About
The NSF ERC for the Transformation of American Rubber through Domestic Innovation for Supply Security (TARDISS) leads fundamental research to establish a sustainable and resilient domestic natural rubber ecosystem to create a “Silicon Valley of Domestic Rubber Production,” through close collaboration with industry, academia, government and community stakeholders. Our U.S. Sunlight to Material vision harnesses the power of nature, creating bridges between engineering, biology, and agriculture, to revolutionize alternative natural rubber (NR) production from domestic crops: guayule, rubber dandelion and other exploratory crops. This directly contributes toward enhancing national security and support American manufacturing.
What is NSF TARDISS?
The NSF TARDISS ERC plays a leadership role in research and accelerates current U.S. federal (e.g., Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Agriculture (USDA)), and industrial (e.g., Goodyear, Bridgestone) efforts towards a domestic NR supply, through fundamental research into plant biology and rubber technology obstacles that have impeded cultivation and processing of potential domestic crops. The broad transdisciplinary team of experts across academic institutions and industry partners also address Engineering Workforce Development, merging education in rubber engineering with “smart” agricultural practices, aimed at the current aging workforce in industry and the workforce for the new millennium.
Research Partners
NSF TARDISS is headquartered at North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh, North Carolina with partners at these institutions:
- The Ohio State University (OSU)
- California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
- Texas Tech University (TTU)
- University of California Merced (UCM)
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
- Case Western Reserve University (CWRU)
- Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
