More About the OVPREA

Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Affairs (OVPREA)

Many exciting initiatives are underway within the OVPREA and university wide in response to the aggressive research agenda advanced by President Crow.  The OVPREA advances all disciplines by promoting a full spectrum of services to help faculty and staff generate and administer external awards; develops strategic initiatives to leverage ASU’s competitive edge for innovative opportunities in research; and aggressively pursues new opportunities of high relevance to the well being of Arizona’s citizens and the economic development of the state.  The OVPREA website can be found at http://researchnet.asu.edu. Some of the research initiatives under OVPREA are listed below.

The Biodesign Institute at ASU
The mission of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University is to improve human health and quality of life through use-inspired biosystems research and effective multidisciplinary partnerships.

The Biodesign Institute is a multidisciplinary research and education initiative launched designed to integrate research in systems biology and neurobiology with advances in computing, optoelectronics, biomimetic materials and directed molecular assembly at meso-nanoscale. The central theme linking these diverse fields is comprehension of the principles that regulate molecular assembly in the formation of structural and functional architectures in biological systems and how these design rules can inspire new applications in medicine, agriculture, environmental management and national security.

Plans for the Biodesign Institute involve ambitious facilities construction and faculty recruitment.   The Biodesign Institute will comprise one million sq. ft. of advanced research space, with the first 'module' of 250,000 sq. ft. scheduled for occupancy in the fall of 2004.   Three additional modules will be completed from 2005 to 2007.   A major recruitment campaign is underway with the goal to create 15-20 new centers with space allocations of c. 20-40,000 sq. ft./center.

Center for Environmental Studies
As part of the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Affairs, the mission of the Center for Environment Studies (CES) is to facilitate collaboration among faculty researchers and to assist in decision making about environmental issues. CES advances identification of key local and global environmental issues and collects reliable information to be used by scholars, policymakers and the greater public.

The Decision Center for a Desert City (DCDC) is the latest CES project and only one of several new National Science Foundation-funded centers to investigate human decision making under climatic uncertainty. Increasingly, it is recognized that even the best science will not significantly reduce uncertainty about global climate warming and the climate cycles that cause droughts, floods, hurricanes, and tornados. Society must learn to make better decisions in the face of uncertainty. DCDC was founded to focus on water management decisions in the urbanizing desert of Central Arizona.

Flexible Display Center
On February 10, 2004, the U.S. Army awarded Arizona State University a $43.7 million, five-year cooperative agreement to establish the Army Flexible Display Center, where flexible, low-power computer displays will be developed that can be continually refreshed with new data and carried in the field – a device that will revolutionize combat strategy.

“Think of these displays as thin computer screens that can be rolled up or folded and put in a warfighter’s pocket,” said Greg Raupp, ASU professor of chemical engineering, Associate Vice President for Research, and director of the center. “The displays would be integrated with wireless communications technology linked to central command and control, enabling continual updating of information vital to a successful operation.”

For example, these real-time displays will provide improved operational communications by supplying information on troop and enemy positions and movements, weather and environmental conditions, and other important variables providing dynamic field intelligence.

This $43.7 million agreement has a performance period of five years with an option for an additional $50 million over an added five-year period.

“This award is further evidence that ASU can compete with the nation’s elite institutions for awards of this magnitude and importance on an international scale,” said ASU President Michael Crow. “There is keen interest in our capability to develop advanced technologies, integrate those technologies together into working devices and deploy them in the most critical and demanding applications. It has enabled us to compete successfully to get this center against very stiff competition and a rigorous review process.”

Greater Phoenix 2100
Can speculation about our 100-year future help us to make better decisions today? The Greater Phoenix 2100 project is stepping up to the challenge of providing information that describes the 100-year regional implications of the decisions being contemplated today.

Greater Phoenix 2100, initiated by Arizona State University, wants the best possible scientific and technical information to be of use in making knowledge-based decisions that will shape the region during the next 100 years. ASU believes that knowledge can create better lives for future generations. Greater Phoenix 2100 hopes to develop regional tools and sponsor events to provide that knowledge. The project has partnered with local and state governments, community organizations, and private businesses.

Partnership for Research in Stereo Modeling (PRISM)
PRISM is the focal point at Arizona State University for interdisciplinary research in modeling and visualization to permit intelligent analysis and create spatial and dynamic knowledge.

PRISM was established 8 years ago to foster research and application of 3D modeling and visualization to interdisciplinary research at ASU. Funding from the Vice Provost for Research and Deans of Architecture and Environmental Design, Fine Arts, Engineering and Applied Sciences, Business, and Liberal Arts combined to support PRISM and create a foundation for obtaining external funding and achieving national and international recognition. PRISM directly supports the Arizona Board of Regents research initiatives related to information science and Information Technology, and has significant potential to extend and assist research in biomedicine/biotechnology, materials research/nanotechnology, manufacturing technology, and technology transfer.

Technopolis
ASU’s Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Affairs has initiated the ASU Technopolis program to help transform the metro area’s knowledge economy. Greater Phoenix ranks at the top of the charts nationally as the best place to start a new business, as an excellent home for fast-growing companies, and as a place of highly-concentrated technology clusters, especially in the areas of microelectronics and aerospace manufacturing. ASU Technopolis leverages these strengths as well as the broad expertise and resources of the University to spur innovation in Greater Phoenix. We do this by developing and executing a series of in-depth, high-quality, rigorous programs that educate, coach and network technology and life science entrepreneurs. Initially, ASU Technopolis’ program offerings include:

  • Launch Pad, a rigorous one-on-one coaching program leading to a refined articulation of the entrepreneur’s business concept and strategy

  • Technology and Life Science Entrepreneurship Course, a six-week structured study of the major concepts of technology and life science entrepreneurship

  • In-depth workshops to help local entrepreneurs access federal funding programs that finance early stages of technology and life science product development (SBIR and STTR).

ASU has reviewed technology entrepreneurship efforts nation-wide, including the renowned CONNECT program at the University of California at San Diego, and adapted the best practices to the Phoenix market. The CONNECT program is widely credited with being a significant driver of San Diego’s economic transformation into a high-tech and life science powerhouse.

The ASU Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Affairs will be the program initiator and manager, but will require local partners, including sponsors and volunteers. Its Office of Economic Affairs was established to help ASU become a more responsive, faster-paced, entrepreneurial and outcome-based university. The Office works with faculty researchers, campus units, community organizations, government and business to increase ASU's contribution to the metropolitan economy. ASU Technopolis expands ASU's economic impact by providing non-credit, cutting-edge programs customized to the needs of science and technology-focused entrepreneurs in Greater Phoenix.

Arizona Technology Enterprises (AzTE)
Arizona Technology Enterprises at Arizona State University works with university inventors and industry to transform scientific progress into products and services. Arizona Technology Enterprises transfers technologies invented at ASU to the private sector by mining university research, prosecuting patents, negotiating licenses, and marketing inventions. Technology transfer benefits the public by contributing to new product creation and new economic opportunities. Technology transfer facilitates ASU’s efforts to attract and retain superior faculty and graduate recruitment, while returning income to the inventor and the University to support ongoing research.

According to Chronicle of Higher Education, ASU’s Office of Technology Collaborations & Licensing (now Arizona Technology Enterprises) ranked in the top ten nationally in the following categories:

  • Number of inventions disclosed per $1-million spending on research

  • Number of start-up companies formed per $10-million spending on research

  • Number of U.S. patent applications filed per $1-million spending on research

Arizona Technology Enterprises will continue to build on this record of success by leveraging Arizona’s liberal Intellectual Property policy, building marketing alliances with Columbia University and other tech transfer leaders, utilizing funding allocated by Arizona voters (Proposition 301) to enhance Arizona’s economy, and negotiating blanket research agreements with selected companies to facilitate industrial/university collaboration.

Other Units Under the OVPREA Include:

  • Office for Research & Sponsored Projects Administration (ORSPA)

  • Office of Research Publications

  • Animal Care Facilities

  • Internal Grant Programs