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According to a recent interim report from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), local networks of experts can show communities how to bring more women and minorities to careers in science and engineering.

In a 90-minute debate on 21 June, telecommunications policy experts argued the resolution that: That the United States is lagging seriously behind other countries on broadband access and this is due primarily to a failure of U.S. telecom regulation.

Significant and consistent levels of federal funding for university-based research are necessary in order to help bolster U.S. global competitiveness and long-term economic health, according to a report released on 11 May by the Science Coalition.

Job market experts, including members of IEEE-USA’s Career and Workforce Policy Committee (CWPC), say they are cautiously optimistic about signs of recovery in American engineering labor markets, rebounding from the severe recession that has plagued the U.S. and world economies over the past two years.

The leadership of IEEE-USA has applauded the National Broadband Plan (NBP) recently introduced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), aimed at providing access to very high-speed broadband Internet service for all American homes and businesses.

Key members of Congress, as well as the U.S. aerospace engineering community, are expressing strong concerns over the Obama-Biden Administration’s Fiscal Year 2011 NASA budget, which proposes to make major changes in human space flight programs, including halting of the Constellation program.

Reauthorizing the landmark America COMPETES Act will be the top priority this year for the House Science and Technology Committee, according to Chairman Bart Gordon, D-Tenn.

An exciting "new age" in fusion energy research and development is now beckoning, including important advances expected to be achieved at the ITER international experimental reactor in France, fusion experts have testified before a congressional panel.

More than 1,000 nanotechnology-enabled products are already available to consumers around the world. Yet much remains remains unknown about nanotechnologies' environmental, health and safety impact. Some experts contend that NNI's EHS research needs to be strengthened through adoption of a “top-level, top-down” strategy.

The U.S. human spaceflight program currently appears to be on an “unsustainable trajectory,” according to a report by a 10-member expert panel chaired by Norman R. Augustine, retired chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp.

Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) has been serving as chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology since the start of the 110th Congress. He recently shared his thoughts with Today's Engineer on a number of important issues.

Congress and the Department of Energy are focusing intensified attention on the energy-water nexus, particularly in the context of efforts to develop advanced technologies which promise to substantially reduce water withdrawals and consumption by electric power plants.

Kristine L. Svinicki, a commissioner of the U.S. NRC, recently observed that “in the United States — and globally — there has been much discussion in recent years of a so-called ‘Nuclear Renaissance.’ Where does IEEE-USA stand?

Key members of Congress along with high-tech industry executives are voicing qualified support for President Barack Obama’s cybersecurity initiatives, particularly his decision to establish a new White House office headed by a so-called “Cybersecurity Czar.”

A new National Research Council report says the United States should establish clear national policy on resorting to cyberattack, while at the same time continuing to develop cyberwarfare capabilities in this sensitive area.

IEEE-USA’s efforts to advocate greater use of modern IT in America’s health care system are in substantial alignment with initiatives being mapped out by the Obama Administration, which is aiming to computerize the country’s health records within five years.

President Barack Obama’s appointees to key science and technology positions, along with his issuance of an official memorandum directing that the integrity of federal S&T activities be carefully safeguarded, have been drawing strong praise from the policy community, including IEEE-USA leaders.

Expert witnesses, including two IEEE members, testified before the House Science and Technology Committee to voice support for draft legislation to assist federal efforts aimed at scoping out and devising strategies for dealing with serious challenges posed by e-waste.

A newly released National Academies report, prepared by a high-powered ad hoc study committee, contends that America’s Cold War-era systems of national security export controls and visa restrictions on foreign scientists and engineers are broken and need to be substantially revamped.

While Congress prepares a renewed focus on government programs to assist science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, several major American corporations are pumping sizeable amounts of money into schools around the country to provide further support for initiatives to strengthen STEM education.

An academic expert on DARPA — the gang that brought us the Internet, the laser and the PC — says that while the agency continues to be a target of concern and criticism, it still may be premature to evaluate its overall performance since Dr. Tony Tether took charge in 2001.

The November / December 2008 issue of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine which will focus on protecting the health care & public health critical infrastructure.

Stakeholders including manufacturers, retailers, recyclers and environmental organizations, whose views are presented in a recently released Commerce Department report, “agreed that a uniform national system of electronics recycling is preferable to a patchwork of differing state systems.”

The National Science Foundation is set to launch a major reorganization of its Directorate for Engineering, including the addition of cyber systems to the division of Electrical and Communications Systems, as well as creation of a new crosscutting Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation.

Partnerships, cooperation and sharing lessons learned were key watchwords during a two-day government-industry workshop bringing together dozens of representatives from regional, state and local initiatives across the United States that aim to help promote and support the development of nanotechnology.

When it comes to IPv6, Europe and Asia are leaving the United States in the dust.

Two significant, IEEE-USA-supported provisions make it into the final law.

IEEE-USA and the IEEE Computer Society Task Force on Information Assurance sponsored a 26 July forum to discuss a February 2005 Report by the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee.

IEEE-USA and other major professional technical organizations, together with key members of Congress and prominent computer scientists and engineers, have criticized the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for cutting back its support of basic, open-ended, “blue-sky” computing research at U.S. universities.

Since becoming House Science Committee chair in January 2001, Rep. Sherwood Boehlert has emerged as an outspoken champion of science and technology programs on Capitol Hill. TE recently sat down with Boehlert, to discuss his thoughts on the S&T budget, the Hubble space telescope, outsourcing of U.S. high-tech jobs, and other issues.

A new strategic plan for the National Nanotechnology Initiative sizes up the first five years of the government's R&D effort as a success, and lays out an ambitious agenda for continuing development of nanotechnology over the next five to 10 years. The new strategic plan includes facilitating transfer of new technologies into products for economic growth, jobs and other public benefit.

Beyond agreeing on broad technology issues, President George Bush and Senator John Kerry differ significantly on many of the specific government programs and initiatives in place or needed to reap maximum benefits from advanced technology development. How do their stands compare with IEEE-USA’s positions?

Long-time IEEE member Bob Krause, who is currently on a consulting assignment in Baghdad, Iraq, has taken on a personal project on behalf of the global engineering profession. Krause is helping Iraqi electrical and electronics engineers — repressed for decades under Saddam Hussein’s regime — to join or rejoin IEEE and form their own national Section.