So what is NeoSmart? How did it come together? And while we got this announcement a couple of days ago about the award, this really has been something in the making for a number of years.

Yeah, so you mentioned earlier it's complicated.

So let me take us up a few levels and go back a few decades maybe and then bring it back to now.

So since World War II, the National Science Foundation has been the primary federal funder of basic science and engineering research in the U.S., really crystallized by a paper written by Vannevar Bush, really focusing on how the wartime efforts in developing radar and other technologies were critical for national security and long-term economic security.

And this laid the groundwork for federal investment since the 50s in basic science, engineering, research, National Institutes of Health, all these things sort of sprung out of that.

And the National Science Foundation, much like other federal agencies people may have heard of, like DARPA, is responsible for funding many things that we take for granted in our daily life.

But what NSF has looked at over the years is that the regions that have developed what we think of as innovation ecosystems are few and far between.

Talk about what your experience has been in sort of building those partnerships and relationships and the response that you've seen to this from the region.