A key distinguishing feature of a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center (ERC) is strategic planning of the activities of the center, including cross-disciplinary research. The objective of this chapter is to describe methods for carrying out strategic research planning (Section 3.2) and its implementation (Section 3.3). The interface between research and other ERC components -- such as education and outreach -- and the impact assessment of ERC outcomes are covered in Sections 3.4 and 3.5. A final section (3.6) summarizes the challenges and rewards of research in a cross-disciplinary environment.

3.1.2 The Nature of ERC Research

Engineering Research Centers are changing the culture of academic research and education. They do this by providing an environment in which academe and industry can focus on advancing the science and engineering concepts underlying complex engineered systems that are important for industry and the Nation's future. ERCs create a synergy between a critical mass of scientific and engineering disciplines and industrial practice. They produce a culture where faculty and graduate and undergraduate students work in research teams, blending their in-depth disciplinary knowledge to achieve the system-level goals of the center. They also provide the foundation for academe and industry to form long-term, trusted partnerships where industrial personnel collaborate with faculty and students on generic, mid-term, and long-range challenges. ERC teams explore these challenges at the fundamental level, carrying them through to proof-of-concept testbeds, thereby producing the knowledge base for steady advances in technology and speeding their transition to the marketplace.

A successful ERC develops a research strategy that addresses key barriers that lie in the pathway of needed advances in next-generation engineered systems, blending discovery-driven fundamental research with research focused on technological advancement.

To realize its full potential, an ERC must develop a research strategy that integrates the entire research effort, from discovery to development of testbeds, while ensuring that all participants -- including students, faculty, and industrial partners -- are drawn in and actively contribute to reaching the goals of the center. The interdependence of the breakthroughs in fundamental knowledge and enabling technology (i.e., tools that permit further research and development), and how these discoveries lead to proof-of-concept testbeds at the systems level, must be clear to all center participants if the ERC is to succeed(Figure 3-1). The strategic plan supplies the framework on which the ERC's research is organized and enables the ERC to become more than the sum of its individual parts. The research strategy and the process of planning are key to communicating to each participant how his or her research project and/or expertise fits into and enhances the efforts of the entire center. Subsequent management of the research program, properly carried out, ensures that the plan has the maximum chance of succeeding.

Although the features of a research plan are addressed in a linear fashion in the following sections, the actual planning process often is less methodical. To be most effective, the planning process should be adaptive and reconfigurable as conditions change, goals are achieved, prospects end, or new goals emerge throughout the life of the center (Figure 3-2). The strategic research plan is a multi-purpose tool that will aid in team building, setting common goals, communicating effectively within the center, and facilitating discussions about future research directions.

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