Democratic-led Senate appropriators have the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the fusion-energy research lab being built in France, in the cross-hairs. In a report accompanying the stalled energy-water spending bill for 2015, the senators cite rising costs, delays, and management problems and tell the Department of Energy "to work with the Department of State to withdraw from the ITER project" and revamp its fusion strategy. The GOP-controlled House flatly disagrees, meaning this will be a key issue in future House-Senate negotiations. The House-passed appropriation bill calls for spending more on ITER than the administration requested.

HIGH BAR FOR HUBS: Two energy research hubs, Fuels from Sunlight and Modeling and Simulation for Nuclear Reactors, are up for a five-year renewal, having been recognized for "resolving major technological and science roadblocks." But Senate appropriators say "the bar for renewal of these hubs should be high" and involve independent peer review.

FASTER! Believing that "the United States must remain the world leader in high performance computing," the Senate panel wants to DOE to make development of an exascale system "one of its highest priorities." The new system is due in 2022. Appropriators are also enthusiastic about  hydrogen fuel cells. They urge DOE to transform the size, cost, scalability, and interoperability of new retail hydrogen stations.

WASTED FUEL? Senators think DOE takes too narrow a view of biomass as a new energy source. They want the agency to include "biosolids derived from the municipal wastewater treatment and agricultural processes" and work on technology that processes biosolids from wastewater treatment into clean water as well as energy.

3 MANUFACTURING INSTITUTES: The Senate panel would include $42 million for the wide bandgap semiconductor institute, $28 million for the advanced composites institute, and $28 million "for a third institute to be awarded in fiscal year 2015."

NUKE PREFERENCES: While not adding to an existing pot of money for small modular reactors, the appropriators add money for the "Supercritical Transformational Electric Power Generation Initiative;"  reactor  concepts  research; advanced reactor technologies; fuel cycle R&D; and development of meltdown-resistant nuclear fuels. 

FRONTIER FUNDS: The appropriations panel offers up to $100 million for Energy Frontier Research Centers, saying recent reviews show EFRCs "are demonstrating scientific productivity and world leadership, and are making progress in ways that would not have been likely through individual efforts" at national labs and  universities. It also says "the discovery of new materials and chemical structures with novel properties are crucial to U.S. competitiveness."

ABDICATION OR INNOVATION? "The steady erosion of state investment in public higher education over the last few decades reflects a stunning abdication of responsibility on the part of states to preserve college affordability," Sen. Tom Harkin said in opening a hearing on the states' role in higher education. Ranking Republican Lamar Alexander said "states must lead the  way," but said they "are doing innovative work…. I am interested in how the federal government is getting in the way."

'COMPETES' moving forward: With a strong assertion of the need for government-funded research, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) has circulated a draft reauthorization of the landmark 2007 law, which was reauthorized in 2010. He's expected to introduce it any day now into a gridlocked Senate. The House version has splintered into pieces. A GOP measure reauthorizing the National Science Foundation and National Institute of Standards and Technology has caused a partisan split, but noncontroversial sections of energy legislation are gaining bipartisan support.

CONFERENCE CURBS: Organizations that draw significant attendance from  government science agencies are worried about bipartisan legislation that would enshrine in law  the restrictions set down by the Office of Management and Budget in the wake of the 2012 General Services Administration scandal. A Senate bill would limit the number of agency employees attending international conferences to 50 and put a $500,000 spending cap on an agency's spending for a single conference. Congress would have to be notified in advance of any waivers of these limits.

• While praising the Engineering Education and Centers division processes and Engineering Research Centers in particular, a Committee of Visitors “was less pleased with the progress being made in engineering education and workforce development, citing the fact that little progress had been made over the years in areas including retention and broadening participation.” The committee said EEC “should consider funding one to five ERCs that focus exclusively on engineering education.”
  
• Discussing “the slow pace of institutional change with regard to diversity and broadening participation,” some advisory committee members “suggested choosing department chairs and/or search committees who prioritize broader participation would help accelerate changes.”
• Advisory Committee members "expressed concern that, while federal support for basic engineering research is being reduced at other agencies, the (engineering directorate's) budget is not increasing to accomodate proposals that might once have been sent elsewhere."
• A new NSF-wide strategic framework "is being developed for international partnerships."
• The directorate "is interested in funding more interdisciplinary research projects and is evaluating the INSPIRE [Integrated NSF Support Promoting Interdisciplinary Research and Education]" program as a way of doing that.

INNOVATION IN STEM:

CANCER NANOTECHNOLOGY: The National Cancer Institute's Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer has new funding opportunities. The Alliance will be composed of Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, Innovative Research in Cancer Nanotechnology,  and Cancer Nanotechnology Research Training Program awards. Find out more here and here.

YOUR IDEAS COUNT: The Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP), which makes costly research instruments available to National Institutes of Health-backed researchers, is seeking comment on ways to widen the program’s outreach to address the needs of various groups of NIH-supported investigators for access to advanced instruments across a broad spectrum of technologies and diverse areas of science; to ensure optimal instrument operation for the benefit of the NIH-supported investigators; and to enhance cost effectiveness.

SBIR ACCOUNTABILITY: The Pentagon's Small Business Innovation Research  (SBIR) program is supposed to help solve the longstanding problem of moving technologies from R&D to  military users. The 2012 defense authorization directed "directed DOD to begin reporting the number and percentage of SBIR projects that transition into acquisition programs or to fielded systems," according to the Government Accountability Office. This hasn't happened. GAO found that "alternatives are still being evaluated and no plan for improving the tracking and reporting of technology transition has been completed." Until it does, "questions will remain . . . ." 

NATIONAL ACADEMIES

U.S. 'GAME CHANGERS': A recent McKinsey report picks five that it says are “different in nature, but mutually reinforcing”:  "shale gas and oil production; increased trade competitiveness in knowledge-intensive manufactured goods; the potential of big data analytics to raise productivity; increased investment in infrastructure, with a new emphasis on its productivity; and a more cohesive and effective system of talent development in both K–12 and post-secondary education."

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.

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.

on ASEE's Retention Project by clicking here for updates.