IEEE-USA Eye on Washington No. 15, August 2009

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Vol. 2009, No. 15 ( Summer Recess, August 2009)
125 Years of Innovation and Ingenuity

CAPITOL HILL

David Kappos Confirmed as Patent and Trademark Office Director

THE WHITE HOUSE

First Meeting of the Obama Administration's PCAST

FEDERAL AGENCY ACTIVITY

The Energy Conversation

REPORTS, DOCUMENTS OF NOTE & INFO RESOURCES

Bipartisan Panel of Industry, NGO and Academic Experts Proposes New Rules for Science in Federal Regulation

Pew Finds That Americans Think Science is Good For Society

U.S. STATES

AWARDS & GRANTS

Nominations Open for New Award Recognizing Outstanding Researcher-Entrepreneurs

Entries Invited for Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability

LATEST IEEE-USA & IEEE ACTIVITIES

The 2010 IEEE-USA Congressional Fellows Will Be Here Soon

The End of Another Great Summer - WISE 2009 Internships Are Complete

IEEE-USA Commends DOE's $2.4 Billion Grants to Accelerate Development of Electric Vehicles, Components

Sustainable Energy, S&T Policy among Government Documents Available through IEEE-USA E-Books

IEEE-USA 2009 Engineering Mass Media Fellows

CAPITOL HILL

David Kappos Confirmed as Patent and Trademark Office Director

In one of their last acts before Congress left for their summer recess, the Senate confirmed David Kappos as the new Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said, "It's no secret that the agency currently faces significant and persistent challenges, but David is the right person to meet them and carry out my top priority for the USPTO -- dramatically reducing the unacceptably long time it takes to process patent applications."

Over a 20-year career, David Kappos has accrued deep knowledge of the patent system and broad respect from professionals across the field - including the biotech, life sciences and high tech sectors. Most recently, he was the vice president and assistant general counsel for intellectual property at IBM. Specifically, Kappos managed IBM's patent and trademark portfolios - protecting and licensing intellectual property worldwide. Kappos takes control of an office charged with incentivizing technological advancement, and helping businesses protect their investments, promote their goods and safeguard against deception in the marketplace. The PTO continues to deal with a patent application backlog of more than 770,000, long waiting periods for patent review, outdated information technology systems and an application process badly in need of reform.

Recently, Kappos served on the Board of Directors of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Intellectual Property Owners Association, and the International Intellectual Property Society. He was also the Vice President of the Intellectual Property Owners Association and has held various leadership positions in intellectual property law associations in Asia and the U.S.

Kappos received his bachelor's degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California-Davis in 1983, and his law degree from the University of California Berkeley in 1990. He joined IBM in 1983 as a development engineer and has served in a variety of roles before taking his current position, including intellectual property law attorney in IBM's Storage Division and Litigation group, IP Law Counsel in IBM's Software Group, assistant general counsel for IBM Asia/Pacific, IBM Corporate Counsel and assistant general counsel.

THE WHITE HOUSE

First Meeting of the Obama Administration's PCAST

6 AUG: John Holdren, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) launched the first meeting of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) under the new Administration. During two days of meetings, PCAST discussed topics ranging from healthcare to science education to climate change. Holdren said that the President is overwhelmingly supportive of, and interested in science, and asked the scientific community to step forward to work with policy makers on areas of national interest.

"PCAST is an advisory group of the nation's leading scientists, engineers, and innovators appointed by the President to augment the science and technology advice that he gets from inside the White House from cabinet departments and other federal agencies," said Holdren. "The Administration needs to reach out to the expertise and the capacity of the wider scientific communities at our universities, our national laboratories, our businesses, and our NGOs. ...It really is a privilege to be working on these issues in an Administration that is led by a President who is so appreciative of the potential of science technology and innovation to help meet the great challenges that this country faces."

Highlights

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act put $20 billion toward integrating health information systems. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology characterized the current level of technology use in hospitals as "appalling," saying that just "10 percent of hospitals have meaningful electronic records." The administration hopes that digitizing and expanding the depth of medical records will reduce accidental drug interactions, and potentially provide important disease metrics.

Department of Energy Secretary Steve Chu commented on a wide range of energy-related topics and offered comments on draft PCAST reports. Regarding science education, Chu said, "...the problems [in STEM education] are well defined." The concern is in "the analysis of what the most effective methods are, especially in teaching." Turning his attention to issues PCAST does not control, but which need more thought, Chu discussed "the emphasis of wall street analysts on [energy technology] companies" and the decisions they make. Chu then related the story of the lithium ion battery created in the United States but commercialized by Japan-based technology and media conglomerate Sony. Chu asked rhetorically if the PCAST members could imagine a US utility company creating a new Bell Labs as is reportedly being done in China.

Regarding basic and applied defense research funding, Chu said, "The really basic 6.1 funding, which by the way was more visionary, and more daring and willing to take risks than NSF funding for many decades. That part the 6.1 funding is all but dried up in terms of that type of long term, visionary research."

Critiquing his own Department, Chu recommended that PCAST look into DOE's funding methods, "especially the applied areas." Saying that he had his own "strong views" on what DOE is doing wrong with applied research funding, Chu described a funding opportunity for solar energy that irked him. A $150 million competitively awarded program funded a project that planned to link a parabolic reflector to a multilayered semiconductor chip to concentrate sunlight. Chu said emphatically, "... give me a break. It was something we learned in high school."

The PCAST STEM Education Subcommittee reported on considerations to pursue studies of how best to increase the number of STEM teachers, curriculum goals, national standards, IT-based classrooms, and the role of community colleges. The Innovation and Technology Subcommittee will focus on advanced manufacturing and advanced computing and communication for their potential economic gains. The Economic Development Subcommittee may look at where the government can make more effective infrastructure investments. The International Security Subcommittee is interested in the potential hazards of space debris, issues related to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and related issues for weapons labs, and the national portfolio of S&T activities in support of Homeland Security. Finally, the Energy and Environment Subcommittee's list of possible areas of research include carbon offsets, climate observations, energy R&D, and climate adaptation.

FEDERAL AGENCY ACTIVITY

The Energy Conversation

The Energy Conversation is a network of "energy-smart" advocates working together to build the foundation for horizontal communications and whole of government solutions to complex energy problems. We're building "change at the speed of trust." Federal partners include the Departments of State, Energy, Treasury, Interior, Defense, Agriculture, Commerce, the CIA, NSF, OSTP, FERC, and more. The next event - The Power of Storage, A 21st Century Energy Revolution - will be 15 September 2009. Dr. Ken Lutz, a 2009 IEEE-USA COngressional Fellow will serve as one of the panelists.

REPORTS, DOCUMENTS OF NOTE & INFO RESOURCES

Bipartisan Panel of Industry, NGO and Academic Experts Proposes New Rules for Science in Federal Regulation

The Science for Policy Project (SPP), a bipartisan panel of top scientific and regulatory experts, released recommendations calling on the White House and federal agencies to make specific changes in the regulatory process to clearly distinguish scientific questions from policy disputes. Former Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), past chair of the House Science Committee, and Donald Kennedy, former editor of Science, co-chair the SPP panel. The complete list of panel members appears here.

"The fundamental theme of the report is that the Administration needs to put in place procedures to try to distinguish science questions from policy questions," said Boehlert. "Often, policy disputes are cast as fights over science. This damages the credibility of science and obscures the real issues that ought to be debated. For example, how much risk a substance poses to human health or the environment is a science question; how much risk is acceptable is a policy question."

"Our recommendations would make the regulatory process more rigorous and transparent," said Kennedy, who headed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under President Jimmy Carter. "That should lead to better, more thoughtful regulations and greater consensus when the government is considering whether or not to regulate. And perhaps most important, when there are disagreements, officials and the public will have a clearer sense of what they are about."

The report's recommendations include:

Agencies Should Empanel Scientific Advisory Committees Solely of Members with Relevant Scientific Expertise; Improve Disclosure and Transparency

Clarity regarding key science questions needed to write specific regulations.

Greater focus on science in advisory committees.

Greater transparency in committee appointment process.

Clearer conflict of interest rules.

Transparency in the use of scientific literature.

Greater participation in, and improved quality of peer review.

National Science Foundation Reports

NSF-AAAS Student Research Conference Underlines the Importance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Historically black colleges and universities play a significant-but often unrecognized-role in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education of minority students in the United States, producing scientists and engineers ready to apply their education to the important problems of the day.

Congressional Research Service

Health Care Reform: An Introduction (29 July 2009)

Pew Finds That Americans Think Science is Good For Society

A new report by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press in collaboration with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) found that the majority of Americans think "science has had a positive effect on society" and that science has made life easier for most people. There is broad public support for government investments in science as "large majorities of the public think that government investments in basic scientific research (73 percent) and engineering and technology (74 percent) pay off in the long run, and 60 percent says that government investment in research is essential for scientific progress." Both sides of the political spectrum have positive views, although Democrats (80 percent) are more likely than Republicans (68 percent) to say that government investments in basic science pay off in the long term. Despite the rosy view of science from the public, the majority of scientists in turn see the public and the media as impediments to the advancement of science. Fully 85 percent of scientists see the public's lack of scientific knowledge as a major problem, and over 75 percent say a major problem for science is that news reports fail to distinguish between findings that are well-founded and those that are not.

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 & GRANTS

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.

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.

Nominations Open for New Award Recognizing Outstanding Researcher-Entrepreneurs - The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the National Postdoctoral Association announced that they are accepting nominations for the Outstanding Postdoctoral Entrepreneur Award, which recognizes a researcher who has successfully brought his or her discovery to market. Nominees must have completed postdoctoral training in the United States and founded companies to commercialize their scientific discoveries. (To learn more about eligibility requirements for the award, go here.) The winner of the award, which includes a $10,000 honorarium, will be announced at the NPA's annual meeting in March 2010 in Philadelphia. Learn more about the Outstanding Postdoctoral Entrepreneur Award. Click here for the nomination form. Nominations must be submitted electronically or by mail by 2 November 2009.

Entries Invited for Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability

Funded by the Lemelson Foundation and administered by MIT's School of Engineering, the Lemelson-MIT Program recognizes outstanding inventors, encourages sustainable new solutions to real-world problems, and enables and inspires young people to pursue creative lives and careers through invention. Deadline: 6 October 2009

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Opportunities - The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) (Public Law 111-8) appropriates significant federal funding for technology-related programs in areas identified by IEEE-USA as being of high priority for strengthening the nation's innovation infrastructure and ensuring its long-term economic competitiveness. To stimulate the economy, funds are being distributed as quickly as possible, using existing federal programs as funding outlets where possible. This webpage provides information and links on these funding opportunities as a resource for IEEE members and their companies. Additional information is available on-line at Recovery.Gov. Members should also look to funds distributed through their respective state governments.

LATEST IEEE-USA & IEEE ACTIVITIES

Public Policy Priority Issues (111th Congress, 1st Session, 2009)
Position Statements - The statements identify important technical or engineering career-related aspects of public policy issues deemed to be of concern to or affecting IEEE's U.S. members; and 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.

The 2010 IEEE-USA Congressional Fellows Will Be Here Soon

In May, the Government Fellows Committee chose the 2010 IEEE-USA Government Fellows. Their fellowships will officially begin in the new year, however, they arrive in Washington next week to participate in the annual AAAS fellows training and orientation events. Our new fellows are:

CONGRESSIONAL FELLOWS:

Dr. L. Jean Camp, Bloomington, IN - Jean has been a member of IEEE since 1987 and a senior member since 1999. She received a PhD in engineering and public policy from Carnegie Mellon University, and an MSEE and BSEE/ BA Math from University of NC – Chapel Hill. Jean current works as an associate professor of informatics at Indiana University. Prior to her current position, Jean taught at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, she worked as a visiting scientist at the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science, and she held research positions at CMU's Software Engineering and Information Networking Institutes. Jean holds several computer patents and has published books on identity theft and information security. She is a former member of the IEEE-USA Intellectual Property Policy Committee, a current member of the Committee on Communications and Information Policy, and she has participated in the annual IEEE-USA Congressional Visits Day. She has also been a member of ACM's Task Force on Job Migration.

Dr. John “Jack” Cederquist, Ann Arbor, MI - Jack has been a member of IEEE since 1981 and a senior member since 2008. He received his PhD in electrical engineering from the University of California, San Diego in 1980, and his MS in applied physics from the same school in 1977. He also has a BA in physics from Pomona College. Jack is currently a distinguished member of the technical staff at General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems. His areas of research include optical remote sensing, particularly airborne and ground-based long wave infrared hyperspectral imaging sensor systems. In addition to IEEE, he is a member of the Optical Society of America, SPIE and IEEE’s Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society. He is a member of the IEEE-USA Research & Development Policy Committee and has participated in Science, Engineering and Technology Policy Congressional Visits Days. His main policy interests are federal basic and applied research and development funding and K-12 STEM education.

STATE DEPARTMENT FELLOW:

Dr. Norman Lerner, Arlington, VA – Norm has been an IEEE member since 1958. He became a senior members in 2001 and a life member in 2002. He received a PhD in math/ economics from American University, and MBA in finance from Columbia University and a BS in electrical engineering from MIT. Since 1970, Norm has been president of TRANSCOMM, a consulting organization specializing in the solutions of domestic and international financial, economic and business development problems of high technology industries, with particular emphasis in telecommunications, energy and postal industries. He is also the company’s founder. Norm has focused his company's efforts on telecommunications projects in more than 25 countries, especially Latin America. He has also served as an adjunct professor of management science and technology at George Washington University, and a guest lecturer at the Inter-American Defense College. Prior to forming TRANSCOMM, Norm developed techno-economic policy in the Executive Office of the President of the United States, Office of Telecommunications Policy. Norm is a licensed professional engineer in VA, HI and NY, and a member of the IEEE Communications Society. He is also a credentialed journalist and has written for Frequencia Magazine and Telepress LatinoAmerica.

The End of Another Great Summer - WISE 2009 Internships Are Complete

The Summer 2009 WISE program closed on August 5th when the WISE interns delivered their final presentations in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill. To view their power point presentations and read their final reports, please visit the Journal of Engineering & Public Policy.

2009 IEEE WISE Interns with 2009 IEEE-USA Congressional Fellow Tom Lee
(L. to R.) Steve McGill, Milad Alemohammad, Tom Lee, Ian Hoffbeck)

Steve McGill and Ian Hoffbeck with 2009 IEEE-USA Congressional Fellow Ken Lutz

IEEE-USA Commends DOE's $2.4 Billion Grants to Accelerate Development of Electric Vehicles, Components - IEEE-USA commends the Department of Energy for awarding $2.4 billion in grants to fund 48 new advanced battery and electric drive projects.

"We welcome these investments, because electrifying transportation addresses two of our greatest needs: reducing our consumption of petroleum and limiting the release of greenhouse gases," IEEE-USA President Gordon Day said.

The grants are the largest single investment in advanced battery technology for hybrid and electric-drive vehicles. When coupled with an expected $2.4 billion in cost share from the grant awardees, they are expected to create thousands of jobs in the U.S. battery and automotive industries. General Motors will receive about $241 million, Ford will get nearly $100 million and Chrysler $70 million. IEEE-USA called for electrifying the transportation system through widespread deployment of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in its January "National Energy Policy Recommendations." The President announced the grants on August 5th.

Sustainable Energy, S&T Policy among Government Documents Available through IEEE-USA E-Books

Did you know that the federal government publishes numerous documents and reports that are available to the general public? IEEE-USA has packaged some of these into e-books and is making them available free to IEEE members. Here are the latest titles:

"Building a Sustainable Energy Future Draft Report" (10 April 2009), prepared by the National Science Board, offers key findings, recommendations to the U.S. government, and guidance to the National Science Foundation (NSF) on how to transform the nation to a sustainable energy economy.

"Science and Technology Policymaking: A Primer" (27 May 2009), prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), is an introductory guide for members of Congress and their staff. It provides an overview of U.S. science and technology policymaking, describes the processes and key players that contribute to that policy, and concludes by highlighting the opportunities and challenges facing the current S&T policy decision making process.

"The President's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP): Issues for Congress" (3 June 2009) is a background report prepared by CRS for Congress. It provides a brief history of OSTP and issues and options for Congress regarding the office. These include, among others, the title, rank, roles and responsibilities of the OSTP director, and whether OSTP should remain within the Executive Office of the President.

Government documents and reports can be downloaded at www.ieeeusa.org/communications/ebooks for free to IEEE members. The nonmember price is $9.95. To purchase IEEE members-only products and to receive the member discount on eligible products, members must log in with their IEEE Web Account.

IEEE-USA 2009 Engineering Mass Media Fellows

19 AUG: Covering sci-tech subjects, from clean coal and a new type of American car to disputed Web information and a Wii for seniors, IEEE-USA Engineering Mass Media Fellows David Lukofsky and Nicholas Diakopoulos completed their 10-week summer media internships this week.

Lukofsky reported on sci-tech at WOSU-FM, a public radio station in Columbus, Ohio; and Diakopoulos, at the Sacramento (Calif.) Bee. Lukofsky received his Ph.D. in engineering physics from Dartmouth College in June; and Diakopoulos, his Ph.D. in computer science from Georgia Tech.

At the midpoint of his reporting assignment this summer at WOSU-FM, Lukofsky wrote: "I mostly learn by following my coworkers' example. My most surprising observation was how quickly the reporters go from deciding on a story idea, to making phone calls, to bolting out the door for interviews. Grad school taught me to be prudent in my approach. This newsroom teaches me to be efficient." He added: "Most of my interviewees are scientists. I feel at ease with them, and enjoy the opportunity to talk to them about their new idea, process or discovery.… Being a scientist myself helps me enter their world. I think what allows this to occur is our shared experience of the 'scientific failure.' The past years spent in a lab have taught me that success in science hinges on a healthy approach to failure."

Also at the halfway point of his reporting stint at The Bee, Diakopoulos wrote: "Programming skills are indeed in heavy demand in the newsroom. There are tons of opportunities for adding interactive content to the Web site to either go with a print story or sometimes even stand on its own.… The editors generally seem quite excited by the new storytelling opportunities afforded by computational and interactive media ... [and] I've been working with the online Web site team to help out with their redesign, since my degree is in human computer interaction." He added: "Of course, I've also had some great opportunities to do straight-up reporting and writing stories."

Bee Assistant Managing Editor Scott Lebar praised Diakopoulos as "a splendid addition to our staff for the summer," adding that "he stimulated conversation and ideas...a dedicated journalist who wanted to know what the future held."

Lukofsky described the WOSU-FM internship as "the perfect springboard to the media and policy experience [that] I need for my dream job -- to act as the messenger who informs members of government on sci-tech issues." Diakopoulos cited garnering "valuable knowledge of journalism that will help me innovate better technologies for journalists of the future." To see the IEEE-USA Engineering Mass Media Fellows' reports:

David Lukofsky at OSU-FM

Can one exist without the other: light bulbs and mercury?

Is clean coal the solution?

A new type of American car

Scientists test strength of spider silk

Nicholas Diakopoulos at Sacramento Bee

Intel project seeks to mark disputed Web information

For seniors, a Wii may be a win-win: fun and brain-nourishing

Univ. of Calif. Davis camp offers summer tech fun

Crowd sourcing site lets Web users make a few bucks

Since 2000, 13 U.S. IEEE undergraduate and graduate students have served as IEEE-USA Engineering Mass Media Fellows, helping journalists in print and broadcast fields communicate authoritatively to the public about science, engineering and technology. IEEE-USA is the only engineering organization in the Mass Media Fellows program, which is administered by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). IEEE-USA is also one of a smaller group of sponsoring societies that supports more than one Fellow. From 2006-08, AAAS Science & Engineering Mass Media Fellows produced more than 600 first-run news stories on science and technology. Entering its 35th year in 2009, more than 550 Fellows have participated.

As a result of IEEE-USA's participation in the program, volunteers and staff have established contact with key journalists to promote IEEE-USA activities. IEEE-USA Communications Committee Chair Abby Vogel and former Chair Allan Schell helped to select the organization's 2009 Fellows. In 2005, Vogel was an IEEE-USA Engineering Mass Media Fellow at the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

IEEE-USA Stimulus Webpage -The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) (Public Law 111-8) appropriates significant federal funding for technology-related programs in areas identified by IEEE-USA as being of high priority for strengthening the nation's innovation infrastructure and ensuring its long-term economic competitiveness. To stimulate the economy, funds are being distributed as quickly as possible, using existing federal programs as funding outlets where possible. This webpage provides information and links on these funding opportunities as a resource for IEEE members and their companies. Additional information is available on-line at Recovery.Gov. Members should also look to funds distributed through their respective state governments.

Got 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.

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