Roop L. Mahajan, Ph. D. Hester E. Lewis Endowed Chair Professor

Director, ICTAS

mahajanr@vt.edu

www.ictas.vt.edu

Institute for Critical

Technology &

Applied Science (ICTAS)

outline

INTRODUCTION

Intersections as incubators of innovation and path-finders to solving challenging

problems

Intersections

“…the new frontier is the interface, wherever it remains unexplored…” Kafatos, F.C. and Eisner, T., Science, 303 (February 27): 1257, 2004 “… one of the most productive and inspiring of human pursuits – one that provides a format for conversations and connections that lead to new knowledge.” National Academies Press, 2005 “Buds of creativity blossom

at the intersections” Mahajan, 2012

outline

Standing Bodhisattva Gandhara at Guimet Museum, Paris, France. Ancient Greeks (Indo-Greeks) may have been the earliest features for the Buddhist culture in India.

Intersections

Cardiologists

MEDICA

Engineers

Device

Companies

coated MEMS sensor

for wireless telemetry

titanium stent

Personal Bio-monitor

Using ANN Classifier

Engineers and doctors come together to develop smart stents

Engineers and biologists come together to develop a single cell stretcher

2030

Growing World population* : 8.321 billion • $2 poverty: 600 m to 2.4 b

Growth in GDP Demand for grain will grow (50%) Increased demand for fresh water (30%) Higher energy demand Increased carbon dioxide emissions and global

temperature

* “The future of global poverty in multi-speed world” Peter Edward & Andy Sumner, 2013 Center for Global Development

NASA NOAA 2014 warmest year in

modern record; 0.8 C above 1880

May 2015: 403.94 ppm May 2014: 401.78 ppm

NASA, NOAA, Jan. 2015

Climate will change in ways that could hamper

food production and dislocate people Fair to say that our biggest challenge is

Meeting the basic needs of people without degrading the earth’s life support systems

MEETING THIS CHALLENGE REQUIRES

INNOVATION • Multiple perspectives/Intersections

SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES

The Institute for Critical Technology & Applied

Science (ICTAS) fills this need

VISION

To be a premier institute to advance

transformative, interdisciplinary research for a sustainable future.

Mission

Act as a catalyst to conduct high-impact, interdisciplinary/ transdisciplinary research at the intersection of engineering,

the sciences—physical, social and life--, and the humanities

Enhance educational experience of students

in cutting-edge technologies

Develop sustainable solutions to promote

economic development

A few key facts

about ICTAS

• Governing Structure

o ICTAS; one of the seven institutes of the VT research

enterprise

o Oversight provided by a Stakeholder Board appointed by the

Provost

Dean, CoE (Chair)

Deans of CoS, CALS, CNRE, Vet Med, Graduate School

Controller and Chief Financial Officer

o ICTAS Faculty Advisory Board

o ICTAS has its own administrative structure

• Key Administrative Personnel:

o Prof. Roop L. Mahajan (ME) : Executive Director

o Prof. Robert Moore (Chem.); Associate Director, Research and Scholarship

o Professor Shashank Priya (ME), Director, Materials and Energy

o Professor William Reynolds (MSE); Director, NCFL

o Ann Craig; Associate Director, Finance and Administration

o Dawn Maxey; Director, Facilities

o Jon Greene: Associate Director, Strategic Planning & Development

• Location(s) of offices: VA: Blacksburg, Arlington; India: Chennai

• Number of employees (and/or affiliated faculty): o T&R faculty: 4; Affiliate/Supported T&R Faculty: 355 (FY 2014)

o Research faculty: 13 ; Staff faculty: 6

o Admin/Financial/Facilities/operations Staff: 20

Physical

Infrastructure

ICTAS HQ ICTAS CRC ICTAS LSC ICTAS NCR

VT, IIIC SwaranbhoomiChennai, India

Blacksburg Campus: 173, 000 SF of L’s & O’s N0VA: VTRC-Arlington; 7,000 SF of L’s and O’s VT, India Innovation Center: 6,000 of L’s and O’s

Growing Research

Non-linearly

Listening, collaborating

Creating a culture that encourages others to grow and succeed

Provide intellectual & physical infrastructure to make teams gel.

1. Team Building

• To accelerate VT’s growth in research and scholarship, selected

areas

Key Facts

2. Creating a Culture of Excellence

Federally-Funded Center

Thrust Funding

ICTAS Center

Federally-Funded Center

Financial Self-sufficiency Large, prestigious awards

• ERC, STC, EFRI, etc.

External funding

ICTAS RFP

3. Metrics-based Investments

Innovation

Alexander Graham Bell Inventor of the telephone, 1875.

Blue-Sky Component

4. Encourage and support risk-taking for disruptive technologies

Proposal Development Team

Program/project managers in support of ICTAS facilitated research

Communication Manager

Web/Graphics/IT support

Executive leadership

Strong connections with federal agencies and think tanks.

5. Provide organizational support for targeted research

ICTAS Research

ICTAS Research

ICTAS research is at the intersection of Converging, Emerging and Black Swan technologies for a sustainable future

Emerging Technologies

Big Data Smart

Manufacturing Communication

Revolution Bio-inspired

Science &Technology

Converging Technologies

Black Swan Technologies

Research Thrusts

Renewable Energy

Nano-Bio Interface

Nanoscale Science & Eng.

Emerging Research

Sustainable Water

National Security

Cognition / Comm.

Renewable Materials

ICTAS Thrust Areas Populated

Nanoscale Science and Engineering

Environmental Nanoscience and Technology | Nanomaterials including carbonaceous materials | Nanosensors

Nano-Bio Interface Targeted Delivery of Nano-medicine | Cellular Engineering Microsystems |Non-invasive Sensing and Diagnosis | Inflammation | Bio-Imaging

Sustainable Energy Fuel Cells | Organic Photovoltaics | Biologically Derived Fuels | Energy Harvesting | Clean Coal Energy

Renewable Materials Bio-based Materials: Design and Processing

Sustainable Water Water Infrastructure Management | Waste Water Treatment | Water Shed Management | Water & Health

Cognition and Communication

Cognitive Radio Networks | Autonomous Secure Communications | Human Computer Interface

Homeland Security Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) | DARPA, NASA

Emerging Research Complex Network Systems | Accelerating Scientific Discovery through Data Mining | Personal Health Informatics | Humanoid Hospital

RLM 5

RESEARCH

EXEMPLARS

Big Data / Discovery Analytics

Discovery Analytics Center

• ICTAS-supported Center

• Expanded to VTRC-A Spring 2014

• Forecasting civil unrest, financial

events, and elections

• EMBERS: Early Model Based

Event Recognition using

Surrogates.

An IARPA Award: $13.36M + $4M

• NEH “Digging into Data”

grant o Collaboration between Computer

Science, English, and History

o One of 2 projects highlighted in

NEH’s budget request to Congress

• Significant growth potential

National recognition for DAC

-an ICTAS-Supported Center

The EMBERS project

featured in Newsweek

EMBERS scans the Internet for patterns in

posts on platforms like Twitter and YouTube.

It can use those patterns to help predict

events like protests – with 80-90% accuracy.

Correctly predicted the impeachment of

Paraguay’s president, and protests in

Venezuela and Brazil.

Currently being used by the CDC to predict

disease outbreaks.

“A lot of analysts can give you

forecasts for the coming year, but

when we do this, we’re talking about

specific dates.”

– Naren Ramakrishnan, DAC

director

Hume Center for Cyber Security with a home in ICTAS • Research Themes

o Secure mobile Communications; Security in the Cloud; Autonomic Network Defense

• Major Programs

o NSA/DHS Center for Academic Excellence

o Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence

o NSF CyberCorps Scholarship for Service

o Security and Software Engineering Research Center (NSF I/UCRC)

• Classified Programs

o Supporting military and intelligence community sponsors focused in new cyber threats

o Convergence of intelligence, cybersecurity, and electronic warfare

o Obtains security clearances for graduate students

• Staffing

o 25 faculty; 5 staff; 18 affiliated COE faculty

•

FAA UAS Site under ICTAS • The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 required

the FAA to establish a program to integrate UAS into the

NAS at six Test Ranges.

• Awards were announced Dec 30, 2013

o University of Alaska

o State of Nevada

o Griffiss International Airport (Rome, NY)

o North Dakota Department of Commerce

o Texas A&M University—Corpus Christi

o Virginia Polytechnic Institute and

State University (Virginia Tech)

• First flight completed August 13, 2014

o Significant media coverage

• Business opportunities

Center for Energy Harvesting

Materials and Systems

An NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center

• An ICTAS-Incubated Center

o ICTAS-I/UCRC, 2008 NSF-I/UCRC, 2010

o ICTAS An IAB Member

• Multi-university, Global Center

• Technical Thrusts

o Thermal: Concentrated solar power

o Mechanical: Vortex induced vibrations, wind & water

turbines; Piezoelectrics

o Chemical: Batteries, Fuel Cells

Texas MicroPower

Optixal;

Oscilla Power

Romny Scientific;

Radiant

Tetramer,

ARMDEC

ONR

Boeing

Nuclear Science and Engineering Lab (NSEL)

• An ICTAS –supported Lab at VTRC-A; Directed by Prof. Ali Haghighat

• NSEL is engaged in nuclear engineering education and research with application to

nuclear power, nuclear safeguards and nonproliferation, radiation diagnostics

and therapy, and nuclear policy

• Participating research groups include: Virginia Tech Transport Theory Group (VT3G)

at Arlington, and Multi-Flow and Thermal-hydraulics Lab (MFTL), Nuclear Materials

Group (NMG), and GEM*STAR in Blacksburg

2

• Collaborations with various organizations including US Naval Academy, Naval Surface Warfare Center at Carderock, FAS, Georgia Tech, Penn State, and Univ. of Tennessee.

• Prof. Haghighat represents VT at VNEC and SUNRISE; he is Chairman of the Board of the recently formed VNEC non-profit organization

Global Outreach VT, India ICTAS Innovation Center I CTAS Innovation Center

Amrita Research Park Swaranabhoomi

VT, India ICTAS Innovation Center 6,000 SF, with potential growth up to

45,000 SF

Three Areas of Research: • Materials & Sustainable energy

• Nanotechnology

• Cognitive Radio Communications

Inauguration on May 24, 2014.

Education Initiatives

• ICTAS Doctoral Scholar Program o started in 2007

o 4-way collaboration

• College, Department, Grad school, ICTAS

o 33 Scholars from 5 colleges

o Hire 10; graduate 10

• Supporting Ph.D. students through seed projects

• IGERT/Graduate Recruiting/IDR/Symposia

Growth in ICTAS’ role as a catalyst

Support of faculty and students from all eight colleges

o ICTAS Affiliated Faculty: 355

o ICTAS-supported Graduate and Undergraduate students: 182

Proposal activity/research awards: history of growth

o Proposals submitted by

ICTAS and ICTAS- affiliated

faculty: $588,063,358

(FY2014)

o Awards to ICTAS and ICTAS-

affiliated faculty: $112,962,858

(FY2014)

o Research expenditures for

ICTAS and ICTAS affiliated

faculty: $97,070,468 (FY

2014)

$0

$20,000,000

$40,000,000

$60,000,000

$80,000,000

$100,000,000

$120,000,000

FY2006

FY2007

FY2008

FY2009

FY2010

FY2011

FY2012

FY2013

FY2014

Expenditures and Awards

Research Expenditures

Awards

ICTAS Strategic Plan 2.0 FY 2017-26

ICTAS Stakeholder Board

Meeting

March 11, 2015

Has been a remarkable journey o Success on many fronts

o Internal reputation

o National reputation as an Institute for

transformative IDR

o An outstanding leadership team and staff

Challenges ahead • Changing landscape

o What will the world look like in FY 2026

o What will VT look like ? What are the implications --

Technological/Organizational/financial for ICTAS?

Thank you!!

“Life is a creative idea; it can only find itself in

changing forms.”

– Rabindranath Tagore