Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Aging-centric Engineering Technologies (AgETech)

工程研究中心规划奖助金竞赛是作为ERC计划的试点征集活动进行的。计划拨款并不是整个ERC竞赛的一部分，而是为了在团队之间建立能力，以计划集中的、中心规模的工程研究。这项计划拨款旨在建立一个工程研究中心，来自爱荷华州立大学、亚利桑那州立大学、佐治亚理工学院和加州大学欧文分校的研究人员聚集在一起，研究如何利用工程技术来改善美国老年人随着年龄增长的日常功能。老年人是增长最快的人口群体，他们正在创造对负担得起的服务、技术和环境支持基础设施的迫切需求，这些需求在很大程度上没有得到满足，以便这些公民实现最佳老龄化。我们的工程方法将通过满足老年人的需求并为个人、家庭和社区为最佳和负担得起的老龄化做好更好的准备而产生高度的社会影响。我们建议的方法将整合工程学、生命科学、计算科学和社会科学的概念和想法，为与老龄化相关的科学和社会挑战提供负担得起的解决方案。规划赠款活动将使我们能够通过与广泛的利益攸关方和行业联系来扩大这一领域的研究能力。我们的教育和外展活动将培养出多样化、有创造力、负责任、有创业精神和参与全球事务的领导者。所有这些活动将提高对老龄化最重要需求的基本理解，并帮助创建一个新的研究范式，让利益相关者参与进来，为优化老龄化和降低不断增长的医疗成本提供变革性的、负担得起的解决方案。我们建议的方法将整合专注于新型传感器和网络技术的融合研究、教育和技术转让计划，与物联网数据融合、用于交付的设计材料以及认知能力和增强的日常功能相结合。我们将与我们的工业和创新合作伙伴一起，改变以老龄化为中心的技术的设计和制造，并通过从概念化的最早阶段就包含科学、社会和行为考虑的系统方法，实现快速商业化。规划资助活动将帮助我们：(I)扩大这一研究领域的研究能力；(Ii)整合伙伴机构的新教育、外联和技术转让活动；(Iii)动员广泛的利益攸关方和行业合作伙伴；(Iv)制定关于团队组建和有效领导/管理的战略；以及(V)设计和实施一项针对老年人的全国调查，以进一步指导我们的研究愿景。所有这些规划资助活动都将导致发展成功应对这一复杂的社会挑战所需的全部技能，并与不同的利益相关者社区建立有效的关系。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Planning Grants for Engineering Research Centers competition was run as a pilot solicitation within the ERC program. Planning grants are not required as part of the full ERC competition, but intended to build capacity among teams to plan for convergent, center-scale engineering research.This planning grant to establish an Engineering Research Center brings together researchers from Iowa State University, Arizona State University, Georgia Tech, and University of California Irvine to study how engineering technologies can be used to improve the everyday functioning of older U.S. adults as they age. Older adults represent the fastest-growing demographic group, which is creating urgent and largely unmet needs for affordable services, technologies, and environmental support infrastructure for these citizens to age optimally. Our engineering approach will have a high societal impact by meeting the needs of older adults and better preparing individuals, families, and communities for optimal and affordable aging. Our proposed approach will integrate concepts and ideas from engineering, life sciences, computational sciences, and social sciences to provide affordable solutions to the scientific and societal challenges associated with aging. The planning grant activities will enable us to expand research capacity in this area by connecting with a broad range of stakeholders and industry. Our educational and outreach activities will produce diverse, creative, responsible, entrepreneurial, and globally engaged leaders. All these activities will lead to an improved fundamental understanding of the most important needs of aging in place and help create a new research paradigm with engaged stakeholders to provide transformative and affordable solutions to optimal aging and reduce growing healthcare costs.Our proposed approach will integrate convergent research, education, and technology transfer programs focused on novel sensor and network technology integrated with Internet of Things data fusion, designer materials for delivery, and cognitive competence and enhanced everyday functioning. Together with our industrial and innovation partners, we will transform the design and manufacture of aging-centric technologies and lead to rapid commercialization by a systems-approach encompassing scientific, social, and behavioral considerations from the earliest stages of conceptualization. The planning grant activities will help us to: (i) expand research capacity in this research area; (ii) integrate new education, outreach, and technology transfer activities across the partner institutions; (iii) engage a broad group of stakeholders and industrial partners; (iv) strategize on team formation and effective leadership/management; and (v) design and implement a national survey of older adults to further guide our research vision. All of these planning grant activities will lead to the development of the full complement of skills needed to successfully address this complex societal challenge and build effective relationships with a diverse stakeholder community.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.