Title:  NSF Announces $10-Million Center for Bioengineering Educational Technology
Date:   October 14, 1999


Media contacts:
October 14, 1999			        	NSF PR 99-64
Amber Jones (NSF)
(703) 306-1070/aljones@nsf.gov

Lew Harris (Vanderbilt University)
(615) 322-NEWS/lewis.g.harris@vanderbilt.edu

NSF program contact:
Joy Pauschke
(703) 306-1380/jpauschk@nsf.gov


 NSF ANNOUNCES $10-MILLION CENTER FOR BIOENGINEERING EDUCATIONAL
                           TECHNOLOGY
                           
     A five-university partnership led by Vanderbilt University
(Tenn.) will develop bioengineering educational technologies and
curricula at a new Engineering Research Center funded by the
National Science Foundation (NSF).  Through a five-year, nearly
$10-million cooperative agreement, the center will support and
enhance the education of a new generation of bioengineers needed
to strengthen the industry.

     The partnership includes Northwestern University (Ill.),
University of Texas at Austin, and the joint Division of Health
Sciences and Technology of Harvard Medical School and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    "We need a new level of educational tools to advance the
frontiers of America's bioengineering industry," said Eugene
Wong, NSF's assistant director for engineering.  "These tools
need to integrate basic bioengineering knowledge with the latest
understanding of the learning process and the latest computer
based educational systems."

     Bioengineers will join learning scientists and computer
scientists at the center to address this need.

     The researchers expect to develop modular, computer-based
courseware, curricula, and educational technology tailored to the
needs of bioengineering education, and to disseminate these
products to engineering educators.  Industry partners and
national laboratories will participate in the research and
education, and in developing ways to transfer knowledge and
technological advances to industry.

     Wong noted that two NSF directorates -- the Directorate for
Engineering and Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences -- will
participate in funding the center.

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