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December 13, 2014
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CONGRESS AND THE BUDGET
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'CROMNIBUS' WOULD sustain R&D, revive RAMI 
Most research agencies hold their own under the $1.01 trillion appropriations measure
to fund the federal government -- except for the Department of Homeland
Security -- through September, 2015. Final passage of the CROmnibus
remained uncertain late Friday, with progressives led by
Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and conservatives aligned with Ted Cruz
(R-Tex.) denouncing different provisions. The White House lobbied in favor
of passage even though it, too, found parts of the bill hard to
swallow. Congress avoided a government shutdown by passing stopgap
legislation to keep the lights on until next Wednesday. Despite the
heated rhetoric, $1 trillion has a persuasive ring. Meanwhile, the
Senate passed the Defense Authorization, 89-11 (described in last
week's Capitol Shorts) and sent it to President Obama.
MIXED BAG FOR UNIVERSITIES: Basic
research overall suffers a small net loss in the CRomnibus, according
to an American Association for the Advancement of Science calculation
(see chart below). But at the Pentagon, basic research accounts
increase 4.3 percent above FY 2014, with appropriators looking
favorably on defense research sciences, university research
initiatives, and industry-university centers; the Defense Threat
Reduction Agency University Strategic Partnership; National Defense
Education Program; Historically Black Colleges and Universities; and
chemical and biological defense. The National Science Foundation
roughly keeps pace with inflation, as does NASA's
science. Agriculture R&D gets a raise, and the National Institutes
of Health and Department of Energy Office of Science stay flat.
strategic plan for manufacturing:
The CROmnibus incorporates bipartisan Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation (RAMI)
legislation, which had passed the House but then was blocked by several
GOP holds in the Senate. The bill sets up a nationwide network of public-private partnerships -- including  industry,
universities, community colleges, and non-profits -- with the aim of
developing manufacturing techniques and processes that draw on regional
strengths and research. The network would be set up by the National
Institute of Standards and Technology and guided by a strategic plan
for advanced manufacturing. The strategy would include a plan to
"strengthen all levels of manufacturing education and training
programs," plus small and medium-sized firms.
BRAIN WATCH: Brief
instructions on how Federal agencies are to spend money contained in
the CROmnibus are spelled out in a series of alphabetical explanations
found on the House Rules Committee website under Bill Text. The National Science Foundation
is encouraged to work with the administration's Brain Research through
Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative "to establish
a National Brain Observatory working group to determine how to use the
data infrastructure of the NSF, the Department of Energy's national
laboratory network, and other applicable agencies to help
neuroscientists collect, standardize, manage, and analyze the large
amounts of data that will result from research attempting to understand
how the brain functions."
CYBERSECURITY IS STILL HOT: House
and Senate appropriators agreed to provide NIST with tens of millions
for cybersecurity, including: $15 million for a cybersecurity center of
excellence; up to $60.7 million for R&D; $4 million for education,
and $16.5 million for the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace. (Separately, Congress passed bipartisan cybersecurity legislation and sent it to the president.)
PEOPLE AND MACHINES: Defense
appropriators aappear to be intrigued by how materials play into the
"human-machine interface." They encourage the Air Force Research
Laboratory "to continue research into nano-bio manufacturing of
materials and sensor devices that are capable of detecting biomarkers
and other substances correlating to human body conditions such as
stress, fatigue, and organ damage."
PUBLIC SCHOOL STEM OUTREACH: Tucked into the Army's appropriation is $2.25 million for a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math pilot research and development initiative. It would "conduct
STEM education research and evaluation at elementary and secondary
schools to build evidence about promising practices and program
effectiveness." It would focus on public schools, low income students,
and historically underserved populations.
appropriators to PENTAGON: MAKE USE OF R&d: The
CROmnibus report reflects lawmakers' frustration that so much funded
R&D doesn't make it to the battlefield or the market. Chiding
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, it says DARPA hasn't
ensured that successful projects actually move forward to address
warfighter needs. This is particularly the case with space programs,
"which in some cases have been terminated following years of
development aqnd an investment of several hundreds of millions of
taxpayer dollars." Therefore, in FY 2016, DARPA is going to have to
start accounting for "the transition status" of advanced technology
development projects.
companion to rami?
DoD's assistant secretary for research and engineering is instructed to
conduct a pilot program on "public-private technology transfer
ventures" between R&D development centers and "regionally focused
technology incubators." The goal: "increasing the commercialization of
intellectual property" to support "critical cross-service technological
needs such as energetics, unmanned systems, and rapid prototyping."
SCALING UP FUEL CELLS: The
CROmnibus instructs the Department of Energy to test fuel cells as
"industrial-scale energy storage devices," enlisting national
laboratories and universities, among others. DOE  should
also consider expanding its Energy Systems Predictive Capability and
Advanced Modeling Grid Research "and to include university and industry
teams for research and workforce development."
NUkes and ceramics: In
nuclear energy, the Hill is keen on accident-tolerant fuels, drawing on
promising research into ceramic cladding and other technologies; and
meltdown-resistant fuels based on ceramic-compacted coated particles.
WORRY OVER YOUNG RESEARCHERS AT nih:
Congress wants the National Institutes of Health to "develop a new
approach with actionable steps to reduce the average age at which an
investigator first obtains RO1 (Research Project Grant) funding," The
plan should "include an analysis of the role of universities in this
effort." Lawmakers also want an "NIH-wide approach . . . to rapidly
improve the speed and validity of personalized preventive medicine
through the convergence of technology and biomedical science." NIH
should hold a forum with representatives of industy, academic
engineers, and biomedical research organizations to work on this.
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DATA
POINTS
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'cromnibus' r&d funding by agency
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THE ADMINISTRATION AND RESEARCH AGENCIES
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ABOUT THOSE NSF ABSTRACTS
 After
weeks of having congressional staffers pore over its research awards in
search of frivolous waste, the National Science Foundation is taking steps
to avoid inadvertantly igniting controversy. Nontechnical project
descriptions must "serve as a public justification for NSF funding by
articulating how the project serves the national interest, as stated by
the NSF's mission: to promote the progress of science, to advance the
national health, prosperity, and welfare; or to secure the national
defense." New guidelines and training for program staff are being
provided. And late this month, the proposal and awards guide will be
updated to say that a principal investigator may be contacted for help
in preparing the award abstract and its title.
PENTAGON LOOKS TO 2030: Following
up on the announcement by soon-to-depart Secretary Chuck Hagel of a
long-range research-and-development plan, the Defense Department has
issued a request for information
to identify promising technologies that could be up and running in 15
years. The RFI "seeks to glean information that will explore and
develop new technologies and approaches to warfighting, balancing DoD's
investment between platforms, payloads and networks." ndwhwork for
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MIND OVER MATTER? The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's ElectRx (Electrical Prescriptions)
program "is looking to develop and leverage fundamental understanding
of the anatomy and physiology of neural circuits in the spinal cord or
peripheral nerves that mediate health status." It's seeking "research
proposals for creating closed loop neuromodulation systems that utilize
innate neurophysiological circuits to achieve therapeutic benefits."
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NATIONAL ACADEMIES
 PLIGHT OF THE POSTDOCS: "Compared
to postdoctoral researchers working at universities, postdoctoral
researchers who work at national labs or in industry are typically paid
much more, remain for shorter periods, and are often offered fulltime
jobs at the end of their appointment," a National Academies report
says. Also relatively lucky are researchers on fellowships or
traineeships. But the majority of of postdoctoral researchers are
working under research grants. The report says: "The postdoctoral
position should not be viewed by graduate students or principal
investigators as the default step after the completion of doctoral
training."
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PUBLIC
POLICY
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DRIFTING AWAY FROM ACADEMIA: Inside Higher Ed reports on a study appearing in PLOS ONE that
examines the career outlooks of women and minorities who pursue
advanced degrees. "At the point of Ph.D. completion, after controlling
for factors such as research productivity, mentoring, confidence,
and [At the point of Ph.D. completion, after controlling
for factors such as research productivity, mentoring, confidence . . .
women and members of under-represented minority groups are 36 to 55
percent less likely than white and Asian men to report high interest in
faculty careers at research-intensive universities."
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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
and engineering technology 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.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS - ASEE MID-ATLANTIC SECTION: The
section annually recognizes an outstanding engineering or engineering
technology educator from the section with a Distinguished Teaching
Award. This individual is then nominated by the section for ASEE's
National Outstanding Teaching Medal. The section award, presented at
the spring meeting, consists of a $500 honorarium and a certificate of
regognition. The awards chair is Paul Butler (PButler_OCC@hotmail.com).
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.
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EDITOR:
Mark Matthews;
CONTRIBUTORS:
William E. Kelly, Nathan Kahl; MASTHEAD DESIGN by Francis Igot. Photo
of the Capitol dome, wrapped in scaffolding, and Christmas tree is
provided courtesy of the Architect of the Capitol.
To read previous issues of Capitol Shorts, click here.
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