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NOVEMBER 15, 2014
CONGRESS
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THREATS TO APPROPRIATIONS
"It seems a safe bet" that a fight over immigration will stall the "omnibus" spending package that House and Senate
appropriators hoped to pass during the just-begun congressional
lame-duck session. That's the assessment of CQ defense reporter John
Donnelly, who predicts GOP conservatives will attach a rider to the
bill that bars any use of tax funds to carry out President Obama's
promised executive order curtailing deportations. The rider would be
blocked by the Senate, where Democrats hold the majority under January,
and also face a presidential veto, but the standoff could doom the
whole measure. The appropriators' package would fund the government
until Sept. 30, 2015. Some House members may try to attach
language to block an expected EPA rule strengthening protection for
streams and wetlands. What's the alternative to an omnibus bill? A
shortterm stopgap spending bill, or continuing resolution. Leaders of
both parties say they want to avoid a shutdown, but some in the House
aren't ruling that out.
A SERIES OF PUSHBACKS: Citing "more than a dozen top lawmakers and their aides," the Washington Post reports today
that "Republicans are considering a shortterm measure that would expire
early next year," rather than a year-long omnibus. When Congress comes
back in January, the GOP "would then pass other shortterm bills, each
designed to create a forum to push back against the president and,
possibly, gain concessions."
SCIENCE ADVOCATES give omnibus a push: The research and higher ed community is urging the lame-duck Congress to make passage of an omnibus appropriations bill -- with strong support for science -- a priority. The Coalition for National Science Funding collected 133 signatures on a letter
sent yesterday that cites the "innovation deficit" -- the gap between
what the government spends on R&D and higher education and the
investment needed for the United States to remain competitive. The
medical research community is particularly active, with 300 groups urging an increase for the National Institutes of Health.
in THE SLOW lane: Neither
extension of the research-and-development tax credit nor repeal of the
medical device tax -- part of Obamacare -- is expected during the
lame-duck session, Bloomberg BNA reports, citing a post-midterm briefing by prominent former lawmakers. Both will likely be addressed in 2015.
MIDTERMS INCREASE DIVERSITY: Rep.-elect
Mia Love, left, a Haitian-American from Utah, will be the first black
Republican woman to hold a seat in either chamber. Congress will reach
another milestone in January when more than 100 women are sworn in, CQ
reports -- 84 in the House "and at least 20 in the Senate." Meanwhle,
New Jersey sent its first African American woman -- Democrat Bonnie
Watson Coleman -- to Congress, according to the website Mashable.
Republican Shelley Moore Caputo became West Virginia's first woman
senator, and Republican Elise Stefanik, 30, became the youngest woman
ever elected to Congress.
LAMAR smith-nsf drama: In the latest installment, the chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee rebuts
criticism from the Association of American Universities over his probe
of dozens of National Science Foundation grants. He says a statement by AAU is "full of distortions"; it implies that he wants to know the names of proposal reviewers. Such an implication, he says, is "unequivocally false." AAU, in a counter-rebuttal, says its previous statement "is factual."
The series of communications between committee and NSF between April
2013 and May 2014 "makes evident that the requested materials would
have included the names of outside reviewers." That's the latest word,
but almost certainly not the last.
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i
DATA
POINTS
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GLOBAL RESEARCH NETWORKS in 2011
Source: The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD Science, Technology, and Industry Outook 2014
(Graphic above and immediately below). Distances approximate the
combined strength of collaboration forces, OECD says. The size of the
bubbles indicates the number of collaborations over a year. The
thickness of the lines represents the intensity of the collaboration
(number of co-authored papers involving a pair of countries). To see
the contrast with 1998, go to page 78 of the OECD report.
universities expand the science base
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ADMINISTRATION AND RESEARCH AGENCIES
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more r&D cooperation between the United States and China is promised as part of the accord
announced this week to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Existing forums
will be used. The "energy-water nexus" will be added to the portfolio
of the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center. The U.S. and China will
lead a consortium to establish "a major new carbon storage project
based in China." The two countries will cooperate in phasing down HFCs.
The U.S. -China Climate Change Working Group will start a
"climate-smart, low-carbon cities" initiative and convene a summit for
cities to share best practices.
CLIMATE EXCHANGE: John Holdren,
the president's science adviser, is taking to all manner of social
media to promote the White House climate agenda. He uses the hashtag #AskDrH and answers questions on camera.
WATERWORKS: The White House has issued what appears to be a comprehensive description of aquaculture programs, including research funding, throughout the federal government.
IN THEIR DNA: Students
from Clemson University, the Universities of Georgia, Oklahoma, and
Maryland, plus Arizona State and Furman Universities are highlighted in
a White House blog
on University Innovation Fellows, run by the National Center for
Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter). The center is funded by
the National Science Foundation and run by Stanford and VentureWell
(formerly NCIIA). President Obama has said "entrepreneurship is in the DNA is this generation."
GLOBAL DIRECTOR SOUGHT: The
National Science Foundation is looking for someone to head its Office
of International Science and Engineering, a senior management position
that, among other things, leads 31 program managers and other staff at
headquarters and runs NSF offices in Paris, Tokyo, and Beijing. A
search advisory committee will be led by Anne Peterson, president of
the Global Philanthropy Alliance at the University of Michigan.
Recommendations can be sent to isesrch@nsf.gov.
ONE WEEK LEFT to apply to become NSF's division director
for the Division of Engineering Education and Centers, who would
oversee the education, workforce development, and Engineering Research
Center activities. The deadline for receiving applications is Nov. 21.
IT'S a MEMBERShip organization, but
from its website, it appears to offer an extra measure of access to
funding opportunities for university researchers whose work has
national security applications. The National Security Technology
Accelerator (NSTXL) is a
consortium, including universities, that "works to accelerate the
discovery, development, and deployment of new technology solutions for
U.S. national security stakeholders at home and abroad." NSTXL says it
has been awarded $100 million in Other Transaction Authority (a special
category of R&D funding) for state-of-the-art energy technologies
for the Pentagon. In coming years there will be a "broader range of
innovation domains." .It also "works to create incentives" for research
institutions not primarily focused on national security. This week it
listed as one of its member events a defense energy summit in Austin,
Tex.
WILL THEY COME? BUILD,
or the Buildings University Innovators and Leaders Development, is a
Department of Energy project "that seeks to improve the competitiveness
of American universities to conduct building energy efficiency R&D,
development strong industrial partnerships, and improve manufacturing
education." And it has up to $1 million for university-based teams. Learn more.
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NATIONAL ACADEMIES
DELUGE OF DATA: Data-intensive
computing is emerging as a "fourth paradigm" in scientific discovery
alongside simulation-and-modeling, theory, and experimentation. But it
has brought challenges, says a National Academies report for
the NSF on advanced computing infrastructure. "New approaches that
co-locate computational and data resources might reduce costs and
improve performance. . . New algorithms and software approaches will be
needed to effectively use systems with new architectures. . . .New
knowledge and skills will be needed to effectively use these new
advanced computing technologies. 'Hybrid' disciplines such as
computational science and data science and interdisciplinary teams may
come to play an increasingly important role."
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PUBLIC
POLICY AND HIGHER
ED
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TWO HEADLINERS: The Chronicle of Higher Education profiles JoAnn P. Browning,
who in August became engineering dean of the University of Texas at San
Antonio. The paper says she's working with science-minded role models,
whom she once lacked, "in an effort to literally help build a stronger
world." Sheri Sheppard,
Stanford mechanical engineering professor and trailblazer in
engineering education research, is among the 2014 Professors of the
Year being honored in the coming week by the Carnegie Foundation for
the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support
of Education.
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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
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.
YES, wepan: 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 deadline for
proposals is Nov. 26, 2014.
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.
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.
STAY
UP TO DATE
on ASEE's Retention Project by
clicking here
for updates.
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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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