February 6, 2015

BROAD CUTS IN DEFENSE BASIC RESEARCH: The Obama administration’s clear priorities – advanced manufacturing; clean energy; cybersecurity; climate change; and select medical initiatives – produced obvious winners and losers. Among the latter was Pentagon basic research, down $189 million, or 8 percent, from current levels. Pain was spread across the services, and included Defense Research Sciences, University Research Initiatives, and the Army’s University and Industry Research. A Pentagon winner is the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). 

'NEWS YOU CAN USE': "Many of the research programs that did the best in the request have one thing in common," writes Jeff Mervis in Science. "They promise what one veteran policymaker calls “news you can use”—practical information that can help businesses and communities thrive."

I-CORPS THRIVES: What began in 2011 as a program so modest that the National Science Foundation joined with the Kauffman and Deshpande Foundations as partners is now funded at $30 million in the president's budget. The agency's tab also includes $75 million "to understand, design, manage, and model the interconnected food-energy-water system" through an interdisciplinary research effort that incorporates all areas of science and engineering. Read a description. 

 . . . SO DOES EHR: NSF's Education and Human Resources directorate gets an 11.2 percent increase in Obama's budget. Programs that would benefit include Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (up 43 percent); Research Traineeship (25.2 percent); Undergraduate Education Division (18 percent); Graduate Education (8.1 percent); informal learning (14.2 percent); and a new pilot, Nation of Communities of Learners that have been Underrepresented for Diversity in Engineering and Science (INCLUDES) AIP's Jones gives a rundown on STEM programs.

BIOMEDICAL GAINS: The National Institutes of Health, flat-funded in recent years, receives a billion-dollar (3.3 percent) hike in the Obama budget, including a $70 million increase for the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative. Richard Jones of the American Institute of Physics points in particular to the 3.1 percent increase for National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). The added funds would allow 48 more awards than currently. Among the programs highlighted in NIBIB's budget narrative is DEsign by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams (DEBUT). It "challenges students to form teams, identify a significant unmet healthcare need, and deliver a practical solution."

OBAMA ON THE ROAD: The president spoke this afternoon at  Indiana's Ivy Tech Community College, one of the nation’s largest community college systems. Last year, Ivy Tech was one of 24 recipients of Youth CareerConnect grants, intended to integrate higher education and training and boost college enrollment and graduation rates, PBS reports.  On January 21, Obama visited Boise State (photo at right), spending about 45 minutes at the College of Engineering. Learn more.

Figures in billions of dollars. Source: Science magazine.

'COSTLY DISTRACTIONS': Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), chair of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, is "disappointed the president chose to play politics with taxpayers’ dollars." He cites "costly ineffective energy subsicies" and "distractions" in the NASA budget, "such as climate funding better suited for other agencies." The budget "does not adequately support the programs that will take us farther into space to destinations like Mars," Smith says.

'A BUMPY ROLLOUT': That's how Science characterized release of a draft 21st Century Cures Act, which "would overhaul many policies at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) had been working on it with Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), but she declined to endorse the draft. Kay Holcombe of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, was more enthusiastic, particularly about "directives to incorporate new kinds of data into the drug evaluation process." The draft would also set aside funding for younger scientists and press NIH to develop a strategic plan. In the Senate, Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) are taking an approach similar to Upton's.

FLASHPOINT: House Republicans lit into NSF over money spent on a Christmas party, coffee, lobbying, and liquor by an envirionmental nonprofit, NEON Inc. Under an agreement with the agency, NEON uses a continental-scale sensor network to  gather and synthesizes data on the impacts of climate change, land use change, and invasive species on natural resources and biodiversity. Science panel chair Smith raised the possibility of legislative action "so that this misuse of funds does not happen again."  Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), who chairs the oversight subcommittee, asked at a hearing: “If one project can get away with this, how do we know they aren’t all frivolously spending hard-earned taxpayer dollars?" Future hearings are scheduled on weather satellites and privacy and security of information on HealthCare.gov.

BEND AND STRETCH: Flexible electronics circuits "represent an important technological advance, in terms of their performance characteristics and potential range of applications, ranging from medical care, packaging, lighting and signage, consumer electronics and alternative energy (especially solar energy.)" But a National Academies report says that to manufacture them will require "improved technology, processes, tooling, and materials, as well as ongoing research." U.S. competitors, backed by governments, "have initiated dedicated programs that are large in scope and supported with significant government funding to develop and acquire these new technologies." What should the United States do? "Collaboration among industry, universities, and government offers the best prospect for achieving the critical levels of investment and the acceleration of new technology development that is required."

YEAR OF ACTION ON DIVERSITY: Read the latest issue of the Diversity Committee's semi-annual newsletter, including its call for nominations for Best Diversity Paper.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS FOR THE WORKPLACE: The American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) is leading the development of a competency model for the engineering profession in order to help build a broader understanding of the knowledge and skills needed by engineers to thrive in the workplace. Competency models currently exist for almost every industry in the United States except engineering. AAES has issued a broad invitation to the engineering community to participate in an initial survey to provide critical input of knowledge and counsel on this draft competency model for the engineering sector. You can participate in the survey on-line at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/EngCompModel. It should take about 25 minutes to complete.

NORTHEAST SECTION CONFERENCE: This year's conference  will be held at Northeastern University from Thursday, April 30th, to Saturday May 2. Go to the Website. The abstract submission deadline has been extended to February 17. This year’s conference theme is Professional Formation of Engineers. Broad categories include: Experiential Learning and Industrial Involvement; Ethics, Context, and Values; Interdisciplinary; Leadership; and Assessment.