Economic Recovery Package Supports Engineering, Scientific Research and Education

Last month, the House passed the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” (H.R.1), which includes funding for engineering, research and education. The total cost of the stimulus package was $819 billion.

Some of the provisions related to improvements in research infrastructure, as well as the creation of new jobs include:

• $3 billion in funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) compared to $1.4 billion in the Senate bill;

• $600 million for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for climate change research compared to $1.5 billion in the Senate bill;

• $1.9 billion for basic research at the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science in physical sciences and engineering;

• $400 million for the Advanced Research Project Agency — Energy to support high-risk, high-payoff research into energy sources and energy efficiency;

• $8.4 billion for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy grants and loans;

• $4.5 billion for Smart Grid investment;

• $2.4 billion for Fossil Energy Carbon Capture and Sequestration;

• $2 billion for Advanced Battery Manufacturing; and

• $400 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology ($300 million for competitive construction grants for research science buildings at colleges, universities, and other research organizations, and $100 million to coordinate research efforts of laboratories and national research facilities by setting interoperability standards for manufacturing).

The Senate is expected to vote sometime next week on its version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It will then be up to lawmakers in both chambers to reconcile the differences between both pieces of legislation before they can send something for President Obama to sign into law.

To learn more about what is contained in the Senate version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, go to http://appropriations.senate.gov/news.cfm and click on the link “American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan Report.”

The 13-page executive summary of the House version of the bill may be viewed at http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/PressSummary
01-15-09.pdf.

 

Engineering Societies Urge Congress to Support Engineering and Science

Also last month, ASME President Thomas M. Barlow joined with IEEE-USA President Gordon Day and ASCE President D. Wayne Klotz in releasing a joint letter urging lawmakers to support provisions in the economic recovery package that support investments in engineering, research and education.

The letter stated, “On behalf of ASME, IEEE-USA and ASCE, we commend you for your leadership on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which provides vital appropriations for engineering, scientific research and education at the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Department of Energy Office of Science. Numerous studies have documented the critical role that innovation and new technologies play in economic growth. Robust, sustained investment in research and development is essential for stimulating growth in high-wage industries, and for generating new technologies in critical areas of need, including energy, transportation and manufacturing.”

ASME also joined the Task Force on the Future of American Innovation and Tapping America’s Potential, in endorsing letters sent to Congress urging them to support funding in the stimulus package for engineering, scientific research and education.

Both letters are available to view at www.asme.org/NewsPublicPolicy/GovRelations/PositionStatements.

 

Sustainable Energy and Environmental Coalition Formed in the House

Reps. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., and Steve Israel, D-N.Y., recently announced the formation of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC), a new caucus in the House of Representatives that recently met with Assistant to the President Carol Browner to discuss energy and climate policy and is working to strengthen green technology provisions.

“The Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition will lead efforts in the House to create the incentives and make the investments we need to transform our economy, our infrastructure, and our environment,” said Israel, a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water.

Inslee and Israel are the co-chairs of the SEEC, the stated purpose of which is “to advance policies that promote clean energy technology innovation and domestic manufacturing, develop renewable energy resources, create green collar jobs throughout the product supply-chain, help arrest global warming and protect our nation's clean air, water and natural environment.”

Lawmakers on and around Capitol Hill are also referring to this new Caucus as the “Green Dog Coalition.”

For more information, visit http://israel.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=12&parentid
=5&sectiontree=5,12&itemid=613.

 

House S&T Committee Releases Agenda for 111th Congress

House Science and Technology Committee Chair Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., released an agenda overview of the committee’s anticipated priorities in the 111th Congress. Among other matters, the committee will work on issues including energy technology development, climate and weather monitoring, math and science education programs, nanotechnology, the space program, aviation research, and technical standards for industries from energy to health care to telecommunications.

“There's a misperception that we cannot afford to invest in science because of the current economic conditions,” Gordon said. “I believe that investing in science and developing new technologies is the path to reinvigorating our economy, growing jobs, meeting our energy needs, and helping us address climate change.”

Gordon listed the following areas as focal points for the Committee’s upcoming activities:

• Innovation — Maintaining Our Competitiveness;

• Energy — Developing Clean Technologies;

• Workforce — Creating Jobs of the Future;

• Environment — Protecting Our Natural Resources;

• Space — Exploring and Inspiring;

• Transportation — Building New Types of Infrastructure;

• Security — Protecting People from Natural and Man-Made Threats; and

• Investigations and Oversight — Uncovering Mismanagement and Restoring Scientific Integrity.

To read the entire agenda, go to http://democrats.science.house.gov/Media/File/
ForReleases/111thSTAgenda.pdf.

 

DOE Seeks Public Comments on Yucca Mountain Transportation Plan

The DOE is currently seeking public comment on its National Transportation Plan which outlines the department's strategy and planning for developing and implementing a system to ship spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste safely and securely from where the material is generated or stored to the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev.

“We are engaging in advance planning for shipments to Yucca Mountain because experience has shown us that early collaborative planning with our stakeholders is critical to mission success,” said Ward Sproat, director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management.

Actual shipments are not expected to begin before 2020, but the transportation planning process has begun well in advance to ensure the concerns and input of state, tribal, and local officials as well as other interested stakeholders are taken into account. The plan will be updated as appropriate to reflect progress in the development and implementation of the transportation system and to accommodate changes to the waste management system.

The National Transportation Plan is available at www.ocrwm.doe.gov. Comments may be posted on that Web site by no later than April 30, 2009.

For more information, go to www.ocrwm.doe.gov/info_library/newsroom/documents/
NTP_press_release_010509.pdf.

 

Nanotech Bill Requires Plan for Environmental and Safety Research

Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., chair of the House Committee on Science and Technology, has introduced H.R. 554, the “National Nanotechnology Initiative Amendments of 2009.” The bill — identical to H.R. 5940, which was overwhelmingly approved by the House of Representatives during the 110th Congress but not taken up by the Senate — would seek to strengthen and provide transparency to the federal research effort to understand the potential environmental, health and safety risks of nanotechnology.

This bill also requires the agencies participating in the National Nanotechnology Initiative to develop a plan for the environmental and safety research and a roadmap for implementing it, which includes explicit near-term and long-term goals and the funding required by goal and by agency.

For additional information, visit
http://science.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=2338. To read the legislation as introduced, go to http://thomas.loc.gov and search by bill number.

 

National Science Board Makes STEM Education Recommendations to Obama Administration

The National Science Board has recommended a set of actions for the new Administration to implement beginning in early 2009 in order to advance science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education for all American students. The goal of the recommendations is to nurture innovation and to ensure the long-term economic prosperity of the United States.

In the cover letter accompanying the recommendations, Steven C. Beering, chair of the National Science Board observes, “Our national economic prosperity and security require that we remain a world leader in science and technology. Pre-college STEM education is the foundation of that leadership and must be one of our highest priorities as a nation.”

In its recommendations, the board identifies the following six essential components for an effective STEM education system:

• A motivated public, students and their parents;

• Clear educational goals and assessments;

• High quality teachers;

• World-class resources and assistance for teachers;

• An early start in science; and,

• Communication, coordination, and collaboration.

To read the recommendations in their entirety, visit www.nsf.gov/nsb/publications/2009/01_10_stem_rec_obama.pdf.

 

NAE Honors Three for Outstanding Achievements

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has presented the engineering profession's highest honors for 2009 in recognition of three achievements that aided the expansion of computing power, led to the widespread production of antibiotics, and developed unique entrepreneurial-themed curricula for engineers.

Robert H. Dennard will be awarded the prestigious Charles Stark Draper Prize — a $500,000 annual award that honors engineers whose accomplishments are determined to have significantly benefited society — “for his invention and contributions to the development of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) now used universally in computers and other data processing and communication systems.” The availability of cheap, high-density memory that has come about due to the invention of the DRAM cell has enabled tremendous growth in computing over the past 40 years. The DRAM market is estimated to have totaled $420 billion in sales through 2008.

Elmer L. Gaden will be awarded the Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize — a $500,000 biennial award that recognizes a bioengineering achievement that significantly improves the human condition — “for pioneering the engineering and commercialization of biological systems for large-scale manufacturing of antibiotics and other drugs.” His breakthroughs in developing technologies that provide the proper amount of oxygen needed for the growth of antibiotics — known as “aerobic fermentation” — allowed the drugs to be inexpensively manufactured and widely available.

Thomas H. Byers and Tina L. Seelig will share the Bernard M. Gordon Prize — a $500,000 award annually given that recognizes innovation in engineering and technology education — “for pioneering, continually developing, and tirelessly disseminating technology entrepreneurship education resources for engineering students and educators around the world.” The two are being recognized for their work with the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) at Stanford University. The STVP is an education center that provides students across the university with entrepreneurial skills needed to use innovations to solve major world problems, with an emphasis on the environment, human health, and information technology.

The prizes will be presented at a gala dinner in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 17.

For more detailed information, visit www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.
aspx?RecordID=01052009.

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Contact ASME Government Relations for more information:

Kathryn Holmes, director, ASME Government Relations: (202) 785-7390; e-mail holmesk@asme.org.

Melissa Carl, government relations representative: (202) 785-7380; e-mail carlm@asme.org.

Anthony Quinn, government relations representative: (202) 785-7392; e-mail quinna@asme.org.

Robert Rains, government relations associate: (202) 785-7483; e-mail rainsr@asme.org.

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