History of NRI

2006-2012

This Report, History of the NRI Research Centers, 2006-2012, marks the successful conclusion of the NRI – NIST cooperative funding agreement for Phase 1.5 of the NRI Research Center program. Disbursement of funds under the NIST Award was completed on September 30, but the NRI centers continued their research with funding from the industrial members until year-end 2012. Centers that had not exhausted available funding by that date had the option, under a no-cost extension, of continuing research until March 31. While the first version of this document was drafted in November of 2012, center directors have updated the summaries of key accomplishments of their centers with any important results obtained in November 2012 through March 2013, the final period of operation of NRI Phase 1.5.

Because the end of Phase 1.5 marks an important stage in the evolution of the NRI program, this report aims to provide a brief history and summation of each center’s key accomplishments over the entire period of its operation. Each center director has listed and assessed the center’s most important technical accomplishments, has provided a brief statement of lessons learned, and has listed the most important publications and patents generated during the history of the center.

It is hoped that this report will serve as a resource for NRI members and for directors and principle investigators of future NRI research centers.