The Office of Aerospace Technology AT NASA Headquarters
in Washington, in cooperation with the Department of Defense
Research and Engineering Office, is taking a major step
towards forging a stronger and expanded relationship with
academia by establishing seven University Research,
Engineering and Technology Institutes (URETI), each in an
area of long-term strategic interest to the agency and the
nation.

The universities selected for negotiation of cooperative
agreements with NASA as collaborative URETI partners are:

* Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Ga., for aero-
propulsion and power

* University of Florida, Gainesville, and the University of
Maryland, College Park, for third generation reusable launch
vehicles

* University of California, Los Angeles, for bio-nano-
information technology fusion

* Princeton University, Princeton, N.J., and Texas A&M
University, College Station, for bio-nanotechnology materials
and structures for aerospace vehicles

* Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., for
nanoelectronics and computing

The primary role of each university-based institute will be
to perform research and development that not only increases
fundamental understanding of phenomena, but also moves
fundamental advances from scientific discovery to basic
technology. The institutes also will provide support for
undergraduate and graduate students, curriculum development,
personnel exchange, learning opportunities and training in
advanced scientific and engineering concepts for the
aerospace workforce.

Each cooperative agreement has an initial five-year period of
performance and a maximum possible duration of ten years at
approximately three million dollars per year. The award of
each cooperative agreement is expected in August 2002.

America’s academic community has a legacy of research
accomplishments unequaled anywhere else in the world. Many of
the most innovative and revolutionary advances in science and
technology occur in our country’s colleges and universities.
NASA and the Defense Department have been major sponsors and
beneficiaries of this capability through research grants,
contracts, cooperative agreements and key university roles in
flight research programs.