Three OSTP fellows are selected

ASME has selected three fellows for the administration's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP): James W. "Bill" Jones, Rebecca Lankey and Thomas K. Mackin.

Of the five divisions of OSTP, ASME fellows will be working in three of them. In February, Lankey began working in the environment division. In mid-April, Jones started work in the security and international affairs division, while Mackin will work in the technology policy division.

Rebecca Lankey

 

Lankey recently completed a two-year term as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Environmental Science and Engineering at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, where she worked for the Green Chemistry Program in the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics.

Lankey earned her Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1998. She received both a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering and an M.S. degree in materials science and engineering from the University of Virginia.

Jones began his career at Westinghouse, Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, where he worked on the design and analysis of Naval nuclear power plants. He has worked in the field of finite element analysis for more than 30 years. Jones sold his consulting company in 1998 to the MacNeal-Schwendler Corp. and became director, Expert Solutions Group, a position he held until resigning to accept this fellow position.

During that time, Jones developed courses in the analysis of pressure vessels (using ASME Codes), electronic packaging and automotive durability. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and his doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh. He became an ASME Fellow in 1984.

Mackin earned his Ph.D. in engineering science and mechanics from Penn State University in 1990. From 1991 to 1993, he worked as a research engineer in the materials department at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

He joined the faculty at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in 1993 and initiated a research program in nondestructive thermal imaging. Mackin received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development award in 1996 to fund the development of a novel thermoelastic method for quantifying damage and predicting residual life in composite materials.

For more information, go to www.asme.org/gric/GR/ Programs/fedfellow.html, or contact Allian Pratt at pratta@asme.org.

 

ASME hosts forum on technology assessment in Congress

ASME and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) hosted a meeting in April on "Technology Assessment: Identifying the Needs of Congress." Attendees included representatives from various scientific, engineering and technology organizations.

The forum was an opportunity for an exchange of information on technology assessment legislation currently proposed in the House and Senate. Speakers included Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J.; Jonathan Epstein, Congressional Fellow in the office of Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.; and Amy Fraenkel, Counsel, U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

Two bills are pending that would address the need for improved technology assessment for Congress. Holt introduced H.R. 2148 to reauthorize the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and Sen. Ernest F. Hollings, D-S.C., introduced legislation to establish a
Science and Technology Assessment Service.

ASME's Council on Public Affairs recently issued a position statement supporting the development of ways to provide timely, accurate and unbiased information to Congress on science, engineering and technology issues. The position statement, "Establishment of a Technology Assessment Arm of Congress" (No. 02-18) is available for review at www.asme.org/gric/ps/ps02.html.

For more information, contact Kathryn Holmes at holmesk@asme.org.

 

State government coordinator applications due this month

Applications for state government coordinator are due June 15. For more information about the program, go to www.asme.org/gric/GR/Programs/Coordinators.html, or contact Melissa Murray at murraym@asme.org.

— Melissa Murray
ASME Government Relations

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