Augustine Concerns
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
- 2:34 PM
I have written before about the report from the National Academy committee Chaired by Norm Augustine. He has just published an article in Forbes that illustrates the problems we are facing. I have a quote forom the article below:
"The resulting report, titled Rising Above the Gathering Storm, concluded that without both a dramatic increase in investment in basic research and reform of the nation's K-12 educational system, America's children are likely to have a lower standard of living than their parents.
The report's warning did not go unheeded.
A new research university is scheduled to launch soon with a day-one endowment of $10 billion, equal to what it took MIT 142 years to accumulate. Next year, over 200,000 students will study abroad, mostly in the fields of science and engineering, often under government-provided scholarships. Government investment in nondefense R&D is set to increase by 25% over the next few years.
A multi-year initiative is under way to make the country a global nanotechnology hub. The world's most powerful particle accelerator will begin operation this year. And a high-level commission will conduct a followup to the Gathering Storm study with the objective of creating more jobs at home.
The problem is that these actions were taken by Saudi Arabia, China, the U.K., India, Switzerland and Australia, respectively. As chair of the committee that wrote Gathering Storm, I have been asked to speak about its findings from Japan to Canada and from Australia to Europe. But what about America?"
I have also pointed out that IEEE-USA, along with several other high tech organizations, has been extensively lobbying for a supplemental appropriation to, at least, partially fund the authorization legislation passed to implement the recommendations of the "Gathering Storm" report for 2008. We are also talking to Congress about insuring that the appropriations are put in place for 2009. We plan to continue this activity for the forseeable future.
Those who would like to read the Augustine article can see it at http://www.forbes.com/2008/03/21/norman-augustine-education-oped-cx_nra_0324augustine.html
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Science Debate 08
Monday, March 24, 2008
- 1:54 PM
I have blogged about the proposed science debate between the presidential candidates. The Philadelphia Inquirer published an OpEd by Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in which he listed a number of questions that could be addressed in such a debate. It is to long to be included here but I would like to quote some that IEEE-USA has had an ongoing interest. Dr. Leshner notes that a leader like Jefferson would see we are in the midst of a scientific and technological revolution, facing both daunting challenges and incredible opportunities. America's most pressing problems all involve science and engineering to crucial degrees. Here are some issues:
EDUCATION: a comparison of 15-year-olds in 30 wealthy nations found that average science scores among U.S. students ranked 17th, while average U.S. math scores ranked 24th. Should the No Child Left Behind Act be modified to prepare U.S. students better for the 21st-century workforce? Could national science standards improve U.S. students' performance?
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING WORKFORCE: Business and science leaders worry that America won't produce enough good scientists, engineer and technicians to compete in the future innovation economy, How would you inspire students and recruit them?
SPACE EXPLORATION: Is money being well-spent on America's space program? What goals should the program pursue? Do you favor human missions to the moon and Mars?
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Funding for 08 Science Programs
Thursday, March 20, 2008
- 11:54 AM
IEEE-USA as part of the Innovation Task Force has supported a letter urging emergency funding in a FY '08 Supplemental Bill for Critical Science programs. The letter was signed by 8 Senators and it was sent to the Senate appropriations leaders. The Senators are Alexander (R), Bingaman (D), Corker (R), Domenici (R), Durbin (R), Feinstein (D), Kennedy (D), and Schumer (D).
The request was that $350M be provided for key federal research agencies; $250M for the Department of Energy Office of Science and $100M for the National Science Foundation. It is characterized as an affordable and critical way to stimulate our slowing economy in the short run by preserving many of our most strategic jobs, and it would help to lay the groundwork for a robust economy.
This action was one of the important messages delivered by IEEE-USA members during the Congressional Visits Day on March 4 and 5.
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STEM Initiatives
Monday, March 17, 2008
- 9:02 AM
In the February 22 edition of Science Magazine there was an article that indicated that several companies were pursuing projects that they hope will improve math and science education in U.S. schools. I have been aware of some of these initiatives for some time and I note that this is an important set of initiatives that offer hope of improving the U.S. performance in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math ((STEM) in Washington, DC jargon).
The article mentioned several initiatives. I will only mention one and will add information from other sources. Boeing spends ~$21M per year on education at all levels. It supports dozens of programs that have attracted national attention, including the Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform project in Washington state and has recently ramped up a preschool learning initiative. They support district wide math reform in Chicago and Seattle and they support a national program to train principals in urban schools systems. Boeing policy is to stay involved after the money is handed out.
Lockheed Martin also has a program. It's Engineers in the Classroom program supports the Project Lead The Way pre-engineering curriculum at high school and technology curriculum at middle school./ Project Lead The Way is a non-profit organization that provides the de facto National standard for pre-engineering curriculum.
LM also supports direct student engagement through classroom visits as guest lecturers fro specific programs. LM engineers coach extracurricular activities such as the IEEE-USA Future Cities, the FIRST Robotics and the Team America Rocketry Challenge. LM also offers Lockheed Martin Engineers in the Classroom Scholarship for graduating seniors of Project Lead The Way.
The Region 6 Orange County Section of IEEE under the leadership of R Sampath, Chair, is working with the state of California on a program called Engineers to Educators (E2E). The purpose is to provide better STEM education in California high schools and utilize available engineers e.g. retired. The ultimate goal is to provide fully credentialed engineers to teach STEM subjects. This program has been favorably received by the state although, as yet, the budget required to make it a reality has not come to pass.
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Science Debate o8
Saturday, March 15, 2008
- 4:38 PM
I have been a part of Science Debate 08 for some time. The purpose is to sponsor a debate between the Presidential candidates on the role of science and engineering in their administrations. The organization has a number of our most visible scientists, engineers and politicians. The nominal leaders are Congressmen Rush Holt and Vern Ehlers. Both are Ph.D. Physicists and are very active on high tech issues in the Congress. Science Debate 08 held a press conference in Philadelphia on Friday. The results are below:
"Every Nobel laureate we've spoken to has said the same thing: the next four to eight years are critical and the next president has the potential to determine the future health of all life on earth.
Last Tuesday Bill Gates testified before Congress saying that on the economic front, America "is at a crossroads" and will almost certainly become a second-rate economy without massive attention to science & engineering in schools and changes in government policies toward innovation.
These are dire words from people who are normally cautious in language, and they are just two of the major questions that are getting virtually no discussion in our electoral process.
So on March 14, we held a high-powered press conference in Philadelphia, arguing that Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama have a moral obligation to debate these issues. It was attended by several TV and radio crews, print journalists, supporters and some terrific kids from a local science magnet high school. After all, they're the ones that are going to have to live with our failed policies."
We hope to have a debate on April 19 although the condidates have not responded to our request yet. For details on this initiative see http://www.sciencedebate2008.com/
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