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Vol. 2010, No. 14 (28 December 2010)

CAPITOL HILL

Intellectual Property to Have Dedicated Subcommittee in House Judiciary

Despite GOP Worries Over Spending and Threats to Cut Science Funding, House Approves the American COMPETES Reauthorization

Ralph Hall Named Chair of House Science Committee; Eddie Bernice Johnson to be Ranking member

THE WHITE HOUSE

OSTP Memo - Scientific Integrity: Fueling Innovation, Building Public Trust

FEDERAL AGENCY ACTIVITY

FCC Passes Net Neutrality Proposal

DOE Finalizes $1.45B Loan Guarantee for One of the World's Largest Solar Generation Plants = 250 Megawatts of Renewable Power & Nearly 1,700 Jobs

LATEST IEEE-USA & IEEE ACTIVITIES

U.S. STATES

AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS & GRANTS

IEEE-USA 2012 Government Fellowships

California Science and Technology Policy Fellowships

NIST ARRA Fellowship Program

NIST Summer Research Program

REPORTS, DOCUMENTS OF NOTE & INFO RESOURCES

2011 Global R&D Funding Forecast

CAPITOL HILL

Intellectual Property to Have Dedicated Subcommittee in House Judiciary

Incoming House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) will revive the subcommittee focused on intellectual property issues. His predecessor John Conyers (D-Mich.) handled the IP issues at the full-committee level.

"The protection of America's intellectual property is critical to our economic growth, job creation and ability to compete in the global marketplace," Smith said in a statement. “A separate IP subcommittee will ensure that the committee remains focused on all aspects of intellectual property, including patent reform and copyright protections."

Smith has long made an overhaul of the nation's patent laws a top priority, and it is one of the few major issues where Republicans and Democrats have seen eye to eye. The new subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet will also have jurisdiction over antitrust law, an area currently under the Courts and Competition Policy Subcommittee. Smith said he would announce decisions about subcommittee chairmen in January. Robert Goodlatte ( R-Va.) is expected to chair the IP subcommittee.

Despite GOP Worries Over Spending and Threats to Cut Science Funding, House Approves the American COMPETES Reauthorization

In the last minutes of the 111th Congress, the House pushed through - H.R. 5116, the COMPETES Act (PL 110-69), a massive science and technology funding bill - by a vote of 228 to 130. COMPETES provides funds for programs that prepare students for high-skilled, high-paying jobs by improving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education; keeps basic research program budgets on a path to doubling at the Department of Energy Office of Science, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); reauthorizes the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E), which supports high-risk, high-reward transformational energy technology development; and provides loan guarantees "for a project that re-equips, expands, or establishes a manufacturing facility in the United States." On December 17th, the Senate approved its amended version of H. R. 5116, authorizing the S&T education and research programs at the NNSF, NIST and the Energy Department for three years instead of the House's five.

Though supportive of some investments in basic research and development (R&D) and STEM education, fiscally conservative Ralph Hall (R-Tex.), Chairman-elect of the House Science and Technology Committee, opposed this bill, raising numerous concerns over what he claimed to be new unnecessary programs and the hasty process by which the bill was brought under consideration. As the incoming Chairman of the committee with jurisdiction, Hall pledged to conduct rigorous oversight over the programs included in this bill, suggesting that it is more responsible to consider programs individually rather than in a large package.

"Science and technology are the fundamental movers of our economy," Hall said, "and if we want to remain globally competitive, this bill should be considered in smaller pieces and not on the last day of a lame duck Congressional session."

In a press release, IEEE-USA President Evelyn Hirt commended the House of Representatives for the COMPETES reauthorization. "This legislation is important for the United States as it competes to retain global leadership in technology innovation, research and math and science," Hirt said. "It will enhance needed economic growth and U.S. STEM education, while helping manufacturers become more competitive by supporting innovative manufacturing technologies."

Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), outgoing chairman of the House Science & Technology Committee, said that more than half of U.S. economic growth since the end of World War II in 1945 can be attributed to the development and deployment of new technologies. "These investments are the path toward sustainable economic recovery and growth and the path toward prosperity for the next 50 years," Gordon said. "There is an undeniable relationship between investments in R&D and the creation of jobs, the creation of companies, and economic growth."

"COMPETES," short for "Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education and Science," is based on recommendations outlined in the 2005 National Academies' report, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm." IEEE-USA, one of more than 750 organizations to endorse the legislation, worked to support its passage.

Ralph Hall Named Chair of House Science Committee; Eddie Bernice Johnson to be Ranking member

Ralph Hall (R-Tex.), has been name Chairman-elect of the House Science and Technology Committee. He released the names of his vice chairs.

"I am pleased to announce that Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) will serve as Vice Chair of the Committee on Science and Technology in the 112th Congress and that Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) will be Chairman of the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee. Both Members bring a wealth of knowledge and experience on climate change, energy independence, and other issues under the jurisdiction of the Committee.  Rep. Broun will continue the effective oversight and investigations that he has handled for the past two years.  Rep. Sensenbrenner's expertise as Ranking Member of the Select Committee on Global Warming and Energy Independence and as former Chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology will continue to be invaluable to the Committee."

Outgoing Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) said of Johnson, "I congratulate incoming Ranking Member Johnson. She's been a champion of STEM education, a tireless advocate for increasing participation across the STEM fields, and one of NASA's biggest supporters. I think the Committee will be well-served with her as Ranking Member. I know she's looking forward to working with incoming Chairman Ralph Hall (R-TX). I know he'll be a good Chairman, and I hope that they will work well together and continue the Committee's record of being able to work across the aisle to advance science, foster innovation, and support STEM education.   As I near retirement, I'm most proud of the Committee's bipartisan record—with 151 bills and resolutions passing the House and all receiving bipartisan support. I hope that new leadership will allow it to continue to be the Committee of good ideas and consensus."

THE WHITE HOUSE

FCC Passes Net Neutrality Proposal

The Democratic FCC Commissioners have approved, while the two Republicans members voted against Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski's net neutrality proposal. Republican Commissioners Robert McDowell and Attwell Baker voiced their opposition at this month's public meeting, calling it an unnecessary government takeover of the Internet.

The proposal aims to address concerns about how large Internet service providers manage their networks by creating new regulations. Certain members of Congress have also spoken out against the new rules and will likely perform a thorough examination when the GOP-controlled House convenes next year. If made into law, the rules will affect major corporate business plans as leading telecommunication firms and Internet companies, such as Google, continue to grow business efforts in the Internet video industry.

IEEE-USA supports reasonable network traffic management and the development of standards that enable transparent, non-discriminatory network management for the benefit of all who utilize and develop the Internet

OSTP Memo - Scientific Integrity: Fueling Innovation, Building Public Trust

Dr. John Holdren, OSTP director, issued a memorandum on scientific integrity to executive departments and federal agencies. Holdren says, "Science and technology have extraordinary potential to help America achieve a broad range of national goals, including sparking economic growth and job creation; allowing Americans to live longer, healthier lives; developing clean sources of energy that reduce our dependence on foreign oil; and protecting our environment."

FEDERAL AGENCY ACTIVITY

DOE Finalizes $1.45B Loan Guarantee for One of the World's Largest Solar Generation Plants = 250 Megawatts of Renewable Power & Nearly 1,700 Jobs

DEC 21: U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced a $1.45 billion loan guarantee for Abengoa Solar Inc.'s Solana project, the world's largest parabolic trough concentrating solar plant. Located near Gila Bend, Arizona, the 250-megawatt (MW) project is the first large-scale solar plant in the United States capable of storing energy it generates. Solana will produce enough energy to serve 70,000 households and will avoid the emissions of 475,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year compared to a natural gas burning power plant. Secretary Chu said, "As today's announcement and other recent announcements of completed loan guarantees for wind and solar projects demonstrate, the Department's loan program is gaining momentum, creating jobs in communities across the country while putting us on the path to a clean energy future."

Abengoa Solar Inc., the project sponsor, estimates that the Solana project will create between 1,600 to 1,700 new construction jobs and over 60 permanent jobs. The jobs created by the project will be located in Arizona and in neighboring states. To accommodate the project's need for over 900,000 mirrors, a mirror manufacturing facility will be built outside of Phoenix. As a result, the company anticipates the project will create additional direct investment in Arizona's economy. U.S. providers and manufacturers will supply 70 percent of Solana's components, such as mirrors, receiver tubes, and the heat transfer fluid. Electricity from the project will be sold through a long-term power purchase agreement with Arizona Public Service Company.

The Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office has issued loan guarantees or offered conditional commitments for loan guarantees to support 16 clean energy projects totaling nearly $16.5 billion. Together, the 16 projects will produce over 37 million megawatt-hours, enough clean energy to power over 3.3 million homes. Additional DOE-supported projects include the world's largest wind farm and a 2,200 MW nuclear power plant - the nation's first in three decades.

LATEST IEEE-USA & IEEE ACTIVITIES

  • Public Policy Priority Issues (111th Congress, 2nd Session, 2010)

  • Public Policy Position Statements on issues deemed to be of concern to or affecting IEEE's U.S. members. The statements make specific public policy recommendations for the consideration of Congress, the Executive Branch, the Judiciary, representatives of State and Local Government, and other interested groups and individuals, including IEEE members.

IEEE-USA E-Books - To see the latest E-Books, visit our online catalog which includes the 2010 IEEE-USA Salary & Fringe Benefits Survey, the 2010 Profile of IEEE Consultants and two new GovDocs.

Have an Idea For an IEEE-USA E-Book? - If you've got an idea for an e-book that will educate your fellow IEEE members on a particular topic of expertise, e-mail your e-book queries and ideas to IEEE-USA Publishing Manager Georgia Stelluto.

U.S. STATES

Stateline.org - If you like to keep up with what's going on in state politics, StateLine.org provides a good overview of the activities in all 50 state legislatures. Stateline.org's annual report on state trends and policy, "State of the States 2009" is now available. The report is full of helpful graphics and maps, in addition to reports on the most significant developments in the 50 states.

AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS & GRANTS

National Science Foundation Recent opportunities include:

Ethics Education in Science and Engineering (EESE) - The Ethics Education in Science and Engineering (EESE) program funds research and educational projects that improve ethics education in all fields of science and engineering that NSF supports, with priority consideration given to interdisciplinary, inter-institutional, and international contexts.  Although the primary focus is on improving ethics education for graduate students in NSF-funded fields, the proposed programs may benefit advanced undergraduates as well.

Cyberinfrastructure Training, Education, Advancement, and Mentoring for Our 21st Century Workforce (CI-TEAM) - This solicitation seeks three types of project proposals, all aimed at the preparation of a diverse, cyberinfrastructure-savvy science and engineering workforce:

a) Demonstration Projects are exploratory in nature and may be somewhat limited in scope and scale. Demonstration Projects have the potential to serve as exemplars for effective larger-scale implementation and diffusion activities in the future.
b) Implementation Projects are generally larger in scope or scale and draw on prior experience with the activities or the teams proposed.
c) Diffusion Projects are expected to inform and engage broad national and/or international audiences to build upon educational research and project outcomes to deploy promising educational strategies through cyberinfrastructure resources, models, and/or technologies.

IEEE-USA 2012 Government Fellowships

Each year, IEEE-USA sponsors three government fellowships for qualified IEEE members.  The fellows - chosen by the IEEE-USA Government Fellows Committee and confirmed by the Board - spend a year in Washington serving as advisers to the U.S. Congress and to key U.S. Department of State decision-makers. Known as either a Congressional Fellowship or an Engineering & Diplomacy Fellowship, this program links science, technology and engineering professionals with government, and provides a mechanism for IEEE's U.S. members to learn firsthand about the public policy process while imparting their knowledge and experience to policymakers. 2012 Application materials are now available. Deadline is 18 March 2011.

Application Kit for 2012 Congressional Fellowship

Application Kit for 2012 Engineering & Diplomacy (State Department) Fellowship

California Science and Technology Policy Fellowships

The California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for the 2011-2012 California Science and Technology Policy Fellowships based in Sacramento. The S&T Policy Fellowship, a unique one-year professional development opportunity, provides the selected fellows with hands-on experience working with the California Legislature to incorporate science and technology into public policy. Eligible applicants will be PhD-level (or equivalent) scientists and engineers who have a sincere interest in California current events, the state legislative process, and a strong desire to learn how policy decisions are made. Deadline for submission of applications is March 31, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. PST.

NIST ARRA Fellowship Program

With funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Measurement Science and Engineering Fellowship Program, NIST is accepting applications from undergraduate, graduate and post doctoral researchers in measurement science and engineering. While the program is administered at the University of Maryland, the main measurement and engineering activities will take place at NIST laboratories.We are currently accepting applications for Undergraduate, Graduate, Post-doctoral and Senior Fellowships. All applications received on or before January 15, 2011 will be considered for our third candidate pool.

NIST Summer Research Program

February is the deadline for students to apply for next summer's research program at NIST, colleges and universities need to plan ahead, since all applications from an institution are submitted together. The NIST SURF web page provides instructions to both students and their respective schools on applying to the program.

Get Involved in the National STEM Video Game Challenge

In September the President unveiled Change the Equation, an expansion of the Administration's Educate to Innovate campaign.  As part of this, the White House announced the National STEM Video Game Challenge, a competition aimed at motivating youth interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning by tapping into students' natural passions for playing and making video games. The first year of the Challenge features two separate, but complementary competitions:

  • The Youth Challenge engages middle-school students in STEM learning, 21st Century Literacy Skills, and Systems Thinking by challenging them to design original video games. A Best in Class Prize will be awarded in each of 14 different categories. Prize packages include a laptop, gaming subscriptions, and funds for the winner's school.
  • The Developer Challenge challenges emerging and experienced game developers to design mobile-based video games for young children (grades pre-K through 4th) that teach key STEM concepts and foster an interest in STEM subject areas.

Developers will compete for a Grand Prize of $50,000 for best developer submission, a Collegiate Prize of $25,000 for the best undergraduate or graduate student submission, and an Impact Prize of $25,000 for the best submission that has the greatest potential to reach underserved populations.  Additionally, a People's Choice Award will recognize the submission that garners the most votes through an online public poll.  The People's Choice Award winner will be invited to the Cooney Center Leadership forum in March 2011, all expenses paid. If you haven't submitted your entry already, take note:  The Challenge is accepting entries through January 5, 2011.  Complete guidelines and rules are available at www.stemchallenge.org/youthprize and www.cooneycenterprizes.org.

AAAS GrantsNet Express - A weekly American Association for the Advancement of Science listing of science funding opportunities from private foundations and organizations, and new U.S. government grant announcements in the sciences. AAAS will send GrantsNet by e-mail to AAAS member subscribers.

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Solicitations - The majority of EERE financial opportunities are for business, industry, and universities.

Grants.gov - The President's 2002 Fiscal Year Management Agenda established grants.gov as a central storehouse for information on over 1,000 grant programs. The site provides access to approximately $400 billion in annual awards. Most agencies, such as the DOE's Office of Science, use only grants.gov to list all funding opportunities. Other funding opportunities of interest include the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and NASA.

AAAS: Communicating Science, Tools for Scientists & Engineers - Scientists and engineers who foster information-sharing and respect between science and the public are essential for the public communication of and engagement with science. Although traditional scientific training typically does not prepare scientists and engineers to be effective communicators outside of academia, funding agencies are increasingly encouraging researchers to extend beyond peer-reviewed publishing and communicate their results directly to the greater public. In response to this need in science communications, the AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology has partnered with the National Science Foundation to provide resources for scientists and engineers, both online and through in-person workshops to help researchers communicate more broadly with the public.

REPORTS, DOCUMENTS OF NOTE & INFO RESOURCES

2011 Global R&D Funding Forecast

Battelle and R&D Magazine released the 2011 Global R&D Funding Forecast.  In addition to comparing the US investment in R&D to investments made by other nations, the report also includes a closer analysis of private investments in R&D in six key industries, including the life sciences, IT, electronics/computers, aerospace/defense/security, energy, and advanced materials.

Government Accountability Office

Telecommunications: Information on Participation in the Rural Health Care Pilot Program (E-supplement to GAO-11-27). GAO-11-25SP, November 17.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-27
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1127high.pdf

Public Health Information Technology: Additional Strategic Planning Needed to Guide HHS's Efforts to Establish Electronic Situational Awareness Capabilities. GAO-11-99, December 17.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-99
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1199high.pdf

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What's New @ IEEE-USA's Eye on Washington highlights important federal legislative and regulatory developments that affect U.S. engineers and their careers. In addition to this biweekly newsletter, subscribers receive legislative bulletins and action alerts on IEEE-USA priority issues, including: retirement security, employment benefits, research & development funding, computers and information policy, immigration reform, intellectual property protection and privacy of health/medical information.

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