Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Electrosymbiotic Engineering, Design, and Technology (CEED-TECH)

电共生工程，设计和技术中心（CEED-Tech）将研究识别，组织和性能的设计规则，这些规则允许电化学活性微生物通过称为电共生的过程与惰性电子材料相互作用。该中心旨在通过旨在解决水安全，可再生能源和绿色制造业的紧迫问题的技术来利用生物过程。目前，知识、培训和技术方面的差距限制了我们将这些技术用于工业应用的能力。如果没有多学科的努力，该领域在劳动力培训和多样化方面就落后了，而劳动力培训和多样化对于建立技术发展所需的生产性伙伴关系、协作基础设施以及学术界和工业界之间的大规模网络至关重要。该工程研究中心（ERC）规划补助金将汇集科学家，工程师和相关利益相关者（学术界，工业界和政策制定者）的多元化团队，并通过面对面和远程规划会议优先考虑工作，以制定完整的ERC提案。具体而言，我们将（1）确定电共生工程中紧迫的可持续性问题的关键利益相关者，（2）就推进电共生技术的重大瓶颈达成共识，（3）完善开发大规模电共生技术的拟议解决方案，（4）建立技术和管理团队，以及（5）在所有中心参与者中制定共同愿景，致力于多样性，公平和包容。 电共生工程是一个新的科学领域，它整合了工程和生命科学中的许多STEM学科，以实现对经济一体化和增长至关重要的技术。推进该领域的技术转让需要在影响电共生的所有科学和工程领域以及学术界和工业界之间制定一个融合和创新的研究和教育计划。该中心将利用该领域所需的多样性，为市场就绪的技术创建工程平台设计，将其建模为集成系统，以实现稳定的性能和可扩展性。克服可扩展性瓶颈将使变革性的电共生平台进入测试阶段。试验台将为解决问题和新产品开发提供综合环境。计划中的研究工作将通过有针对性和包容性的培训计划来维持，该计划需要培养一支具有长期专业成功和技术实施所需的核心能力，知识多样性和行业知识的员工队伍。这种动态和综合的方法将使经济技术组合多样化，促进以下方面的增长：1）可持续制造，2）温室气体封存，3）具有成本效益的废水处理，4）具有战略重要性的金属的回收，5）传感器创新，以及6）增强污染物去除方法。建立在中心创造的新知识基础上的产业将有助于我们共同的经济繁荣和安全。这项计划拨款将使我们能够召集一个由科学家、工程师和利益相关者组成的团队，在新兴的电共生工程领域战略性地整合中心驱动的活动，以实现持续增长和创新。该奖项反映了NSF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。

The Center for Electrosymbiotic Engineering, Design, and Technology (CEED-Tech) will investigate the design rules of recognition, organization, and performance that allow electrochemically active microorganisms to interact with inert electronic materials through a process called electrosymbiotics. The Center seeks to harness bioprocesses through technologies designed to address pressing issues in water security, renewable energy, and green manufacturing. Currently, there are knowledge, training, and technical gaps that limit our ability to diversify and scale up these technologies for industrial applications. Without multidisciplinary efforts, the field has lagged in the workforce training and diversification that is critical for building productive partnerships, collaborative infrastructure, and large-scale networks between academia and industry that are needed for technology development. This Engineering Research Center (ERC) Planning Grant will bring together a diverse team of scientists, engineers, and relevant stakeholders (academia, industry, and policymakers) and prioritize efforts through in-person and remote planning meetings to develop a full ERC proposal. Specifically, we will (1) identify key stakeholders for pressing sustainability issues in electrosymbiotic engineering, (2) reach consensus on the significant bottlenecks in advancing electrosymbiotic technologies, (3) refine proposed solutions for developing large-scale electrosymbiotic technologies, (4) build technical and administrative teams, and (5) develop a shared vision across all Center Participants with a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Electrosymbiotic engineering is a new field of science that integrates many STEM disciplines in engineering and life sciences to actualize technologies critical for economic integration and growth. Advancing technology transfer in the field requires a convergent and innovative research and education plan across all science and engineering areas influencing electrosymbiotics and between academia and industry. The Center will leverage the diversity required by this field to create engineering platform designs for market-ready technologies modeled as integrated systems for stable performance and scalability. Overcoming the scalability bottleneck will bring transformative electrosymbiotic platforms to the testbed stage. The testbeds will provide integrated environments for problem-solving and new product development. The planned research efforts will be sustained by the targeted and inclusive training program that is needed to develop a workforce with the core competencies, intellectual versatility, and industry knowledge required for long-term professional success and technology implementation. This dynamic and integrated approach will diversify the economic technology portfolio, promoting growth in 1) sustainable manufacturing, 2) greenhouse gas sequestration, 3) cost-effective wastewater treatment, 4) reclamation of strategically important metals, 5) sensors innovation, and 6) enhanced methods for contaminant removal. Industries built on this new Center-created knowledge will contribute to our shared economic prosperity and security. This planning grant will allow us to bring together a team of scientists, engineers, and stakeholders to strategically integrate center-driven activities for sustained growth and innovation within the emerging field of electrosymbiotic engineering.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.