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November
2007 |
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With strong bipartisan support, the Senate passed the FY2008 Labor-HHS-Education spending bill on October 23. The bill (HR 3043) – the largest annual appropriations measure – includes $606 billion ($149.9 billion is discretionary spending — a $5.4 billion increase from fiscal 2007, and $9.6 billion more than Bush requested). However, despite the veto-proof margin by which the bill passed (75-19), Republican leaders remain convinced that they have the votes to sustain an expected presidential veto. The Senate bill provides $1.9 billion less in discretionary spending than the House version. Conference negotiations between the House and Senate are expected to begin soon. President Bush has promised to veto the bill. Democrats hope to force the president to accept added funding for education and health research—Democratic priorities—in exchange for defense funding that presidential aides have characterized as “must-pass.” HOUSE PASSES SHORT-TERM EXTENSIONS FOR HIGHER ED BILLS Both houses of Congress approved yet another temporary extension of the Higher Education Act (HR 3927) on October 30, buying lawmakers several months to complete work on a permanent extension of the law governing higher education programs and federal financial aid. The bill would also narrow the qualifying criteria of nonprofit lenders to weed out entities controlled by for-profit companies. It would extend programs under the law through March 31, 2008. Live Green or Die Sustainable: (adj.) using resources so they are not depleted or permanently damaged Growing up in Oregon, Brianna Dorie never cared about eco-buzzwords. But she did treasure the environment—to the point it determined her career path. “I actually decided to become an environmental engineer after learning about the hole in the ozone layer as a kid,” recalls Dorie, now a first-year doctoral student in environmental engineering at Purdue University, where she’s researching the public-health impact of fire retardants in electronics and other products. “I thought at an early age that it could be fixed.” Dorie, a University of Portland civil engineering graduate with a master’s in environmental engineering from the University of Arizona, is among a new generation of students eager to protect the planet. Their favored tool: green engineering. The eco-friendly focus has prompted the nation’s engineering schools to examine their offerings and rethink overall educational philosophies to give conservation and sustainability the high priority the public and industry now demand. Purdue’s College of Engineering is a leader in revamping the curriculum to emphasize environmental considerations across disciplines. The goal is to infuse sustainability principles throughout courses and projects. Purdue’s dean, Leah H. Jamieson, Ransburg Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, sees the new eco-focus as “an opportunity for engineering and science to be perceived as a profession that is very squarely in the realm of societal responsibility and meeting global challenges.” Engineers have enhanced life with sewer systems and power grids. Now, “sustainability is part of the global discussion,” notes Jamieson. Such “grand challenges for humanity” help draw students like Dorie to engineering. Her research, for instance, focuses on public policy and the life cycle of brominated flame retardants, ubiquitous organic compounds that prevent pajamas, electronics and other items from catching fire. Elevated levels have been found in mammals, raising concerns about their toxicological effects. Some countries and states have banned their use. By analyzing the environmental impact of these “micropollutants” from manufacture through use, recycling and disposal, Dorie hopes to discover ways to reduce their potential harm. Every year, Jamieson encounters students like Dorie who “want to improve the world.” Many once hesitated to speak up for fear of ridicule. Today’s campus, says Jamieson, is far more welcoming. Revamped, multidisciplinary courses have made students more aware of the role their work can play in tackling global problems. At Purdue’s Global Sustainable Industrial Systems research center, for instance, projects include analyzing the ecological impact of everything from manufacturing to political processes. “There’s a real climate of collaboration right now,” says Jamieson, who cites such factors as the increase in public interest, industry’s need to meet environmental regulations and concerns over the availability and cost of oil and gas. Biofuels research is a prime example of this growing cooperation. It not only brings together such diverse disciplines as agricultural science, chemistry and engineering, but government and industry as well. To foster collaboration and spur more engineering schools to address environmental issues, the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency have funded research to develop benchmarks, methods and other best practices related to teaching sustainability. A $2 million federal grant, for example, supported the development of Carnegie Mellon University’s new Center for Sustainable Engineering (CSE)—a partnership with the University of Texas at Austin and Arizona State University. The goal: help future engineers preserve scarce resources through faculty workshops, peer-reviewed educational materials and benchmarks to identify high-quality course content at the nation’s 1,500 engineering programs. “We are looking at all sustainable engineering programs to see what’s out there, which schools have them and to determine best practices,” explains Carnegie Mellon civil and environmental engineering professor Cliff Davidson, CSE co-principal investigator. Engineers can no longer ignore arenas beyond their specialty, he says. Thus, CSE’s partner institutions push students and faculty to develop solutions across traditional department lines. For example, Carnegie Mellon recently established a program to work with local leaders and businesses to restore abandoned industrial sites and other polluted “brownfields.” Part of the difficulty in promoting sustainable
engineering, says CSE co-principal investigator Braden Allenby, professor
of civil and environmental engineering and ethics at Arizona State’s
Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, is that it tends to invite platitudes
rather than practice. Federal grants, he says, will aid in “figuring
out ways to do better engineering now and to train our students to consider
the environmental and social implications of their actions.” “People like the freedom to choose their lifestyles, what they consume and when they consume it,” observes Attari. “However, the environment is a ‘commons’ that we share with other citizens of the world, and when individual choices start negatively impacting others, we need to understand how to change or alter those behaviors.” Global Greening Academia’s increased focus on environmentalism spans the globe. The Institution of Engineers Australia, the country’s accrediting body for engineering education, has taken the lead in addressing the paucity of environmental content. It spearheaded the formation of a nonprofit sustainability think-tank called the Natural Edge Project, which pools research from myriad engineering-school and environmental-group partners and posts relevant textbooks, scientific papers and research on its Web site, www.naturaledgeproject.net/. Recently, the organization began developing curricula with individual universities. Although Australia includes sustainability in its national engineering graduate competency standards, the accrediting body found little to support the concept in the classroom. “Anecdotal evidence suggests strongly that the level of integration within Australian universities is still marginal, even within the environmental engineering degree programs, which have been traditionally observed as the leaders in this area,” says Natural Edge Project education coordinator Cheryl Paten. She predicts demand for environmental expertise is bound to surge as the region’s population explodes. “Australia has a significant opportunity to lead by example,” she believes, by providing engineering graduates “with the tools that can really make a difference.” Closer to home, a dash of internationalism has made a big difference for undergrads at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. For the past six years, groups have spent one week in Mannheim, Germany, touring corporations and local government offices in a three-credit course called GO GREEN. (The acronym stands for Green Organizations: Global Responsibility for Economic and Environmental Necessity.) Germany is a leader in sustainable development, and students return from overseas—host partner Berufsakademie Mannheim is a cooperative education university—with keener insights into the link between concept and commerce. Most important, the students get to observe sustainability principles applied in daily life, from how employers conserve materials to “fair trade” products at grocery stores. “Students see how Germans recycle because it costs them money to throw things away,” explains Patricia Fox, associate dean for administration and finance and assistant professor of organization leadership and supervision at the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology on the Indianapolis campus. “They come back asking ‘Why aren’t we doing this?’ ” Future engineers aren’t the only undergrads learning to GO GREEN; the program includes majors in interior design, business, public and environmental affairs, art and communications. These summer trips have spawned student as well as faculty reports on such topics as green roof designs, renewable energy, sustainable adhesives and the differences between sustainability practices in America and Europe. Several papers have been presented at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development conferences in Geneva, and at ASEE meetings. Mechanical engineering student Michael Reed, a 2006 participant, says the Mannheim experience changed his career path. “Before this trip, I was certain that I wanted to use my degree for a career in manufacturing,” he reflects. Reed now aims “to make a difference” in manufacturing. “I want to be one of the engineers who helps the United States become sustainable, along with the rest of the world.” Overseas travel “has definitely had an impact on the way I perceive life here in America and on the way I plan on conducting myself both personally and professionally,” concurs Alan Benedict, another mechanical engineering student in the 2006 group. “I have never really considered myself wasteful. However, I have always measured my conduct against a very wasteful model. Now that I have been to Germany, I see waste in the United States where I did not see it before.” Such revelations promise to transform engineering education even as it propels students like Benedict and Dorie toward greener frontiers, primed to protect Earth’s future.
Postdoctoral The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. This program is open to U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents and offers a competitive stipend as well as insurance, relocation, and travel allowances. The program offers one to three-year postdoctoral fellowships designed to increase the involvement of scientists and engineers from academia and industry to scientific and technical areas of interest and relevance to the Navy. The program has a rolling admission. Go to: http://www.asee.org/nrl/ . Summer Faculty Fellowship Programs The Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship Program (SFFP). This program is intended for U.S. citizens or permanent residents who have an earned doctorate in science or engineering and who hold full-time science or engineering faculty positions at U.S. colleges, community colleges and universities. The duration of this summer fellowship is from 8 to 12 continuous weeks and research is performed on-site at Air Force laboratories. There is a competitive weekly stipend, and relocation and daily expense allowances are available for those who qualify. The application opens on August 1st, 2007. To apply online, go to : www.asee.org/sffp The
Office of Naval Research (ONR) Summer Faculty Research and Sabbatical
Leave Program.
This program is intended for U.S. citizens who hold teaching or research
appointments relating to science and/or engineering at U.S. academic
institutions. A competitive stipend, relocation and travel allowances,
and a pre-program site visit are offered. Application deadline is December
4, 2007. Go to:
http://www.asee.org/summer. Undergraduate/Graduate Fellowship NASA Aeronautics Scholarship Program. The purpose is to meet the continuing needs of the nation's aeronautics and space effort by increasing the number of highly trained scientists and engineers in aeronautics and space-related disciplines. Scholarships awarded include competitive tuition payment (anticipated amount for undergrad of $15,000 and $35,000 for graduate), and an option to attend a summer internship ($10,000 per summer) at a participating NASA laboratory. The undergraduate program is open to U.S. citizens, applicants should have completed their sophomore year of college by time of award, and should be in good standing at an accredited college or university. The graduate program is open to U.S. citizens, the applicants should be be accepted or enrolled in an accredited program, and remain in good academic standing at their respected college or university. Website and online application will be open in mid-December, 2007. For more information, contact r.kempinski@asee.org Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship for Service Program. The purpose is to promote the education, recruitment and retention of outstanding undergraduate and graduate students in science, mathematics, and engineering studies; the DoD is also interested in supporting the education of future scientists and engineers in a number of interdisciplinary areas. Scholarships and fellowships awarded include salary or stipend, full tuition, required fees, federal employee benefits, and up to $1000 book allowance per year. The SMART Program will allow individuals to acquire an education in exchange for a period of employment with the Department of Defense. The program is intended for citizens and nationals of the United States; students must be at least 18 years of age to be eligible for an award. Application deadline is December 14, 2007.For information and to apply online, go to http://www.asee.org/smart The Naval Research Enterprise Intern Program (NREIP). The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) is now administering NREIP, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR). NREIP is a ten week summer research opportunity for undergraduate Juniors & Seniors, and Graduate students, under the guidance of a mentor, at a participating Navy Laboratory. The stipend amounts for the program are $5,500 for undergraduate students and $6,500 for graduate students. U.S. citizenship required; Permanent residents accepted at certain labs. The application is currently open and must be completed by January 14, 2008. Go to: http://www.asee.org/nreip. Undergraduate/Graduate The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). For U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent resident aliens at or near the beginning of their graduate studies, this program offers a stipend of $30,000 a year for three years and a $10,500 cost of education allowance and a one-time $1,000 travel allowance. For application and deadline information, go to: http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov. For additional program information, go to: www.nsf.gov/grfp . The National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship Program (NDSEG). The fellowship program is sponsored by the Army Research Office, Office of Naval Research, Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the DoD High Performance Computing Modernization Program. This program is intended for U.S. citizens at or near the beginning of their doctoral studies in science or engineering programs. The fellowships are for three year tenures and include full tuition and fees, a competitive stipend, and a health insurance allowance. The application deadline is January 7, 2008. Go to: http://www.asee.org/ndseg for applications and detailed program information. High
School
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