务，满足现有雇主的需求，并提供包容性的高薪STEM工作机会。NSF引擎的服务区域横跨三个州——犹他州、内华达州和亚利桑那州。美国西南部面临的挑战规模之大，需要跨州协调一致。科罗拉多河水资源分配的崩溃和能源网系统的失效是传统的不协调方法的主要例子。NSF引擎旨在跨越学科和部门界限，将工程师和物理科学家团队与政策和治理方面的专家聚集在一起，共同创新技术，以及跨城市和州实施技术的新法规，政策，治理和基于市场的方法。NSF引擎拥有广泛的核心合作伙伴和区域利益相关者网络，涵盖营利性行业、企业家、州和地方政府、劳动力和经济发展合作伙伴，与活跃的水-能源-碳共同创新、将创新转化为实践、劳动力发展以及社区和经济增长有着成熟的联系。根据目前的实践状况和区域合作伙伴生态系统确定的主要差距，NSF引擎将在奖励期的前两年重点关注三个战略重点-可再生能源，水捕获和循环利用以及碳捕获。为了确保解决方案能够共同处理技术、治理和政策、市场和行业需求，NSF引擎的组织结构包括管理委员会、外部咨询委员会和相互关联的工作组，包括一个广泛的公共和私人合作伙伴网络。除了已经确定并准备投资的一系列项目外，新的以用途为灵感的研发和翻译项目将通过拨款竞赛得到支持。在将创新转化为实践方面，西南可持续发展创新引擎的总体目标集中在扩大知识转化的包容性和快速访问，将技术和治理创新快速推向市场和实践，并将当前分布的资源、专业知识和项目联系起来，以便转化为一个实践社区。为了实现这一目标，NSF引擎将支持几项相关的翻译支持工作：(1)翻译培训-引擎将为共同创新研发的参与者开发和提供翻译培训；(2)孵化器和技术转移中心——引擎将与孵化器建立正式的合作伙伴关系，以支持大学和社区引擎研发和创新的创业；(3)风险投资（VC）——NSF Engine将在第一年通过StartupNV和大学基金等现有合作伙伴开发获得VC投资的途径；从第二年开始，NSF引擎将每两年举办一次投资者推介活动；(4)实践社区——NSF引擎将扩展协作实践社区，在目前分散的网络中建立关系并调整项目，以加速翻译机会。NSF引擎已经与州和地方经济和劳动力发展组织、行业、社区和技术学院合作，通过与NSF引擎合作伙伴一致的创业、职业技术和提高技能的劳动力计划组合，帮助解决劳动力差距，并专门设计包括服务不足的人群，在历史上被排斥的社区建立世代财富。具体活动将侧重于K-12学生的可持续创新教育；利用可持续创新的职业发现技术平台，将求职者与教育合作伙伴、证书项目和快速培训联系起来，培养职业发展所需的技能；设立可持续创业和创新证书项目，帮助崭露头角的企业家通过专注于碳捕获、水和能源安全创新的创业方法，加快创意的发展；通过高管级实习支持企业家；并通过技术和大学途径培养完整的工人管道。NSF引擎汇集了合作伙伴和利益相关者的强大联盟，并展示了与区域资产、投资和优先事项的强大一致性。NSF引擎已经确定了必须推进的关键研发主题领域，以推动水-能源-碳协同创新的可持续性创新。它将支持研发、创新转化和劳动力发展活动，以培育一个由科技公司、研究人员、创新者、投资者、决策者、社区和行业领导者组成的繁荣的区域创新生态系统，从而将西南地区转变为国家创新中心。西南可持续发展创新引擎将通过在可持续发展领域创造就业机会和培训机会来推动经济增长，特别是在犹他州、内华达州和亚利桑那州的西南地区，历史上服务不足和/或农村社区。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This NSF Engines award to the Southwest Sustainability Innovation Engine will advance US innovation capacity in three interrelated areas of sustainability: (1) water security, (2) renewable energy, and (3) net carbon emissions. The Southwest (SW) region of the U.S. is changing rapidly, and like many regions around the world, is experiencing increasingly harsh climate conditions—with wide-ranging impacts, from extreme weather events that damage infrastructure and pose serious health risks to increasing water and energy insecurity that threaten economic prosperity. The SW region comprising Utah, Nevada, and Arizona is especially vulnerable due to extreme aridity and heat coupled with rapid population growth (the 2020 U.S. Census shows that Utah, Nevada, and Arizona are first, fourth, and fifth, respectively, for population growth during the period from 2010 to 2020). In fact, as rapid growth increasingly conflicts with severe water shortages, the economic development of the SW is reaching a critical threshold. For example, Phoenix presently experiences temperatures approaching 115 degrees Fahrenheit, and like surrounding cities, is frequently impacted by extreme weather, drought, and wildfires. Within the next 10 years, temperatures will rise to more than 120 degrees Fahrenheit and drought conditions will be more severe. Such conditions if unabated will threaten the vitality, livability, and economic future of the SW. In addition to its focus on technical innovations, the NSF Engine will also focus on sustainability innovations in policy and governance. If successful, the NSF Engine will transform the SW region into a national innovation hub, leading not only to positive climate impacts, but also to high wage jobs, economic growth, and technology-based startups and venture capital investments. In pursuit of this vision, the NSF Engine will (1) serve as catalyst to connect and institutionalize a distributed regional sustainability innovation ecosystem – industry, researchers, innovators, investors, decision-makers, and community leaders; (2) incentivize co-innovations in technology and governance to overcome limitations to community and economic development and facilitate just and equitable water and energy futures; (3) expand infrastructure and capacity for inclusive knowledge translation through startups and intellectual property licensing, enabling continued and sustainable economic and population growth; and (4) prepare a diverse and highly skilled sustainability innovation workforce that creates new businesses, meets the needs of existing employers, and provides inclusive access to high-wage STEM jobs by leveraging innovations in education and training at scale.The NSF Engine has a region of service spanning three states—Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. The scale of the challenges in the American southwest demands a coordinated approach across state boundaries. The collapse of the Colorado River water allocations and the failing energy grid system are prime examples of traditional uncoordinated approaches. The NSF Engine aims to cross disciplinary and sector boundaries to bring teams of engineers and physical scientists together with experts in policy and governance to co-innovate technology, as well as new regulatory, policy, governance, and market-based approaches for implementing technology across cities and states. The NSF Engine has an extensive network of core partners and regional stakeholders, spanning for-profit industry, entrepreneurs, state and local government, and workforce and economic development partners, with mature ties to active water-energy-carbon co-innovation, translation of innovation to practice, workforce development, and community and economic growth.Informed by the current state of practice and major gaps identified by the regional ecosystem of partners, the NSF Engine will focus on three strategic priorities during the first two years of the award period—renewable energy, water capture and recycling, and carbon capture. To ensure solutions that collectively address technical, governance and policy, market, and industry demands, the NSF Engine’s organizational structure includes a governing board, external advisory board, and interrelated working groups, comprising an extensive network of public and private partners. In addition to a slate of projects already identified and ready for investment, new use-inspired R&D and translation projects will be supported through grant competitions.With respect to translation of innovations to practice, the Southwest Sustainability Innovation Engine’s overarching goal focuses on expanding inclusive and rapid access to knowledge translation, getting technology and governance innovations rapidly to market and practice, and connecting currently distributed resources, expertise, and programs for translation into a community of practice. To achieve its goal, the NSF Engine will support several interrelated translation support efforts: (1) translation training—the Engine will develop and facility training in translation for participants in co-innovation R&D; (2) incubators and tech transfer hubs—the Engine will formalize partnerships with Incubators to support startup formation from both university- and community-based Engine R&D and innovations; (3) venture capital (VC)—the NSF Engine will develop pathways to access VC investments in year one, through existing partners such as StartupNV and university-based funds; starting in year two, the NSF Engine will host investor pitch events bi-annually; and (4) Communities of practice—the NSF Engine will extend collaborative communities of practice to build relationships and align programs across currently decentralized networks to accelerate translation opportunities.The NSF Engine has engaged state and local economic and workforce development organizations, industry, and community and technical colleges that will help address workforce gaps with a portfolio of entrepreneurship, career technical, and upskilling workforce programs aligned with NSF Engine partners and designed specifically to be inclusive of underserved populations to build generational wealth in historically excluded communities. Specific activities will focus on sustainability innovation education for K-12 students; leveraging sustainability innovation career discovery technology platforms that connect jobseekers to education partners, certificate programs, and fast-track training to build skills needed to advance careers; the creation of the Sustainability Entrepreneurship and Innovations Certificate program, which will prepare budding entrepreneurs to accelerate ideas through startup methods focused on innovations in carbon capture and water and energy security; supporting entrepreneurs via executive-level internships; and developing a full pipeline of workers via technical and university pathways.The NSF Engine has brought together a strong coalition of partners and stakeholders and has demonstrated a strong alignment with regional assets, investments, and priorities. The NSF Engine has identified critical R&D topic areas that must be advanced to drive sustainability innovations in water-energy-carbon co-innovation. It will support R&D, translation of innovation, and workforce development activities to cultivate a thriving regional innovation ecosystem of tech companies, researchers, innovators, investors, decision-makers, and community and industry leaders, that will transform the southwest into a national hub for innovation. The Southwest Sustainability Innovation Engine will drive economic growth through job creation and training opportunities in the sustainability sector, particularly for historically underserved and/or rural communities, across the southwest region of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.