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December 5, 2014
CONGRESS AND THE BUDGET
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'CROMNIBUS' rolls toward passage
The hybrid spending vehicle gained
momentum as a December 11 deadline for funding the government
approached. The CR (continuing resolution) plus Omnibus combines 11
appropriations bills lasting through
September 30, 2015 with a shortterm measure for the Department of
Homeland Security (which includes immigration). Republicans hope the
shortterm measure gives them leverage against
President Obama's recent order easing deportations. Passage of
the major appropriations bills would likely be the best news possible
-- under today's circumstances -- for the science and engineering
research enterprise and higher education. Senate Appropriations chair
Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), a champion of both, is still in the driver's
seat alongside House counterpart Hal Rogers (R-Ky.). But the Republican
right wing thinks the CROmnibus won't put enough pressure on Obama.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Oh.), right, appears to need Democratic
votes to pass it. There could be drama next week.
DEFENSE BILL INCREASES BASIC RESEARCH:
The FY 2015 authorization bill
agreed to between House and Senate armed services committees provides
$2.1 billion for basic research, 4 percent above President Obama's
request, ScienceInsider's David Malakoff reports:
"Almost all the gains came in programs dedicated to university
research." Increases include $20 million added to the White House
request for each of the Army, Navy, and Air Force University Research
Initiatives, and another $20 million added to the Pentagon-wide Defense
Research Sciences. The two committees also put in more money than
requested for HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions. But there
were losers: $10 million was cut from the National Security Science and
Engineering Faculty Fellowship Program. DARPA, chronically unable to
spend all it's given, lost $69 million in an "undistributed reduction."
The bill has passed the House and is expected to pass the Senate next
week.
FINE PRINT:
Nuggets of interest in the defense bill include: endorsement of prizes
as a spur to innovation; a call for "innovative technologies to prevent
or mitigate the risks of thermal injury to occupants of combat and
tactical vehicles"; and encouragement to commercialize the results of
Pentagon-funded research.
NEW STUDENT RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY:
The defense bill sets up a pilot program that lets defense labs hire
university students enrolled in STEM programs on a temporary or term
basis "for up to 3 percent of the laboratory's scientific and
engineering workforce." There would also be a change in the service
obligation for the Science, Mathematics, and Research for
Transformation (SMART) program. While "significant efforts" should be
made to place SMART scholars in Defense Department positions, they
could be employed outside DoD, by the public or private sector, if that
would "provide a benefit" to the department.
HOUSE YIELDS ON CLIMATE CHANGE:
The GOP-led House Armed Services panel sought to bar the Pentagon from
participating in Obama administration and United Nations programs
addressing climate change, but the House-Senate agreement strips out
that provision.
SCIENCE PANEL PROBE OF NSF (CONT'D):
The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee turned its attention
this week to the National Science Foundation's National Ecological
Observatory Network (NEON) and the nonprofit, NEON Inc., which received
a $433 million contract to build, operate, and manage it. According to
a hearing charter,
the Defense Contract Audit Agency found that a management fee paid to
NEON had been used for, among other things, $112,000 in lobbying
contracts and $25,000 for a holiday party. NSF Inspector General
Allison Lerner told the panel
that NEON is one of several projects, together totalling $1.4 billion,
about which "significant" budget questions have been raised.
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i
DATA
POINTS
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where grads live affects what they do
A survey
by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics turned up
noticeable differences in the work performed by recent Ph.D.s depending
on whether they lived in the United States or abroad and their visa
status.
EMPLOYMENT CHANGE: 2008 & 2010
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THE ADMINISTRATION AND RESEARCH AGENCIES
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THE NEXT STAGE IN MATERIALS R&D
A new report
from the White House-based National Science and Technology Council
spells out an ambitious agenda for the Materials Genome Initiative, an
effort to "double the pace of advanced materials discovery, innovation,
manufacture, and commercialization." It calls for a 50 percent increase
over two
years in the number of researchers who have participated in MGI
projects at the Pentagon, Department of Energy, and National Science
Foundation; adding multiple projects around "foundational engineering
problems," and three cross-agency grant projects. The report contends
that government-backed collaboration won't be enough -- a culture
change is needed. There also needs to be "broader adoption of MGI
approaches" in academia, national and federal laboratories, and
industry.
A MOOC ON managing BIOMEDICAL BIG DATA: The
National Institutes of Health envisions "a connected digital biomedical
research enterprise" that lets more than 1,000 institutions share big
data. For this to happen, people have to be trained in managing the
deluge of data. So it's calling for the development of a massive open online course (MOOC) that will enable librarians and information specialists to train grad students, faculty, and research staff.
EXTERNAL REVIEW OF COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS: The
National Science Foundation's inspector general seems to have gotten
the attention of the National Science Board, which sets policy for the
agency. The IG's most recent semi-annual report complains anew about
the management of the NSF's cooperative agreements, which total more
than $4 billion. The NSB's Audit and Oversight Committee has scheduled
a conference call next week for "discussion of commissioning a review
by an external organization of management and audit considerations
pertaining to cooperative agreements."
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NATIONAL ACADEMIES
'making value' report nears completion: A National Academies panel is
examining the "innovation-design-manufacturing chain" with an eye to a
sustainable business model for "making value." Its foundational report
is due soon. A conference call this week discussed the publication schedule and dissemination activities.
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PUBLIC
POLICY
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CHEMICAL SOCIETY TAPS ENGINeeR:
The American Chemical Society's new CEO
is Thomas
Connelly Jr., who is retiring after 36 years with DuPont, where he is
executive vice president and chief innovation officer. He is credited
with leading the company's $1.8 billion science and technology
operation into new areas, "including materials for semiconductor
processing and packaging, advanced display materials, alternative
energy and fermentation-based chemical products." He has a doctorate in
chemical engineering from Cambridge.
ge, purdue in $10 million deal:
The five-year partnership will involve researchers and students in
developing new technologies in advanced manufacturing, working with
scientists from GE plants around the world, the Lafayette Journal & Courier reports.
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ASEE
& COMMUNITY NEWS
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ATTENTION, DEANS AND DEPARTMENT CHAIRS
Please
help ASEE provide high-quality professional development to engineering
and engineering technology faculty by answering a few questions about how much you would be
willing to pay for faculty professional development and what areas of
professional development you are most interested in for your faculty.
Click the link below to access the survey.
ETLI 2014 VIDEOS: A playlist of videos
from the Engineering Technology Leadership Institute includes a short
testimonial video, two panels, and Greg Pearson of the National Acadmy
of Engineering.
VIDEO INTERVIEWS:
Leaders at NSF and the Navy Discuss the Future of
Engineering
Watch interviews with NSF Assistant Director for
Engineering Pramod Khargonekar, who talks
about exciting
NSF projects and opportunities for ASEE members, and Rear Admiral David Johnson, who discusses
the
importance of technology to the U.S. Navy and where naval research is
headed. The videos are part of
ASEE’s Advanced
Research Monitor Interview Series.
wepan extends deadline: The
Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN) is holding its 2015 Change Leader Forum
- Roadmap to Inclusion: Engineering Excellence for the 21st Century
next June 9-11 in Broomfield Col., outside Denver. The proposal deadline is now Dec. 12.
ENGINEERING EDUCATION FOR
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: The
Seventh International Conference
on Engineering Education for Sustainable Development
(EESD15) "will
explore current and future ways of thinking in the emerging field" and
the groundbreaking worth since 2002. It will be held June 9-12, 2015 at
the University of British
Columbia’s (UBC) Point Grey campus. 7 of EESD and
will celebrate the ground-breaking work accomplishing in EESD since
2002.
The conference will be held from June 9-12, 2015 at the University of
British
Columbia’s (UBC) Point Grey campus in Vancouver. See the conference
themes.
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EDITOR: Mark Matthews;
CONTRIBUTORS:
William E. Kelly, Nathan Kahl; MASTHEAD DESIGN by Francis Igot.
incorporating the new ASEE logo.
To read previous issues of Capitol Shorts, click here.
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