Dr. Khershed P. Cooper is a Program Director (PD) for the Advanced Manufacturing (AM) program in the Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI) Division of the Engineering Directorate at National Science Foundation (NSF). He directs basic research activities in advanced manufacturing, and associated Manufacturing USA and NSF-DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) collaborations. He is a disciplinary program officer for the Engineering Research Centers (ERC) and a co-PD for cross-cutting programs, such as, Critical Aspects of Sustainability (CAS), Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI), Network for Computational Nanotechnology (NCN) and National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI). He is an NSF representative for NSTC's Nano Science Engineering and Technology (NSET) Sub-committee, which frames the NNI Strategic Plan. Prior to joining NSF, Dr. Cooper was a Program Officer for Manufacturing Science at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and, concurrently, a Senior Research Metallurgist at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). He received his MS and PhD from University of Wisconsin – Madison. He has nearly 200 invited talks, 70 contributed presentations, 150 publications, edited one book, has one patent and has sponsored international studies, symposia and workshops in various areas of advanced manufacturing. He is a Fellow of SME and ASM International and a recipient of ASM International’s Burgess Memorial Award.