The NSF CREST Center for Cellular and Biomolecular Machines was established with a $5 million Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) grant in 2016 from the National Science Foundation. The CCBM brings together more than 30 faculty members from multiple units across campus, including bioengineering, physics, chemistry and chemical biology, biomaterials science and engineering, cell and molecular biology, and applied mathematics. The center received an additional $5 million in 2021 for another 5 years of funding. Researchers are studying how biological matter like proteins or cells come together to perform specific tasks, in hopes of eventually being able to engineer and develop innovations ranging from designer cells and tissue to novel diagnostic and therapeutic devices. The CCBM also hosts an integrated, interdisciplinary training program for graduate students that emphasizes physical and biological components, research and training experiences for undergraduate and high school students to enhance the recruitment of underrepresented groups into STEM research, and outreach experiences for the local community and beyond.