Chick-fil-A and the iPad – what more could you want at lunch? Well, that’s exactly what the Task Force on American Innovation, along with Rep. Hultgren (R-IL), Rep. McCaul (R-TX), and Rep. Quayle (R-AZ), are offering at tomorrow’s briefing, “Deconstructing the iPad: How Federally Supported Research Leads to Game-Changing Innovation” in 2325 Rayburn at noon. Speakers include Luis von Ahn from Carnegie Mellon University, Martin Izzard from Texas Instruments, Nobel Laureate William Phillips from NIST, and Benjamin Bederson from University of Maryland. All the details are available here (PDF) along with the RSVP contact. This will be a widely attended event.
The Senate Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Committee has only just finished marking up their version of the CJS Appropriations bill, but the early word is that they’ve cut funding for the National Science Funding by a little over 2 percent for FY12 compared to FY11. Here’s their (brief) summary:
• The National Science Foundation (NSF) is funded at $6.7 billion, a reduction of $162 million or 2.4 percent below the FY2011 enacted level.
The House CJS Committee marked up its bill back in July, flat-funding the agency overall, but providing a slight boost to NSF’s Research and Related Activities account ($43 million). It’s not clear yet how the Senate plans to divvy up their cut, or whether they were able to protect the R&RA account in the same way. We’ll let you know right here when those details emerge.
The Coalition for National Science Funding held another successful Science Exposition on Capitol Hill last night and once again CRA played a part. CRA was ably represented this year by Dr. L. Jean Camp and Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) student Carl Brugger from Indiana University who did a fantastic job showing and explaining their work on Ethical Technologies in the Homes of Seniors (ETHOS). ETHOS researches and develops technologies to keep seniors connected to offsite caregivers and to keep seniors safe in their homes. The exhibit received a number of Congressional staff, NSF staff, and other exhibitors interested in learning about the projects displayed. The three technologies exhibited for CRA included an external device to indicate the trustworthiness of web sites, a tablet computer that uses photos of pills to assist in the monitoring of medication doses and interactions, and a clock set that would indicate to an offsite caregiver that a senior was home and active.
Dr. L. Jean Camp and Carl Brugger at the CRA exhibit
The CNSF exhibition, a sort of science fair for Congress and staff, had 32 booths manned by researchers representing universities and scientific societies featuring some of the important research funded by the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Camp and Carl Brugger discuss the displayed research
As we’ve noted before in this space, personal visits to members of Congress and their staff are vital to getting the message about the importance of computing research out. If you are coming to Washington and would like to visit your Representative and Senators, let us know and we’ll be happy to help with appointments and provide materials for your use!
From the CCC Blog
- Microsoft Announces New Policy-Focused Internship Program Erwin Gianchandani
- NAE Elects its Class of 2012 Erwin Gianchandani
- NIST to Fund Pilot Projects Advancing Trusted Identities Erwin Gianchandani
- NSF Releases Report on Cloud Computing Erwin Gianchandani