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GREENSBORO — N.C. A&T took a giant leap into the future of medical engineering research Thursday, becoming the first historically black university to be named a Engineering Research Center by the National Science Foundation.

A&T Chancellor Stanley Battle said, “Ultimately, this center will change the way that some diseases are treated.”

The distinction is among the NSF’s most prestigious awards and will lead to the university receiving a grant of $18 million over the next five years with the potential of an additional $18 million over the next 10 years for engineering research and education.

The award represents an investment by the NSF in partnership with industries to create centers that focus on engineering research at universities across the country.

A&T’s center will focus on revolutionizing metallic biomaterials, with research in biomedical engineering and nanobio applications.

“The true interdisciplinary nature of this center will vastly improve the lives of many patients and help educate the next generation of bioengineering and nanotechnology researchers,” Battle said.

A&T’s research will focus on craniofacial and orthopedic applications, cardiovascular devices and responsive biosensors for medical implants. The research will introduce devices made with magnesium alloys that have the ability to adapt to the body and “grow” without refitting.

The alloys can be absorbed into the body’s bloodstream without side effects and are expected to have a broad-based impact on children born with birth defects, injured veterans and others who have significant bone damage. The devices will be designed to dissolve once they have helped heal a patient.

Other metallic materials and devices will be developed at the A&T center to be introduced as stents in the treatment of cardiovascular problems and the creation of nanosensors to study the efficiency of devices produced in the research.

More than eight companies will be associated with the A&T center to provide input for the direction of the research and help transition the technology into the real world.

The center’s research will be done in conjunction with the University of Cincinnati and University of Pittsburgh, which also will offer training for A&T students and will work with the university to offer bioengineering degree programs.

GTCC also will implement a two-year degree program to transition students into A&T’s Engineering Research Center.

The research center is expected to have a large impact on the local and state economy by producing high paying jobs and increasing the state’s competitiveness when research industries consider locating here.

“With the millions of federal dollars flowing to this center, what we can do to increase the economic opportunities in Guilford County, the Triad and in the state of North Carolina is truly phenomenal,” said Erskine Bowles , president of the UNC system.

“I guarantee you that the combination of the discovery-driven culture of science, the innovation-driven culture of engineering combined with the can-do attitude ... of business will create thousands of high-skilled, high-wage paying jobs in this community,” Bowles said.

Jagannathan Sankar, a professor of engineering at A&T, will oversee the program along with professors from Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

In addition to the 25 engineering teaching positions that A&T already has devoted to the center, the grant will add two positions annually over the next five years.

Plans also call for a new building to house the A&T research center, which is expected in the coming years based on state funding.

A&T is the third North Carolina university to receive the Engineering Research Center distinction. The others are N.C. State and Duke.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com