Washington symposium fosters single-voice concept on engineering priorities

After years of being chided for not speaking with one voice, more than 100 engineering researchers engaged in an experiment last month to create unity regarding federal fiscal support of research and development.

A symposium organized on Capitol Hill by ASME's Board on Government Relations Policies and Issues Committee brought professional societies together to promote a consistent message about priorities to legislators and federal agencies.

"The experiment we are running here will determine the feasibility of engineering researchers speaking out on the federal support of R&D with a much more powerful and unified voice," said Michael Reischman, chair of the Board on Government Relations Policies and Issues Committee who chaired the first-ever multiple engineering society symposium March 3-4. "ASME will be a leader in this effort for years to come."

Michael Reischman favors use of a united voice.

 

 

The ASME-initiated symposium, "Federal Outlook and Priorities for FY 2004," was also sponsored by AIChE, ASCE, ASHRAE, IEEE and SAE. It focused on the administration's fiscal 2004 budget request for critical science and technology agencies, such as the Department of Defense (DOD), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

ASME President Susan H. Skemp delivered the opening remarks, and then introduced G. Wayne Clough, a member of President Bush's Council of Advisors on Science and Techology (PCAST), who gave the keynote address to the more than 100 engineers attending the symposium.

Clough reiterated PCAST's recommendations that "the administration should improve funding levels for physical sciences and engineering, establish a major program of fellowships to attract and support advanced U.S. graduate students in science and engineering, and charge the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to assess and analyze federal R&D in the contexts of national interest, international competition and human resource needs."

Additional speakers included: Arden Bement, director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology; David Goldston, chief of staff of the House Committee on Science, and Stephen Merrill, executive director of the National Research Council's Board on Science, Technology and Economic Policy.

After a morning session discussing the overall S&T budget outlook, afternoon breakout sessions dealt with funding of key issue areas, including fuel cells, aeronautics and bioengineering. On the second day, the attendees related a consensus R&D message regarding the administration's fiscal 2004 budget by participating in visits to federal agencies and to more than 50 members of Congress.

Available speaker presentations and further information on the symposium can be found at: http:// www.asme.org/gric/engineeringpolicy/R&D/Agenda2003.html, or by contacting Reese Meisinger at meisingerr@asme.org.

 

back to meetings & courses