Engineering R&D Symposium analyzes government initiatives to restore competitiveness

John Varrasi
ASME Communications

In his State of the Union address in January, President George W. Bush put forth the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), a proposal to invest $137 billion over the next 10 years in technology research and development programs.

The consensus among the 175 engineers attending the Fourth Annual Engineering R&D Symposium, held May 17–18 in Washington, D.C., is that engineers have good reason to be excited about the ACI.

(Left to right) Dennis Martenson, P.E., president, American Society of Civil Engineers; Brian Pallasch, director of government relations, American Society of Civil Engineers; Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., chairman, House Committee on Science and 2006 recipient of ASME's President Award; ASME President Richard E. (Gene) Feigel; ASME Past President Harry Armen; and Casey Dinges, managing director of external affairs, American Society of Civil Engineers.

The ACI proposes robust increases for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the primary source of support for university and academic research in the physical sciences; the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, the federal research agency that carries out basic research and supports the technical translation of economically significant innovations; and the Office of Science at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), which supports scientific studies and infrastructure for a wide range of federal research and development.

The budgets at these agencies have seen flat or declining funding in recent years, and the ACI is aimed at beginning to reverse these trends.

Raymond L. Orbach, Ph.D., director of the DOE Office of Science and the keynote speaker at the R&D symposium on May 17, referred to President Bush's American Competitiveness Initiative as a "historic opportunity" for the United States.

Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Ill., Chairman of the House Science Committee Subcommittee on Energy, was one of the speakers at the R&D Symposium.

Following the presentation by Orbach, U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., discussed efforts in the Senate to address the nation's competitiveness and innovation.

Senators Jeff Bingaman (left) and Lamar Alexander

Last year, Sens. Alexander and Bingaman spearheaded a campaign to formulate an action plan for restoring industrial leadership and technology innovation in the United States. The National Academies was commissioned to develop concrete recommendations for use in government decision-making and legislation. The recommendations were compiled in the report, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm — Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future," and early this year, Alexander and Bingaman — along with Senators Pete Domenici. R-N.M., And Barbara Mikulski, D-Md. — introduced the Protecting America's Competitive Edge (PACE) Act to implement these recommendations. The PACE Act has received wide bipartisan support in the Senate and currently has 70 co-sponsors.

ASME President Gene Feigel (right) welcomes Senator Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., to the meeting.

Kei Koizumi of the American Association for the Advancement of Science provided an in-depth analysis on the overall fiscal year 2007 budget request. Koizumi noted that while the ACI would increase funding at the three aforementioned agencies, research and development funding at other agencies — such as in the science and technology programs at the Department of Defense, in aeronautics research at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and in research programs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) — would be reduced.

Sen. Alexander, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, said that lawmakers must acknowledge the pressures that Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security exert on government budgets, leaving shortfalls in other areas, including science and technology. However, by the close of the first day of the symposium, agency officials, members of Congress and representatives from various engineering societies agreed it was in the best interest of the nation to support the American Competitiveness Initiative.

The seminar continued on May 18, with presentations by federal agency representatives from NASA, NIH, NSF, the US Geological Survey, National Institutes of Health, and others that detailed the administration's fiscal 2007 budget request and how it relates to engineering research.

The United Engineering Foundation (UEF) provided a grant to fund the symposium. UEF is composed of five Founder Societies: ASME; the American Institute of Chemical Engineers; the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers; the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

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