The National Science Foundation is a catalytic partner in each ERC. It selects experimental situations to leverage federal resources with those from industry and other private sources in targeted technology development. This section summarizes the best practices of ERCs in using the NSF relationship to fulfill the industrial liaison function.

5.6.1 Importance of NSF Imprimatur to ERCs

The NSF imprimatur lends credibility to a center. In addition, the opportunity to leverage industrial funds with NSF funds is attractive to sponsors. The tie to NSF also lends support to the center's pursuit of long-term or basic research. The ERC has an NSF-funded management and operations infrastructure that makes the difference between a mere collection of faculty and an interdisciplinary center with an ambitious mission. In a center that is in start-up mode, the NSF connection is especially critical. Some ERCs report that without the NSF leveraging they would not exist. Others, after NSF support has lapsed, are testing the NSF imprimatur as "graduated" ERCs; some believe they will maintain reasonable industrial support from the established membership, based on their track record and reputation, while others are waiting to see.

5.6.2 NSF Support for Industrial Liaison

An ERC is expected to have an active, long-term partnership with industry and practitioners in planning, research, and education so as to achieve a more effective flow of knowledge into innovation and to help the ERC produce a new breed of engineers. Since the circumstances for each ERC vary greatly, the methods of achieving this expectation are very different. However, there are many similarities across the ERCs, as well as lessons each can learn from the others. Consequently, NSF has created periodic forums in which ERCs can draw on the knowledge and experiences of others. Those of most value to the ERC Industrial Liaison officer are:

• ILO closed sessions and breakout sessions before and during the NSF ERC Program annual meeting (usually in early November)
  
• Biennial ILO meeting with NSF and industry representatives (every other year)
  
• ILO consultancy (generally in the first 18 months after a new ERC is established).

The annual and biennial meetings are intended to bring together key people involved in the industrial liaison function from new, existing, and graduated ERCs to promote cross-fertilization, establish networks of contacts, share experiences and insights, and open channels of communication. The consultancy is a team of experienced ILOs who visit new ERCs to provide personalized guidance and insight into establishing more effective industry collaboration and technology transfer.

5.6.3 NSF Program Director Role in Industrial Liaison

To foster an appropriate ERC environment and provide a personal line of communication, NSF assigns each active ERC a Program Director (PD). PDs provide guidance to ERCs based on experience from other situations and technologies. They also play a vital role in communicating the ERC culture and philosophy to industrial affiliates, as discussed further in Section 5.6.4. The following suggestions are provided as ways to build a trusted partnership between NSF, industry, and the ERC:

• Invite the PD to industry meetings to communicate NSF ERC culture and philosophies.
  
• Invite the PD to industry meetings to communicate feedback from site visit reports on items of specific importance to industry.
  
• Encourage industry to communicate directly with the PD if there are pressing issues, both positive and negative.
  
• Although preparing the industry SWOT analysis is typically a closed-door activity, the PD should be invited to help focus the discussion. This is especially important in the early years of an ERC. Depending on the circumstances, the PD might be invited to say a few remarks at the beginning and then leave, or to remain as an observer or facilitator.

5.6.4 NSF as Evangelist and Shepherd

The Engineering Research Centers Program is a new paradigm for academia, with two new strategies. One strategy is to create a large, multidisciplinary, coordinated research center, where professors from numerous fields collaborate to address complex problems from a systems perspective, under the leadership of a Center Director. This strategy is substantially different from the traditional academic model, in which professors work independently on isolated issues and collaborate only on an ad-hoc basis. The second strategy is to operate as an ongoing partnership with industry, ultimately to attain a state of financial self-sufficiency (that is, independence from core ERC funding). This strategy also differs from the traditional model, in which only a small fraction of professors collaborate with industry on an individual basis-not as part of financially self-sufficient centers-and often only for defined periods and projects, not on an ongoing basis.

The ERC paradigm, with its two new strategies, is innovative and has already provided many benefits to the nation. Still, since the ERC Program challenges the traditional academic culture and traditional views of university-industry collaboration, some faculty in the departments and even in the center may be resistant to aspects of the program. Such resistance can be burdensome-or nearly devastating-to a Center Director. Even among those not directly resistant, time is required to change their outlooks and get them to subscribe to the ERC concept.

NSF serves a vital role as evangelist and shepherd of the ERC concept for both the faculty and industrial participants. The Foundation helps sell the ERC model not only at the beginning of the center, but on a continuing basis, as new participants are added. It helps guide participants away from old ideas and paradigms, toward the current best practices of a strong ERC. Critical assessment of the center's progress is crucial to this role, as is the firm but gentle use of the shepherd's staff.

5.6.5 University-Industry Partnership Strategy: Levels of Interaction

As mentioned previously, one goal of the ERC Program is to create research centers that operated as partnerships with industry. This has required a substantial increase in the extent of interaction between universities and industry.

Figure 5-1 illustrates the kinds of university-industry interaction that are possible, grouped in three distinct levels. At the bottom of the figure is shown the first and most common: the low level of interaction that is traditional between universities and companies.

Second is an intermediate level of interaction, in which information flows not only from the university to industry, but also vice versa. At this intermediate level, the university and industry are helpful to each other as independent collaborators, but neither is highly dependent on the other on a continuing basis. This level of interaction is typical of most successful university-industry collaborations-even most of the famous ones, with substantial economic impacts.

At the top of Figure 5-1 is shown the high level of interaction at which ERCs aim, in which the university and industry are dependent partners. This level of interaction is rare and, even when created, seldom maintained for long.

The lowest level of interaction is the simplest, but is no longer considered a viable model for the future. The intermediate level requires a high degree of competence, dedication, open-mindedness, honesty, and even altruism among the participants, but no large changes in culture or outlook. With some effort, it can be reached in a relatively straightforward fashion and thereafter successfully maintained. The highest level of interaction requires substantial changes in the culture of both the university and its industry partners. The companies involved must view the ERC as an entirely new type of entity, presenting a new opportunity for the future. They must view an ERC not simply as part of an educational institution, nor simply as a contract research firm housed within university walls, but as something entirely new.

To be successful and ultimately attain financial self-sufficiency, an ERC must work continuously to draw industrial firms into the highest level of interaction and then successfully interact and derive support from them at that level. NSF serves a key role in helping ERCs reach this difficult but necessary state of being. NSF enforces regular and thorough reviews of every center's progress in university-industry interactions. Shortfalls in progression are identified and addressed in a timely manner, with high priority. Proven techniques to address shortfalls are communicated among staff at different ERCs, through programs coordinated by the NSF. The application of best-practice principles to any particular case is aided by the experience of the Program Director and other NSF staff.

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