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December 5, 2014

CONGRESS AND THE BUDGET


'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. 


i

DATA POINTS

 
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



THE ADMINISTRATION AND RESEARCH AGENCIES


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."


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.


  PUBLIC POLICY 

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. 

  ASEE & COMMUNITY NEWS


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.



 

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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