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NOVEMBER 15, 2014

CONGRESS


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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DATA POINTS


 
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
                                                                 
            

ADMINISTRATION AND RESEARCH AGENCIES

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






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."



   PUBLIC POLICY  AND HIGHER ED


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.



  ASEE & COMMUNITY NEWS


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.


 

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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