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CONGRESS
AND THE
BUDGET
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RENEWED TALK OF A GOVERNMENT
SHUTDOWN
 To Democrats' apparent glee, defiant conservatives want
to insert language in a stopgap
funding measure that
would block President Obama's planned but still-unspecified executive
action on immigration. Such a move could prevent passage of the
continuing resolution (CR) needed to keep the government's doors open
when Fiscal 2015 starts on Oct. 1. This is the last thing the GOP
leadership wants, as House budget chair Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has made
clear, but Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), left, told the Des
Moines Register
"all bets are off" if Obama acts on immigration. Late August, with
Congress out of town, is not a good time to gauge whether the shutdown
threat is serious. Besides immigration, a CR could get derailed by a
fight over reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank, according to The
Atlantic.
STEM ADVISORY PANEL URGED: The FIRST
Act
(HR 4186) is one of two House Republican bills reauthorizing the
landmark COMPETES Act. It hasn't drawn much support among science and
STEM advocacy groups -- mostly because of its limited funding and
perceived restrictions on the National Science Foundation. But Section
202 of the bill finds favor with the STEM Coalition, of which ASEE is a
member. The House Democrats' version contains a similar provision. It
would set up a STEM Education advisory panel within the President's
Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST) "that
incorporates key stakeholders from the education and industry sectors."
The coalition hopes similar language gets included in the Senate
COMPETES reauthorization bill circulated by Sen. Jay Rockefeller
(D-W.V.).
ANNUAL DOUBLE-DIGIT GROWTH: That's
what's happening with government funding of nanotechnology research in
Europe and Asia, says Northwestern biomedical engineering professor
Milan Mrksich. In China, the yearly increase approaches 50 percent.
Mrksich was one of three nanotechnology researchers appearing last
month before the House
subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade.
Their testimony was both hopeful and gloomy. While Christian Binek of
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln said the transformative power of
nanotechnology "can rival the industrial revolution," Rice University's
James Tour warned of a "serious brain drain that imperils the future of
the U.S. economy as we know it." Richard Jones of the American
Institute of Physics, who reports
on the hearing, notes that "total federal nanotechnology funding has
declined by almost 20 percent from 2010 to 2014."
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DATA
POINTS
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CONCENTRATION OF
CORPORATE r&d
Just
five states accounted for nearly half the research and development paid
for and performed by companies in 2011, according to this National
Science Foundation Infobrief.
Ten states (below) accounted for 70 percent of the total.
Sources: Washington Post and PayScale
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THE ADMINISTRATION AND RESEARCH AGENCIES
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$30 Million for NUCLEAR r&d AT UNIVERSITIES: This sum will fund 44
university-led
research and development projects
under the Department of Energy's Nuclear Energy University Programs
(NEUP). DOE is also paying approximately $20 million for five "integrated
research projects" and giving 20 infrastructure
support awards. Total
amount to universities, national labs, and industry: $67 million. For
the coming fiscal year, DOE has two funding opportunities directed in
part at colleges and universities, including expanding nuclear science
and engineering research and education capabilities. Find out more here and here.
 CLEANING UP: All divisions within three National Science
Foundation directorates -- Engineering, Biological Sciences,
and Mathematical
and Physical Sciences -- have funding available for clean-energy
technology and education.
EMPOWERING WOMEN: Full proposals for ADVANCE (Increasing
the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and
Engineering Careers) are due Sept. 22. Since 2001, NSF has provided
more than $130 million under this program. Looking ahead, the program
will be offering five-year Institutional Transformation (IT) grants, with letters of intent due in the
fall of 2015. It will seek "systemic organizational approaches
framed with clearly stated and fully integrated theories of change or
conceptual frameworks in order to increase the participation and
advancement of women in STEM academic careers. IT projects are expected
to be designed to achieve the transformation of all departments or
schools of STEM fields within the institution and to produce
evidence-based replicable strategies."
A related IT Catalyst program is aimed at minority-serving institutions
and community colleges.
REHABILITATION RESEARCH: Engineering
is included in the planned National Institutes of Health national
network of research infrastructure in medical rehabilitation. Learn
more.
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NATIONAL ACADEMIES
CLIMATE,
SOCIETY, AND EDUCATION: Three National Academy workshops examined "the
interactions of climate change with engineered systems in society and
the educational efforts needed to address them." Questions included "what
areas will receive mediation measures, what types of measures will be
used, and what levels and kinds of local impacts are tolerated." See the report.
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PUBLIC
POLICY AND HIGHER
ED
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NCEES DROPS MASTER'S REQUIREMENT FOR 2020: The
engineering and surveying licensing boards, meeting August 20-23, "voted
to modify the approach to requiring additional education for initial
engineering licensure by removing specific language in the NCEES Model
Law and Model Rules, originally intended to be effective in
2020." That language had called for
an engineering licensure candidate to obtain a master’s degree or its
equivalent before initial licensure. As a result of the change, "the
NCEES Model Law and Model Rules will continue to
require an engineering bachelor’s degree from an EAC/ABET-accredited
program to fulfill the education requirement for engineering licensure." Read
more.
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ASEE
& COMMUNITY NEWS
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REGISTER FOR ETLI: The
Engineering Technology Leadership Institute is set for Oct. 10 in
Crystal City, across the Potomac from Washington DC. The session brings
engineering technology educators together to discuss topics of
importance to the discipline and plan for the future. Find
out more.
CALL FOR PAPERS: The
ASEE Mid-Atlantic Section holds its Fall 2014 Conference Nov. 14-15 at
Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA. "Engineering a Diverse Workforce
for the 2020s: Vision through Implementation." For more information,
contact Lynne Molter (lmolter1@swarthmore.edu)
start preparing abstracts: The
abstract submission phase will open Sept. 2, 2014 for the 2015 ASEE
Annual Conference and Exposition in Seattle. The Calls for Papers from
various divisions can be found here
 TAKING THE LEAD: The
Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is hosting a workshop entitled
Academic Leadership for Women in Engineering at the WE14+ICWES16 Annual
Conference in Los Angeles on Oct. 24 and 25. There will be a specific
focus on best practices central to leadership in academia. Click here to learn
more and apply to attend the workshop.
Please complete the participant application by August 25. Funded
through support from the Henry Luce Foundation, the workshop is free to
all who are accepted. Contact learning@swe.org with any questions.
ON-LINE STEM
SUSTAINABILITY LIBRARY: This on-line library of
over 1700 juried articles and 300 videos was developed at James Madison
University with NSF funding. The site provides resources for those
researching or teaching sustainability across contexts.
ANNUAL
CONFERENCE - STORIFY VERSION: ASEE's
Engineering Libraries Division has put together a lively collection of
photos and tweets that captures the collaboration and camaraderie
of the Indy conference. Check it out here.
DEANS' FORUM ON
HISPANIC HIGHER EDUCATION
The
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) invites
engineering deans and chairs to the Third Annual Deans’ Forum on
Hispanic
Higher Education: Advancing Graduate School Opportunities and Success
for
Hispanic Students, following HACU’s 28th Annual Conference, Tuesday,
Oct. 7,
2014, 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. The forum will address issues facing
Hispanic
students in graduate education and highlight promising practices to
enhance
access and success. For more information, see http://www.hacu.net/hacu/Deans_Forum.asp.
‘PROFILES’
IS OUT: ASEE's
eagerly awaited 540-page Profiles of
Engineering and Engineering Technology Colleges has been
published. Call ASEE (202-331-3500) to order a copy.
ASEE DIVERSITY
COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER: The
spring edition of the semi-annual newsletter is now
available. ASEE Past President J.P. Mohsen discusses a proposed
Year of
Dialogue on Diversity and details on safe zone ally training at the
annual
conference are posted, among other items.
VIDEOS
OF
THE PPC: View sessions from February's Public
Policy Colloquium of the Engineering Deans Council dealing with
advanced manufacturing, federal R&D, and K-12 engineering.
STAY
UP TO DATE
on ASEE's Retention Project by
clicking here
for updates.
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EDITOR: Mark Matthews;
CONTRIBUTOR:
William E. Kelly; NEW MASTHEAD DESIGN by Francis Igot,
incorporating the new ASEE logo.
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