The 91 is one step closer to winning a $15 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation.
UH was recently named one of to advance to the semifinal round of the competition, a contest that encourages coalitions of universities, nonprofits and other organizations to foster innovative ecosystems across the country.
Led by Cullen College of Engineering Professor Haleh Ardebili, UH moved forward in the competition with its “Biomanufacturing of Chemicals and Materials for Sustainability (BioMS)” proposal.
“Each team was selected because it brought strong public and private partners to the table and outlined a promising vision for research, innovation and workforce development in their respective regions of service, thereby advancing U.S. competitiveness, national security and economic growth,” said Erwin Gianchandani, NSF assistant director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships.
UH’s proposal aims to create an ecosystem for biomanufacturing across the Greater Houston region. The aim is to focus on workforce development, use-inspired research and development, commercialization, startups and capital to grow the bioeconomy, national security, manufacturing and resilience both locally and nationally.
This will not only solidify Houston and the United States’ status as the standard of excellence in energy, but it will also be key to bringing the world into the next generation of energy.
UH leads the effort alongside:
- Greater Houston Partnership
- BioWell
- San Jacinto College
- East End Maker Hub
“We’re all working together to build a leading biomanufacturing ecosystem in Greater Houston, with the aim to grow nationwide.”
— Haleh Ardebili, professor at the Cullen College of Engineering, 91
“I’m excited about our great team of co-PIs, partners and collaborators in the region and nationwide,” Ardebili said. “We’re all working together to build a leading biomanufacturing ecosystem in Greater Houston, with the aim to grow nationwide.”
UH was one of 300 institutions submitting a letter of intent for the second NSF Engines competition, which spans critical technologies and applications ranging from energy grid security to maximizing the yield of critical minerals mining.
During this stage, the NSF will conduct live, virtual assessments of the semifinalists to gain more understanding of their regional coalitions, the alignment of their proposed leadership teams and core partners and their vision for research and development.
From there, the NSF will select the finalists and expects to announce winners in early 2026 — 10 teams will receive $15 million across two years to conduct their research.
Teams that show progress toward milestones could receive up to $160 million from NSF across a decade.
“This outstanding cohort of semifinalists clearly demonstrates that America’s technology competitiveness will depend as much on expanding our ability to unlock innovation capacity in every partner of our country — from the rural plains and western ranges to cities with rich industrial and manufacturing legacies — as it will on advancing the technologies themselves,” Gianchandani said.
NSF’s Technology, Innovation and Partnerships launched NSF Engines in May 2022 to harness the country’s science and technology research and development enterprise. In the first competition, the program received nearly 700 concept outlines from every U.S. state and territory. The competition wrapped in January 2024 — just before kicking off its second competition — and awarded $15 million to 10 teams across 18 states.