| NSF Org: |
DGE Division Of Graduate Education |
| Recipient: |
|
| Initial Amendment Date: | August 22, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | June 9, 2023 |
| Award Number: | 1829004 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Karen McNeal
DGE Division Of Graduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | September 1, 2018 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $2,969,765.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $3,581,476.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2019 = $100,000.00 FY 2022 = $487,711.00 FY 2023 = $24,000.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
|
| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1001 EMMET ST N CHARLOTTESVILLE VA US 22903-4833 (434)924-4270 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
|
| Primary Place of Performance: |
PO Box 400740 85 Engineer's Way Charlottesville VA US 22904-4740 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
|
| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
|
| Parent UEI: |
|
| NSF Program(s): |
NSF Research Traineeship (NRT), Project & Program Evaluation, CPS-Cyber-Physical Systems |
| Primary Program Source: |
04002223RB NSF Education & Human Resource 04002324DB NSF STEM Education 01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001920DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 04001819DB NSF Education & Human Resource |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
|
| Program Element Code(s): |
|
| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.070, 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
Enhancing resource availability, health, security, and a sense of well-being can be enhanced by our ability to sense, analyze, and act on our world with efficient, safe, and secure engineered systems. To realize such systems requires a deep understanding of the interfaces between the cyber and physical worlds, leading to the establishment of the field of Cyber Physical Systems (CPS). While CPS as a discipline and application-enabler has evolved tremendously over the past decade, current graduate training does not sufficiently prepare students for fundamental discovery and innovation in CPS nor for effective translation of research to application development. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to the University of Virginia (UVA) will address this need by training graduate students to pursue fundamental CPS discovery and innovation and to collaborate with application domain experts to realize a smarter planet, specifically in the areas of smart health, smart cities, and autonomous systems. The traineeship anticipates training one hundred fifty-eight (158) master's and doctoral students, including thirty-three (33) funded PhD trainees, from civil and environmental engineering, computer science, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical and aerospace engineering, and systems and information engineering.
Current CPS graduate training is lacking in three critical ways that will be addressed in this project. First, current courses do not instill the integrative knowledge needed for new scientific discovery and translational applications in the field of CPS. Second, most students do not have a sufficiently robust experience of convergence activities as part of their training. This lack exists not only in traditional engineering and computing education but also extends into analyses of target application domains and associated grand challenges. Third, explicit professional development is absent in most graduate training. Such exposure is critical in CPS given the field's potent role in our ever-evolving smart world, and CPS practitioners must attend to social issues regarding ethics, safety, privacy, communication, and policy. This traineeship will address these issues and drive CPS graduate education nationwide by developing a novel, comprehensive graduate training program that involves orientation, normalization modules, elective courses, experiential convergence research activities, professional development workshops, and a hands-on, testbed-driven educational curriculum. Students will acquire both the technical depth and the integrative transdisciplinary understanding of CPS and its associated application domains to be successful in CPS-related careers. During their time in the program, trainees will engage in transdisciplinary CPS research on projects related to challenges in smart health, smart cities, and autonomous systems. These research efforts have the potential for significant scientific and application impact, such that a smarter world can be achieved and associated societal grand challenges can be addressed.
The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The program is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary research areas through comprehensive traineeship models that are innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
Note:
When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external
site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a
charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from
this site.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Project Outcomes Report
Universtiy of Virginia NRT Program
"A Graduate Traineeship in Cyber-Physical Systems"
NRT Award 1829004
Overview
The University of Virginia’s NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) grant (Award No. 1829004) established an interdisciplinary graduate program focused on Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). This program provided students with foundational education and research to pursue key CPS application areas including Smart Cities, Smart Health, Robotics and Autonomous Systems, and Hardware for IoT.
Intellectual Merit
The NRT program involved the six engineering disciplines listed below working collaboratively through course curricula, research objectives, professional development activities, and other programmatic initiatives. The NRT program created an engaged community of Ph.D. and master’s degree students through shared learning experiences and a culture of active engagement. The NRT program accomplished the goals established for the program by providing students with the skills and perspectives necessary to address complex, real-world challenges in CPS.
The UVA NRT program included five cohorts with a total of 98 students (70 Ph.D. and 28 master’s students). NRT Fellowships were awarded to 33 Ph.D. students. Programmatic elements of the NRT program (professional development, courses) were extended to over 250 graduate students through the UVA Link Lab, a 17,000-square-foot facility dedicated to CPS research and education and the physical location of the NRT program.
The program’s educational and training model emphasized:
- Foundational CPS Courses: Five new courses were developed, focusing on the integration of physical and cyber components in CPS by providing a hands-on, testbed-driven curriculum. Testbeds provided a practical learning environment, helping students understand and solve transdisciplinary problems collaboratively.
- CPS Research: The program directly engaged students in transdisciplinary CPS research that has the potential for significant scientific and application impact through project-based convergence research activities to solve complex problems.
- Professional Development: A robust professional development culture was created and included training in communication, leadership, ethics, entrepreneurship, project management, and career readiness. The program established an interdisciplinary and collaborative culture, equipping students with essential soft skills for success in their research and future careers in CPS.
Broader Impacts
- Creation of a Graduate Certificate: The courses developed for the NRT program have been institutionalized through a Graduate Certificate in CPS, approved by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV).
- CPS Rising Stars Workshop: As a leader in CPS education and research, UVA Link Lab created and hosted three consecutive workshops providing over 100 Ph.D. students in CPS from around the world with critical insight on securing and being successful in academic jobs.
- U.S.-Ireland Student Mobility Program: Through an NSF / SFI collaboration and supplement funding to our NRT program, we facilitated international research and learning opportunities for 13 NRT and CRT students, created collaborations with students and faculty, and increased the international visibility of the Link Lab.
- Increase in CPS Faculty: The NRT program significantly contributed to the growth of the Link Lab, which now includes 50 faculty and over 280 students, up from its initial 20 faculty and 100 students when it opened in 2018. The increase in faculty has broadened the scope of our CPS education and research.
- Industry Interactions: The NRT program provided connections and opportunity to engage with Industry and Government representatives through advisory board activities, seminars, research demonstrations, poster sessions, presentations, receptions, and at the annual Link Lab Research Day.
- High School Mentorship Program: The Link Lab and a local high school are in the second year of a mentorship program of which 67% (2023) and 57% (2024) of the mentors were NRT program students, demonstrating leadership attributes and broader engagement of the NRT students.
Last Modified: 10/30/2024
Modified by: Jonathan L Goodall
Please report errors in award information by writing to: awardsearch@nsf.gov.
