Conference: Invention to Innovation: A Workshop Series on Testbed Models for Technology Translation

Technology translation is the process of converting scientific research and technical innovations to practice. In order to move basic and use-inspired research into society most effectively, it is imperative that innovators and entrepreneurs have access to facilities that enable testing and validation of their new technologies under real world conditions. Such testing requires a safe and controlled environment to ensure the technology is robust, reliable, and ready for use. National “test beds” could include fabrication facilities and cyberinfrastructure to advance the development, operation, integration, testing, deployment, and, as appropriate, demonstration. This effort supports a workshop series facilitating conversations among critical test bed stakeholders from academia, industry, government, and non-profits. The stakeholders offer their unique perspectives on strategies and models for designing and using test beds to scale up technologies and accelerate the translation of innovations into the marketplace. This workshop series will provide opportunities for open dialogue about opportunities and challenges of bringing emergent technologies to practice using test bed facilities. Topics include lessons learned from existing test bed efforts, novel operational models, gaps in existing infrastructure, and how to expand access to physical and virtual resources, investment, and multisector collaboration. The workshop series brings together stakeholders to share community-wide perspectives in a large number of technology fields – from advanced communications to biotechnology and materials development. The workshop deliverables will include at least one white paper that will capture the conversations at the sessions. The workshop series includes virtual events and in-person sessions hosted by Iowa State University, the University of Alabama, and the University of Michigan in Spring 2026. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.