Chronicle of Higher Education: NC A&T SU Earns NSF Grant for Engineering Research

The National Science Foundation has awarded a grant for an Engineering Research Center to North Carolina A&T State University, in Greensboro. The center will be the first such NSF engineering center led by a historically black college or university.

The awards for the centers, which began in 1985, are designed to produce more engineering graduates and innovative technologies in the United States. The interdisciplinary centers, located at colleges across the country, work in partnership with industry and focus on a sweep of engineering topics. In Greensboro, the ERC for Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials at A&T will conduct research in biomedical engineering, including on devices made with magnesium alloys that have the ability to adapt to the body. The implants are expected to aid craniofacial and orthopedic treatments and may help children born with birth defects or injured veterans or others with bone damage. The center will also study ways to improve cardiovascular devices such as stents.

The Universities of Pittsburgh and of Cincinnati will be partners with North Carolina A&T in the new center, as will eight companies. The grant, $18-million, establishes the center for five years with the possibility of renewal. Heidi Landecker

Posted on Saturday September 6, 2008

Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/news/article/5096/nsf-engineering-research-center-grant-goes-to-north-carolina-at-u