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Arlington, Virginia

May 12-13, 2016

Electrical, Communications and

Cyber Systems (ECCS)

NSF Workshop

Defining Broader Impact Activities for ECCS/NSF Grants

Workshop Goals

NSF investments are expected to “advance the frontiers of knowledge, contribute to the economic and social wellbeing of the nation, and advance the preeminent and leadership position of the United States in science, technology, engineering and mathematics”. The Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS) Division of the NSF recognizes the importance of promoting Broader Impact innovations in supporting the NSF mission. The Electrical Engineering fields are well positioned to making impactful research to the society and the nation, yet such impacts need to be properly measured, stimulated and promoted in order to maximize the societal value of the manpower and resources spent on implementing ECCS funded projects.

The workshop aims to promote consistent practice in applying the Broader Impacts criterion in NSF proposal evaluation, engage ECCS researchers in Broader Impact innovations, and promote the best practice in Broader Impact contributions within the ECCS community. This workshop provides a venue to discuss how Broader Impact innovations of ECCS research can be facilitated and incentivized at various levels, including individual researchers, institutions, government agencies and broader communities.

The workshop goals are:

I. To better understand the economical and societal value of ECCS projects

II. To develop meaningful metrics to assess and promote Broader Impact activities

III. To encourage new approaches and institutional initiatives on Broader Impacts

Agenda

Thursday, May 12

7:30 am Registration & Continental Breakfast

8:30 am Broader Impacts: Achieving Greater Goals Pramod Khargonekar, Assistant Director For Engineering

Introduction and Overview of Workshop Goals

Samir El-Ghazaly, Division Director, ECCS Division, NSF Zhi Tian, Workshop Chair, Department of Electrical and

Computer Engineering, George Mason University

9:20 am

9:40 am

10:05 am

10:25 am

10:50 am

Nanoelectronics from the Lab to the Marketplace, Classroom and Society: the Texas Story

Sanjay Banerjee, Director, Microelectronics Research Center, University of Texas at Austin

Adding Rigor to the Broader Impact Review in ECCS Thomas Weller, Chair, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of South Florida

Creating Broader Impacts using Social and Mass Media Pradeep Fulay, Associate Dean for Research, Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, West Virginia University

Creating a Culture that Celebrates Broader Impact Initiatives with Longevity

Christine Grant, Associate Dean of Faculty Advancement, College of Engineering, North Carolina State University

Enhancing the Values of Impacts Beyond Research in NSF Program

Nelson Tansu, Director, Center for Photonics and Nanoelectronics, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Lehigh University

11:15 am Break

11:25 am

11:50 am

12:10 am

12:30 am

GOALI: Undergraduate Broader Impacts André Knoesen, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Davis

A Personal Perspective on Broader Impacts in Science and Engineering

Jingyu Lin, Linda F. Whitacre Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas Tech University

Beyond the classroom: from ubiquitous learning to residential communities of entrepreneurs for a new generation of innovators

Gianluca Lazzi, Chair, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah

Creating Broader Impacts to Promote the Future of Electrical and Computer Engineering

John Papapolymerou, Chair, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University

12:45pm Lunch Provided at Workshop

2:00 pm 2:20 pm

Broader Impact: An EPIC Event Sheldon H. Jacobson, Director, Simulation and Optimization Laboratory, University of Illinois - UIUC

Broader Impacts: Integrating Research and Teaching in a Wide Variety of Communities & Settings

Bozenna Pasik-Duncan, Department of Mathematics, University of Kansas

2:40 pm Guidance for Break-Out Sessions - Z. Tian, Workshop Chair 2:45 pm Break-Out Session I - Understanding the economic and

social value of the ECCS projects Facilitator: Rhonda Franklin, University of Minnesota Scribe: John Dallesasse, University of Illinois - UIUC

Break-Out Session II – Meaningful metrics to assess and promote Broader Impacts activities

Facilitator: Tom Wellner, University of South Florida Scribe: Douglas Irving, North Carolina State University

Break-Out Session III – New approaches and institutional initiatives on Broader Impacts Facilitator: Rashid Zia, Brown University Scribe: Ian White, University of Maryland

4:00 pm Break

Session I. Understanding the economic and social value of the ECCS projects

General areas of broader impacts include broadening participation of underrepresented groups, enhancing infrastructure for research and education, broadening dissemination to enhance scientific and technological understanding, and advancing discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training and learning. Several key questions are:

- What does the Broader Impacts criterion entail? - What are the Broader Impacts of ECCS research and education?

o Is there an impact on engineering and industry? o What is the benefit to society and contribution to the

achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes? - What is the societal value of ECCS research in supporting the

NSF mission? o Increased economic competitiveness of the United States o Development of a globally competitive STEM workforce o Increased participation of women and underrepresented

minorities in STEM o Increased partnerships between academia and industry o Improved pre-K–12 STEM education and teacher

development o Improved undergraduate STEM education o Increased public scientific literacy o Increased national security

- What are the under-valued or misunderstood aspects of Broader Impacts?

- How do we improve Broader Impacts awareness and understanding among PIs?

- How do we raise the public awareness of the Broader Impacts of ECCS research?

- What are the effective ways to communicate to the public the benefits and long-term impacts of ECCE research and education?

Agenda

Friday, May 13

8:00 am Continental Breakfast

8:45 am Report from Scribes –

Session I - John Dallesasse

Session II - Douglas Irving

Session III - Ian White

10:00 am Preparing Draft of Workshop Report

10:15 am Break

10:30 am Preparing Draft of Workshop Report - Continue

11:45 am Open Discussion – What do we recommend?

12:00 pm Lunch Provided at Workshop

1:00 pm Workshop Ends

Thursday, May 12 (Continue)

4:15 pm Break-Out Sessions - Continue

5:30 pm Open Discussion – What are we learning?

Facilitator: Zhi Tian, Workshop Chair

6:00 pm Adjourn

7:00 pm Group Dinner

Broader Impact activities should go beyond normal teaching duties and faculty commitments. It is most effective when a strategic plan on diversity and broader impacts is initiated and developed at the departmental and institutional levels. Collaborations with non-academic units, such as local industry and national labs, offer opportunities to enhance the infrastructure of research and education. Some key issues are:

- What are the new ideas of connecting research to education in order to engage, excite, recruit and retain students at all levels?

- How do we build national and international research and education networks to enhance the infrastructure and impacts of research and education?

- How do we forge links to other scientific disciplines?

- What are the most instrumental institutional supports?

- What can be done at the NSF, ECCS Division in particular, to cultivate institutional initiatives that lead to greater returns in Broader Impacts?

- How to integrate Broader Impacts with Intellectual Merits? What is the appropriate balance between these two elements?

- What is the roadmap for Broader Impact innovations in ECCS fields?

- How can we ensure consistent interpretation and handling of Broader Impact criterion by reviewers as well as NSF staff in order to promote Broader Impact innovations?

Session II. Meaningful metrics to assess and promote Broader Impact activities

Session III. New approaches and institutional initiatives on Broader Impacts

The balance and integration of both Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts need to be reflected in the Merit Review process. Key topics that need to be addressed are:

- How can Broader Impacts be classified?

- What metrics are appropriate for measuring the Broader Impacts of ECCS research in conjunction with the evaluation of Intellectual Merit?

- Are the activities proposed under Broader Impact complementary to the research project as they are supposed to be?

- In the current Merit Review practice for NSF proposals, are there factors that lead to the separation of Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts? If so, how to amend this situation?

- What is the acceptable timeline for Broader Impacts?

- How do we assess the Broader Impact contributions during and after the funding period of a grant? How to ensure accountability?

- What is the appropriate level of resources to be provided to make Broader Impact contributions?

- Are the proposed efforts coordinated appropriately in ways that leverage particular institutional assets or strategic directions and even link investigators from multiple projects?

- What incentives can be developed in the Merit Review criteria to stimulate the Broader Impacts innovations?

Participants

Abed, Eyad National Science Foundation

Baheti, Radhakishan National Science Foundation

Banerjee, Sanjay University of Texas at Austin

Bank, Seth University of Texas at Austin

Brown, April Duke University

Cheng, Susan George Washington University

Culbertson, Joanne National Science Foundation

Dagenais, Dominique National Science Foundation

Dallesasse, John University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

El-Ghazaly, Samir National Science Foundation

El-Masry, Nadia National Science Foundation

Fallahi, Mahmoud National Science Foundation

Fay, Patrick University of Notre Dame

Foster, Amy Johns Hopkins University

Franklin, Rhonda University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Fulay, Pradeep West Virginia University

Goodings, Deborah National Science Foundation

Grant, Christine North Carolina State University

Goldberg, Larry National Science Foundation

Gonzalez, Cecile National Science Foundation

Haddad, George University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Harvey, James Army Research Laboratory

Henderson, Rashaunda University of Texas at Dallas

Irving, Douglas North Carolina State University

Jacobson, Sheldon University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Kar, Swastik Northeastern University

Khargonekar, Pramod National Science Foundation

Kim, Seongsin University of Alabama

Knoesen, Andre University of California - Davis

Lazzi, Gianluca University of Utah

Lee, Charles Air Force Office of Scientific Research

Lin, Jingyu Texas Tech University

Ling, Hao National Science Foundation

Manitius, Andre George Mason University

Palmer, William DARPA

Papapolymerou, John Michigan State University

Pasik-Duncan, Bozenna University of Kansas

Pavlidis, Dimitris National Science Foundation

Sorger, Volker George Washington University

Tansu, Nelson Lehigh University

Tian, Zhi (Gerry) George Mason University

Varshney, Usha National Science Foundation

Wasserman, Dan University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Weller, Tom University of South Florida

White, Ian University of Maryland

Zavada, John National Science Foundation

Zhirnov, Victor Semiconductor Research Corporation

Zia, Rashid Brown University

Participants

Organizers

Workshop Chair:

Zhi Tian Professor George Mason University ztian1@gmu.edu

Organizing Committee:

George Haddad

Professor Emeritus University of Michigan - Ann Arbor gih@umich.edu

Advisory Committee:

John Zavada, ECCS Division, NSF

Dimitris Pavlidis, ECCS Division, NSF

Nadia El-Masry, ECCS Division, NSF

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