OutcomesTelling the Story

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OutcomesTelling the Story
Jo Culbertson Office of the Assistant
Director for Engineering

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Contacts for Major Discoveries and Events

• Josh Chamot OLPA
• Jchamot_at_nsf.gov
• Jo Culbertson- ENG
• Jculbert_at_nsf.gov

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Accountability

• NSF on the radar screen
• What have you done for me lately?

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Opportunity

• ACI to double funding over 10 years for
  innovation-enabling research at NSF, DOE, and
  NIST
• Agency funding tied to demonstrated contributions
  to society, potential for enhanced future
  economic growth

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Building Better Bones

• Researchers at the Georgia Tech/Emory Center for
  the Engineering of Living Tissues (GTEC) have
  developed a new minimally invasive technology for
  repairing bone defects and soft tissue injuries.
  A fast-gelling polymer can be injected to fill
  irregular gaps in a variety of tissues--bridging
  defects, stabilizing the damaged area, and
  promoting growth.

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Building Better Bones

• Cells and bioactive agents such as proteins can
  be embedded in the gel to promote enhanced
  regeneration of bone and nerve cells.
• Among other uses, this technology offers a
  promising approach to treating spinal cord
  injuries, which are now largely untreatable.

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Building Better Bones

• (left) Intact spinal cord (center) Spinal cord
  with a cavity in dorsal spinal cord (right)
  Injury cavity filled with in situ gelling
  polymer. Permission Granted Credit Georgia
  Tech/Emory Center for the Engineering of Living
  Tissues

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Highlights

• Inform A/Cs, COVs, OMB, Congress, taxpayers about
  NSF-funded activities
• Capture the essence of research and education at
  the frontiers and convey their excitement
• Highlight emerging opportunities and challenges

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Many Uses

• Annual reporting of highlights for AC/ GPA review
  of NSF performance towards its strategic goals
• Input to budget, briefings, talks, special events
  (NEES, sensors, robotics, airport security), NSF
  website, outreach to media

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Many Uses

• Promote public understanding of science and
  engineering
• Recruit workforce of the future

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Telling the Story

• Clear and concise
• Compelling images
• 8th grade level
• No jargon

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WHY

• Describe the problem/issue that motivated the
  research
• What are the key knowledge gaps?

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WHAT

• Describe your results--tell what you achieved
  and put it in the context of other research

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How

• Describe your approach and why it is unique

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WHO CARES?

• Why is this result important?
• How will it benefit society?

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Hydrogen Storage Pulls Itself Together

• Asemblon, Inc., a start-up company formed by
  researchers at the University of Washingtons
  Engineered Biomaterials Engineering Research
  Center (UWEB), is producing a new material with
  significant potential for storing and
  distributing hydrogena capability that's
  critical for deploying hydrogen-fueled cars and
  achieving greater energy self-sufficiency in the
  U.S.

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Hydrogen Storage Pulls Itself Together

• UWEB researchers developed the new
  materialcomprised of novel self-assembled
  monolayersand then formed Asemblon to produce
  and market it. Initial applications were in
  biotechnology, molecular electronics and other
  areas.

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Hydrogen Storage Pulls Itself Together

• Asemblon discovered that the material also allows
  hydrogen to be chemically stored and released to
  generate energy when it is needed. Once hydrogen
  has been released, the material can be recycled
  and re-used. Asemblon has established a separate
  division aimed at optimizing hydrogen storage
  capacity and release through its patented process
  and ultimately marketing the products.

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A Self-Assembled Monolayer

• Credit Dan Graham, Asemblon

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Stay in Touch

• Partners in disseminating the results of
  NSF-funded activities
• Effective communication critical to future success

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Undergraduate Creates Nano-Filter for Bio-Medical
Lab-on-a Chip

• Nancy Guillen, undergraduate
• B. Baird, PI
• Cornell University
• STC The Nanobiotechnology Center

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WHAT

• Nancy Guillen, an undergraduate at the
  University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, and a
  participant in the NSFs Research Experience for
  Undergraduates (REU) program, spent last summer
  with a Cornell University research team
  manufacturing and testing a collagen membrane
  that could one day be used as a miniaturized
  lab-on-a-chip for rapid screening of blood
  samples.

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WHAT/HOW

• Guillens membrane has nanometer-sized pores
  small enough to sift biomolecules by size alone.
  The membrane blocked hemoglobin while allowing
  DNA molecules to pass through.

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WHAT/HOW

• Guillens efforts broke new ground on several
  fronts. She used collagen monomers as raw
  material, which are up to 50 times thinner than
  the collagen fibrils used in commercially
  produced collagen membranes, and prepared them by
  the spin-deposition technique, which is also one
  of the easiest and cheapest ways to make the
  100-nanometer-thick membrane.

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WHO CARES?

• The successful use of collagen, the main
  connective tissue protein in the human body,
  offers the major advantage for the filter of
  biocompatibility meaning that implantable
  devices using Guillens membrane would be free
  from immune reactions.

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WHO CARES?

• For example, a coating for transplanted
  pancreatic islet tissues would let glucose and
  insulin pass through freely, but block the larger
  immune system molecules that lead to rejection.

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WHO CARES

• Biomedical devices using collagen membranes may
  thus someday free organ-transplant recipients
  from lifetime regimens of powerful
  immunosuppressant drugs.

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WHO CARES?

• The first uses of the filter will likely be to
  prepare DNA chips for quick medical analysis or
  newborn screening tests. Such a filter may also
  be used one day as part of implantable devices
  such as an artificial liver.