Appalachian State University's Office of Research and the Research Institute for Environment, Energy, and Economics are hosting a virtual information and brainstorming session on Tuesday, April 18 from 11:00am - 12:00pm in response to the NSF Convergence Accelerator Dear Colleague Letter.
The NSF's Convergence Accelerator program, within the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships or TIP, supports use-inspired solutions toward societal impact. The NSF's Convergence Accelerator program model comprises three phases: topic ideation, followed by convergence-research Phases 1 and 2. Teams funded by the Convergence Accelerator include multiple disciplines, a wide range of expertise, and cross-sector partnerships to stimulate innovative ideas and develop long-lasting, sustainable solutions to societal and economic challenges that are organized around the program's research track topics.
TRACK K: EQUITABLE WATER SOLUTIONS
Broad topics within this track may include – but are not limited to – solutions that support:
- Design of sustainable water supply systems by delivering novel, effective, unbiased data-driven decision support tools – leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning – and technical solutions, e.g., filtration devices, and new materials for transportation and storage among others.
- Development of tools, technologies, and approaches to address watersheds as a whole; specifically in relation to water distribution, the safety of the water supply, and inequalities in the allocation of water resources, including new computational and technical as well as social and behavioral solutions to water sharing, such as quality and quantity projections and economic models.
- Creation of equitable access and engagement with freshwater resources, including engagement through training and workforce development, new models, and technical solutions.
TRACK L: REAL-WORLD CHEMICAL SENSING APPLICATIONS
Broad topic areas within this track may include – but are not limited to – the following:
- Development of innovative biological and chemical sensor systems inspired by applications in environmental sensing, agriculture, food production and quality control, homeland security, home healthcare (e.g., miniaturized and low-power point-of-care diagnostic systems), and geoengineering (e.g., low-cost, long-life miniaturized wireless sensors for greenhouse and other toxic gases/species). Systems may be based on advances in biological olfactory research, gene editing, synthetic biology, electronic nose technologies, materials science, chemistry, analyte preparation technologies, signal transduction technologies, biomanufacturing, printed electronics, bio-hybrid systems, neuromorphic systems, detection algorithms, AI and machine learning, brain-machine interfaces, and robotics.
- Creating benchmarks and standards, calibration techniques, training data sets, and data management and storage platforms. Deliverables may include, but are not limited to, simulants, rapid sensor calibration techniques in context, standardized methodologies for collection and annotation of data from biological and chemical sensors operating in diverse real-world conditions, and open repositories for large-scale, sensor-derived datasets created with broader community participation.
- Development of models for integration across modalities for data fusion, inter-device transferability, and source localization in diverse contexts to generate real-time, reliable, and quantifiable results. These could include models based on advances in fate and transport and adaptive modeling, transfer learning, and dimensionality-reduction strategies.
TRACK M: BIO-INSPIRED DESIGN INNOVATIONS
Broad topics within this track may include – but are not limited to – the following:
- Development of materials with features such as programmable self-assembly, multi-modal sensing, computation, memory, adaptation, and healing and regenerative capabilities.
- Novel manufacturing capabilities that harness advances in synthetic biology, bioengineering, nanofabrication, and 3D printing.
- Engineering complex systems with novel properties based on principles of synthetic biology, bioengineering, and robotics or organismal biology (e.g., organoids, microbial consortia, collective swarms).
- Computational modeling and theory-enabled methods and tools for bio-inspired designs.
- Applications in areas including, but not limited to, environmental monitoring, bioremediation and preservation, sustainable materials, biological manufacturing, personalized healthcare, resilient infrastructure, and agriculture and food production.