National Science Foundation CreativeIT Grant Program
NSF - Computer, Information Science, & Engineering Directorate(2009 - 2011)
Role: Lead Program Officer
NSF - Computer, Information Science, & Engineering Directorate(2009 - 2011)
Role: Lead Program Officer
As a Program Officer at the National Science Foundation, Computer Information Science and Engineering (CISE) directorate, I led the CreativeIT program and co-led the Human Centered Computing; Cyberlearning Transforming Education; and Computer Research Infrastructure programs. I was a colleague advisor to the Small Business Innovative Research and Research Experience for Undergraduates. I served on the Federal Networking & Information Technology Research and Development Alliance (NITRD) Social, Economic and Workforce (SEW) Coordinating Group that advised research funding priorities for the President’s supplemental budget. I was also the NSF delegate to the Federal Council for the Arts and Humanities that was charged with granting indemnification for rare art and archeological artifacts traveling from abroad to U.S. cultural institutions.
The CreativeIT program funded high risk, high reward research that integrated creativity-based methods, models, and practices as transformative generators of new research paths in computational thinking, technology innovation, cognitive science, STEM education, engineering, and design sciences. Active from 2006 to 2011, CreativeIT funded research grants in concert with collaborative funding opportunities with other NSF programs in the CISE, EHR, and SBE directorates. Under my leadership the CreativeIT award portfolio was broadened to include artists/engineers; computer scientists; cognitive scientists; and education researchers who integrated the fine, applied and performing arts in their research. Funded projects ranged from creative cognition and choreography; artificial intelligence and music improvisation; natural language processing for game development; agent-based game engines; integration of theories in visual semiotics for data visualization; and integrative STEAM approaches for learning.
The CreativeIT program served a community-of-interest with unique interdisciplinary methods, requirements and concerns. Given the overwhelming enthusiasm for this limited-run NSF program, I funded a series of six workshops across the United States to discuss the “state-of-the-field” of integrative research and education between the Arts and STEM. The first workshop, Strategies for Arts + Science + Technology Research: A Joint Meeting of the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, was held at the NSF Headquarters in 2010. In collaboration with the former Senior Deputy and Acting Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, thought leaders and stakeholders were convened for a two-day interactive discussion. The strategic goals of the workshop were to identify synergies and foster collaborations between constituencies; create a gap analysis to understand the priorities required to sustain this form of integrative research; and to develop a set of actionable areas of mutual interest. The workshop combined structured dialogue, annotated discourse, graphics facilitation, mind maps, reflective aspirations, and multiple breakout sessions focused on issues and opportunities. Workshop results were summarized in a storymap poster I designed with Grove International Consultants that is still used today to support integrative research and learning in higher education. Following the “joint meeting” a series of workshops, focused on research capacity and network building were held at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (EMPAC); Rhode Island School of Design, UC Santa Cruz, Winston-Salem State University; and Maryland College of Art.
The CreativeIT program funded high risk, high reward research that integrated creativity-based methods, models, and practices as transformative generators of new research paths in computational thinking, technology innovation, cognitive science, STEM education, engineering, and design sciences. Active from 2006 to 2011, CreativeIT funded research grants in concert with collaborative funding opportunities with other NSF programs in the CISE, EHR, and SBE directorates. Under my leadership the CreativeIT award portfolio was broadened to include artists/engineers; computer scientists; cognitive scientists; and education researchers who integrated the fine, applied and performing arts in their research. Funded projects ranged from creative cognition and choreography; artificial intelligence and music improvisation; natural language processing for game development; agent-based game engines; integration of theories in visual semiotics for data visualization; and integrative STEAM approaches for learning.
The CreativeIT program served a community-of-interest with unique interdisciplinary methods, requirements and concerns. Given the overwhelming enthusiasm for this limited-run NSF program, I funded a series of six workshops across the United States to discuss the “state-of-the-field” of integrative research and education between the Arts and STEM. The first workshop, Strategies for Arts + Science + Technology Research: A Joint Meeting of the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, was held at the NSF Headquarters in 2010. In collaboration with the former Senior Deputy and Acting Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, thought leaders and stakeholders were convened for a two-day interactive discussion. The strategic goals of the workshop were to identify synergies and foster collaborations between constituencies; create a gap analysis to understand the priorities required to sustain this form of integrative research; and to develop a set of actionable areas of mutual interest. The workshop combined structured dialogue, annotated discourse, graphics facilitation, mind maps, reflective aspirations, and multiple breakout sessions focused on issues and opportunities. Workshop results were summarized in a storymap poster I designed with Grove International Consultants that is still used today to support integrative research and learning in higher education. Following the “joint meeting” a series of workshops, focused on research capacity and network building were held at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (EMPAC); Rhode Island School of Design, UC Santa Cruz, Winston-Salem State University; and Maryland College of Art.