The House Subcommittee on Research and Science Education held a hearing yesterday to examine how to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics education through partnership of public and private stakeholders in an urban K-12 system. Last year the Committee examined this issue by focusing on the small-town school district of Texarkana, Texas. In contrast, this hearing used the large urban school district of Chicago (400,000 students) to investigate a systems approach to STEM education. Panelists and Committee members agreed that STEM education successes occur in pockets throughout the country, but the question of how to bring these successes to scale remains.
(Watch the archived webcast of the hearing and view copies of witness testimonies at the House S&T Committee website.)
Witnesses included Dr. Wanda Ward, Acting Assistant Director at the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (NSF); Ms. Maggie Daley, Chair of After School Matters; Mr. Michael Lach, Officer of Teaching and Learning, Chicago Public Schools; Dr. Donald Wink, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Chemistry, and Director of Graduate Studies, Learning Sciences Research Institute, University of Illinois at Chicago; Ms. Katherine Pickus, Divisional Vice President, Global Citizenship and Policy, Abbott Laboratories.
Subcommittee Chairman Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) framed the day’s discussion by recalling recent developments in STEM education: The National Academies Rising Above the Gathering Storm; the 2007 America COMPETES Act; and the passing of the STEM education bill H.R. 1709 in June of this year. From his opening remarks:
In hearings and reports we have repeatedly heard that innovation is key to maintaining a high standard of living for all Americans, and that we need more teachers and more graduates in the STEM fields if we want our country to continue to lead in the global economy. Unfortunately, American students have been lagging their international peers, while American businesses are warning about a wave of retirements without adequately trained young people to fill these vacated positions, especially in engineering fields.
Reform of our STEM education system will require coordination on multiple fronts across many diverse stakeholders. In addition to several federal agencies, there are state and local governments, school districts, universities, non-profits, businesses, community organizations, teachers, students, and if a child is fortunate their parents.
America needs to be successful in improving STEM education. Without it, we will lose our capacity for innovation and diminish our countrys economic strength and competitiveness in the international marketplace.
Dr. Ward opened her remarks by pointing to NSFs role in aligning stem priorities in the America COMPETES Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, with four foci: innovation, broad participation to improve workforce development, enrichment of teacher education, and fostering cyber learning to enhance STEM education.
Ms. Daly used her opening statement to emphasize the importance of creating learning experiences in informal environments. Using her own program, After School Matters, as an example, Daly noted the successful interaction between hundreds of paid instructors and thousands of students in Block 37 programs where professionals address workforce trends with students, and students are exposed to workplace problems. She pointed specifically to a partnership for students to design and build robots with mentors provided by Motorola. Daly requested that more attention be given to assessment of such efforts; historically, little resources have been used for evaluating non-profit initiatives like After School Matters.
Mr. Lach provided the public school district’s perspective, sharing a vision of high quality instruction involving professional development of teachers that partner with local industry and higher educators. One area of strength in Chicago, he noted, are the strong partnerships between the public schools and local universities. In addition, he shared some of the learnings from Chicago’s efforts:
partner with universities for course support and classroom instruction
extend learning experiences beyond the classroom
create math and science focused schools
foster partnerships among schools, universities, and grants from the federal government
centralize coordination of program support
Dr. Wink focused his remarks on the relationships, leadership and research that are necessary for the flow between K-12 students and higher education to strengthen STEM education. The most valuable investment, in his view, is made in people and relationships. He recommended to focus work with existing products and on existing research and to incorporate K-12 data on student performance in universities.
Ms. Pickus gave the perspective of a private firm involved in STEM education activities. Abbott, a large pharmaceutical health care company, provides mentors that give real world experience for students. Abbott’s involvement in Chicago’s public schools represent part of the private science community efforts to creating meaningful, informal experiences for students and training for teachers. Pickus emphasized the need to give public schools access to scientists, start early, and involve parents.
Representative Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) lessened the sanguine tone of the hearing, asking Mr. Lach about dropout rates in Chicago’s public schools (above fifty percent). While there have been successes, Ehlers reminded the room of the tremendous work that must still be done.
During questioning, Representative Marcia Fudge (D-OH) asked about NSF’s work in developing the role of administrators. Ward responded positively, but did not give any specific examples of programs. Fudge also brought up the significant gap in achievement among minority students asking how STEM efforts can be targeted toward them. Mr. Lach responded that there is no silver bullet for decreasing the achievement gap. However, he felt that minority students can achieve when the supports he mentioned in his above opening remarks testimony are in place.
Representative Russ Carnahan’s (D-MO) question about the disconnect that often occurs between world-class institutions and infrastructure in large urban centers and STEM activities in public schools brought out discussion among the panelists about the critical role of the executive support. Each panelist agreed that mayoral support and political capital were vital to the success of STEM efforts in Chicago.
On a side note, when asked about compensation for math and science teachers, all panelists were in favor of increasing salary or stipends in order to attract, train, and retain quality STEM teachers.
Yesterday the Congressional Robotics Caucus, chaired by Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), hosted a briefing on healthcare robotics. Four speakers addressed various aspects of robotics in healthcare. They were: Tandy Trower, Microsoft, who spoke on Healthcare Challenges and Robotic Solutions; Maja Mataric, University of Southern California, who spoke on Socially Assistive Robotics for Personalized Care for Stroke, Autism, and Alzheimers Disease; Charles Remsberg, Hocoma, Inc., who spoke on Robots in Rehabilitation Medicine; and Howie Choset, Carnegie Mellon University, who spoke on Same Day Surgery: The Future of Medical Robotic Technology Interventions.
Healthcare is clearly a hot topic on the Hill these days and the speakers emphasized that robotic technologies could lower costs, particularly with a growing senior population. All the speakers called for more research in robotics but showed examples of currently deployed healthcare robotic technology and had demonstrations available before and after the presentations.
Trower pointed out that, outside military robotics, the United States research funding for service robotics is limited. He referenced the CCC funded Roadmap for US Robotics which calls for increased research funding, accelerating commercialization of robotics research, and promoting robotics, among other recommendations.
Remsberg discussed the strides already made by the Department of Veterans Affairs to increase the use of rehabilitative robotics for returning wounded veterans but called for wider adoption of the technologies in light of the costs of physical therapy using human therapists. Remsberg points out that therapy using the various robotic technologies allows more patients to get more therapy and have better outcomes than using human physical therapists alone.
Mataric focused on stroke, autism and Alzheimers patients and how they can be assisted with robotics. Many autistic children will interact with, and learn from, robots when they cannot do so with people according to Mataric.
Choset spoke on the need for better surgical robotics to lower the invasiveness of surgery and therefore, decrease recovery and hospital stay time for patients. He also stressed that robotic technology in surgery is not meant to replace human surgeons but to assist them in doing the surgery faster and safer.
The presentations will be available online at the Robotics Caucus web site next week.
CCCs Network Science and Engineering (NetSE) Council, led by Ellen Zegura, released a new agenda for networking research at the GENI Engineering Conference this week. The agenda, version 1.0, is available here (pdf) but the Council stresses that this is a living document and as such requests feedback and comments from the community at the CCC NetSE web site.
The agenda is the result of a process initiated in 2008 at the behest of the CCC, who charged the NetSE Council with developing a comprehensive research agenda that would support the development of better networks. Through a series of workshops and much community input, the NetSE council gathered the input to produce this draft, which includes four overarching recommendations:
Recommendation 1: The funding agencies of the United States government must increase investment in research that will lead to a better Internet or risk a marginal future role. Recommendation 2: Funding agencies should rebuild the experimental capabilities of networking researchers, through funding individual systems-building efforts, providing adequate and persistent shared experimental infrastructure, and supporting research that leads to continued improvements in experimental methodology. Experimental work is expensive and long-term; typical NSF awards are insufficient, therefore either NSF will need to change its award portfolio or other agencies will have to play a significantly increased role. Recommendation 3: Funding agencies should foster and support research activities relevant to network design within the theoretical computer science community, the new Network Science community, and other theoretical disciplines. Recommendation 4: Funding agencies should support a broad array of interdisciplinary research activities related to understanding the current Internet and designing future networks to include the Internet.
More information on the NetSE effort and the full version of the report are available at the CCC NetSE web site. Also, feel free to comment on the CCC Blog.
On Thursday, the National Science Foundation (NSF), with co-sponsorship from CRA, presented an open-house luncheon briefing on cyber-physical systems (CPS). Held in the Hart Senate Office Building, the luncheon briefing allowed industry and academic experts to share their insights into an area of IT that has been the subject of increasing attention fromCongress since a 2007 report of the President’s Council of Advisors for Science and Technology called it out for increased priority.
From the press release:
Cyber-physical systems are “smart” technologies that are beginning to transform our lives. Today’s research will lead to tomorrow’s autonomous, smart vehicles for safe transportation; homes filled with smart appliances; intelligent, earthquake resistant buildings and bridges; robots that assist us at home, at work, and at play; and unobtrusive assistive technology for healthier living.
Cyber-physical systems technologies will affect sectors critical to our well-being, security and competitiveness, including aerospace, automotive, chemical production, civil infrastructure, energy, finance, healthcare, manufacturing, materials and transportation.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid provided opening remarks by praising the efforts of scientists whose work is vital in bringing about smarter technology that will help save lives, improve energy efficiency and transform economic competitiveness. Due to health reasons, Senator John D. Rockefeller IV was unable to attend. Other speakers included Dr. Arden L. Bement, Jr., Director of the National Science Foundation; Dr. Cora B. Marrett, Acting Deputy Director of the NSF; Dr. Jeannette Wing, Assistant Director for Computer & Information Science and Technology, NSF; Mr. Don Winter, Vice President of Engineering & Information Technology, Boeing Phantom Works; and Dr. Julian Goldman, Medical Director of Partners HealthCare System Biomedical Engineering.
Dr. Wing spoke about the important function of the NSF in fostering an environment where scientific innovation can flourish and be shared across disciplines. The NSFs role, she highlighted, is to coordinating these innovations among the sectors of industry and academia so that they can be instantiated in other areas. Dr. Goldman provided a glimpse into the challenges of medical information technology. In high-risk environments like a hospital operating room, system failure can lead to patient injury or death. While CPS Innovations in systems that prevent human error have been developed in some high-risk environments, Goldman explained that the barrier of interoperability has prevented widespread development and deployment of such systems in health care.
Researchers, ranging from Baltimore high school students to professors and graduate students, presented a variety of demonstrations representing the latest research on CPS. Many of the exhibits highlighted robotic and human-machine systems that could help people with disabilities, be used as tools for behavior studies, assist surgeons in operating rooms, drive autonomous vehicles, or be capable of haptic interaction. Other systems included those that could reason about human or environmental activities.
In addition to CRA, other co-sponsors of the event included the Coalition for National Science Funding, the American Chemical Societys Science & the Congress Project and the Association for Computing Machinery.
Regina Dugan will become the first woman to head the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in its 51-year history, the Department of Defense announced today. Dugan takes the reins from acting director, Robert Leheny, who has been running the agency since Tony Tether stepped down in February 2009.
From the official press release:
“Regina Dugan is precisely the dynamic leader DARPA needs to open new technology frontiers and transition revolutionary technologies to serve our nations interests,” said Zachary J. Lemnios, director, Defense Research and Engineering. “I am delighted she will be leading this agency and look forward to working closely with her.”
Prior to this appointment, Dugan held several key positions in industry, most recently as president and chief executive officer of RedXDefense, LLC, which she co-founded in 2005, a company that develops defense against explosive threats. She has also served in senior executive positions in several additional companies in roles ranging from global sales and marketing to research and product development.
During her first tour at DARPA from January 1996 to May 2000, Dugan received the program manager of the year award for her leadership of the “Dogs Nose Program”, which was focused on the development of an advanced, field-portable system for detecting the explosive content of land mines. She is also the recipient of the deFleury Medal, the office of the secretary of defense award for exceptional service, and the award for outstanding achievement. She has participated in wide-ranging studies for the Defense Science Board, the Army Science Board, the National Research Council and Science Foundation, and currently sits on the Naval Research Advisory Committee and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency Science and Technology Panel.
While Tether’s tenure with DARPA was the longest of any DARPA director, it also caused strain between the agency and the university research community — particularly the university computing research community — who felt that under his leadership, DARPA adopted policies that discouraged university participation in defense-related research. This blog has spilled a considerable number of electrons making that case as well. With the appointment of Dugan (and with someone familiar with the computing community in Lemnios as Director Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E)) it’s fair to say the community is optimistic some of those incredibly productive ties between university researchers and the agency will get restored. We’ll let you know how it progresses!
The House Science and Technology committee held a hearing last Thursday afternoon to asses the cybersecurity efforts of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The committee reviewed the agencies’ current cybersecurity programs, asking the advice of private sector security experts on the role the federal government has in securing the private sector’s infrastructure, enhancing the monitoring of federal networks, and more clearly defining cybersercurity metrics. Called to testify were Mr. Greg Wilshusen, the Director of Information Security Issues at the Government Accountability Office (GAO); Mr. Mark Bregman, the Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Symantec Corportation; Mr. Scott Charney, the Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Group; and Mr. Jim Harper, the Director of Information Policy Studies at the Cato Institute.
In his opening statement, Technology and Innovation Subcommittee Chairman David Wu (D-OR) asked the witnesses what is required to implement the recommendations of the 60-day review. He praised the review’s call to develop metrics to improve program assessment, budgeting, research and development, and planning. He stressed, however, that the $830M request this year from NIST and DHS on cybersecurity efforts needs to used wisely.
The panelists were circumspect about the role of the new cybersecurity czar, warning against government taking too large a role by acting as a co-partner or regulator of industry. Government, they agreed, should set security policy, minimum goals and desired outcomes, as well as facilitate best practices to help agencies meet these goals.
Mr. Wilshusen pointed out that DHS has yet to fully satisfy its cybersecurity requirements. He recommended that DHS work to bolster cyber analysis and warning systems, improve infrastructure control systems, strengthen recovery ability, reduce organizational inefficiencies, and secure internal information systems.
Mr. Bregman higlighted the global nature of problems in cybersecurity, “We all are using the same hardware and software. We all share the risks of cybersecurity.” Bregman defined the role of DHS and NIST as agencies that provide strategic direction, coordination, and balance for the nation, as well as taking a prominent role in international cybersecurity.
In his opening testimony, Mr. Charney remarked, “Government must develop a model for managing its own security.” Charney supported the near-term action plan of the administration’s review, especially in areas where DHS and NIST can expand their capabilities to support government-wide policy, standards and oversight of cybersecurity.
Mr. Harper responded to the review by expressing his concern with threat exaggeration that may lead to policies that supress competition and jeopardize civil liberties. Government, he stated, is a large consumer of cybersecurity goods, and can set high standards simply in its purchasing of products. Companies, he explained, should bear the burden of failure, not the government.
Mr. Wu’s question regarding public-private partnerships spurred a good deal of discussion. Charney, while agreeing with Mr. Harper regarding market liability, added that the market can supply security for the government in some cases and in other cases cannot. The government can fill in the gap by providing appropriate incentives. Charney acknowledged that there is some research industry cannot do because there is no economic model for it (e.g. the Internet). Mr. Bregman added that a clearly defined research agenda would stimulate investment in both the private and academic worlds. By aligning the research agendas of government agencies, a larger community of expertise can be created. Mr. Harper responded by stressing the importance of government and industry staying in their roles, and working separately in their respective areas.
Thursday’s hearing was the last of three hearings on cybersecurity in response to the administration’s Cyberspace Policy Review (pdf). For more information about the first hearing and second hearing, including testimony from the Computing Research Association board member Dr. Fred Schneider, see our earlier blog post.
An archived web cast of the hearing as well as copies of witness testimonies can be found on the House S&T Committee website.
Microsoft Research hosted its annual TechFair this Wednesday afternoon to show off some of the organization’s newest innovations to the DC policy crowd and the press. Held at the Newseum in Washington D.C., the event gave visitors an opportunity to chat with researchers about projets that addressed challenges in energy sustainability and efficiency, privacy, as well as personal and research productivity.
Microsoft Research provided 13 demonstrations that included an interactive omni-directional projector (see right), a system for social grouping of a user’s communication, an in-car dialogue system that allows natural language input, and a large scale spamming botnet detector called BotGraph.
This new system can uncover correlations among botnet activities by constructing a large scale user graph of major Web-email services and looks for patterns of use among “spam” accounts.
Social graphing appeared a number of times during the roadshow. One project used a social network graph in order to create a “trust” recommendation system by weighting the recommendations of direct relationships over indirect relationships. Two projects concerned themselves with the scientific research community, attempting to manage research workflows and make processing large amounts of data simpler and easier for scientists. Dryad, a distributed computing engine, simplifies the task of distributed applications on clusters of Windows computers. Trident makes it easy for scientists to design and manipulate workflows without having to rewrite the original algorithm (see below). Both systems will be offered as open-source software the research communiuty.
Another project, the Commute UX dialog system (see below), hopes to make a drivers interaction with the many devices they use in the car safer and easier to use. The system is able to activate song playlists, make phone calls, and read and send text messages through natural speech.
Also on display was PINQ, the organization’s attempt at making privacy preservation easy for privacy non-experts. Data analysis of private data is still possible since PINQ gives access to the metadata generated from a computation while hiding the content itself.
Microsoft holds their TechFair in hopes that their demonstrations will highlight their committment to innovative research as well as to their ongoing collaboration with top universities around the world.
The House Science and Technology Committee held a hearing Tuesday afternoon to review the response of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to the Administration’s recently released Cyberspace Policy Review (pdf). Near-term and mid-term action plans in the review raise a number of concerns relevant to the Committee’s work. These issues center around federal agency efforts in research and development, education, standards, information coordination and interagency collaboration. Witnesses called to testify were Ms. Cita Furlani, Director of the Information Technology Laboratory (NIST); Dr. Jeannette Wing, Assistant Director at the Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (NSF); Dr. Robert Leheny, Acting Director (DARPA); Dr. Peter Fonash, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Office of Cyber Security Communications (DHS).
Technology and Innovation Subcommittee Chairman David Wu (D-OR) opened the hearing by expressing his concern regarding previous federal cyber security efforts he believes were too “output oriented” rather than “outcome driven”, and was hopeful that the new administration will focus on achieving fewer breaches of federal systems, fewer cases of identity theft, as well as ensuring the security of smart grid systems and health IT systems. In his opening statement, he called upon witnesses to explain how each agency hopes to improve its cyber security in light of the Administration’s review.
Speaking next, Representative Adrian Smith (R-NE) drew attention to the agencies’ efforts in investing appropriately in cyber security research and development, securing the dot-gov domain as well as the critical infrastructure of the private sector.
Research and Science Education Subcommittee Chairman Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) emphasized the need for increased collaboration between public and private sectors to expose weaknesses in security and share breach information, as well as a multidisciplinary approach to cyber security in order to understand how we interact with computers and their information, calling people the “weakest link” in cyber security.
In their opening remarks, the witnesses discussed their responses to the review. They each expressed their appreciation that the review highlights the need for unclassified cyber security research and cyber security education. Ms. Furlani restated NIST’s mission to work with federal, state, local, private and academic institutions to develop the standards for information security. Dr. Wing, reminded the committee that many security measures implemented today are built on practices that were designed decades ago. Wing called for increased openness in the field of cyber security research. Looking ahead, she stated that the need to develop new practices based on current research could be filled by such an increase in the collaboration between industry and academic research institutions. Dr. Leheny echoed previous remarks that recognized the need for innovation to address cyber security threats. He also highlighted a DARPA project to develop a National Cyber Range that would have the ability to perform rigorous, realistic assessments of cyber security technology. In response to the review, Dr. Fonash described the role of the DHS in updating national security strategy, strengthening international partnerships, educating the public, and working with the U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) to prepare for plan for cyber incidents.
The member questions tended not to focus on any particular issue. Rep. Ehlers (R-MI) asked the panel how we can ensure security and at the same time preserve the freedom of unfettered communication. Rep. Ehlers’ question about the decreasing enrollment of computer science majors in the U.S. led to a discussion of the various programs each agency has in order to address the seeming decline in computer science interest among students. Dr. Wing, citing the CRA Taulbee Survey and expressed hope that the recent uptick in enrollments will continue. Dr. Leheny described two DARPA programs that focus on developing the attractiveness of computer science for undergraduates and untenured faculty. Rep. Lujan asked the witnesses how we can tap into the expertise of classified cyber security practices and research. Wing responded by explaining the formal process for agency collaboration under the National Coordinating Office for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) where unclassified IT research and development investments for thirteen Ferderal agencies are coordinated. Rep. Smith, while acknowledging the need for public and private partnership in cyber security, asked Dr. Fonash how the private sector can be compelled to follow standards. Fonash responded by stressing the importance of information sharing programs in order for industry to not only be aware of security standards, but that they know how to take the appropriate measures to secure their private data. When pressed about the need for legislation in this regard, Fonash replied that he couldn’t say yes or no at this time.
Tuesday’s hearing was the second of three hearings on cyber security. The first hearing was held by the Research and Science Education Subcommittee on the research needs of improved cyber security. Computing Research Association board member Dr. Fred Schneider testified about the state of cyber security education as well as the range of federally supported research. The final hearing regarding the cyber security activities of NIST and the DHS will be held next week.
An archived webcast of the hearing as well as copies of witness testimonies can be found on the House S&T Committee website.
Experts Warn of Technology Drain; seek federal intervention
Washington, May 21, 2009 Robotics have the potential within the next decade to become as prevalent as computers in daily American life, but the country lags behind others worldwide in recognizing the importance of this technology.
In a report released today, titled National Robotics Technology Roadmap, (link forthcoming) a group of 140 experts from industry, federal laboratories, and leading academic institutions assert the United States lags behind other countries in its ability to compete economically unless more investment is made in this technology.
To address this issue, the Roadmap urges Congress to increase spending in the FY 2010 budget and calls on the Obama administration to establish a high profile position at the White House to coordinate and integrate robotics policy throughout government.
Unfortunately, the United States lags behind other countries in recognizing the importance of robotics technology. While the European Union, Japan, Korea and the rest of the world have made significant R&D investments in robotics technology, the U.S. investment, outside unmanned systems for defense purposes, remains practically non-existent. Unless this situation can be addressed in the near future, the United States runs the risk of relinquishing its ability to globally compete in these emerging markets putting the nation at risk of having to rely on the rest of the world to provide a critical technology that our population will become increasingly dependent upon.
Robotics technology holds the potential to transform the future of the country. The next generation robotech industry will affect the lives of every American and have an enormous economic, social and political impact on our future. Human-robot interaction is central to many of the most exciting application of robots, including the use of medical robots, assistive robotics, prosthetics, rehabilitation, transportation, human augmentation, entertainment and education. Other applications on the horizon include factory and military robots, domestic service robots, a team of search and rescue robots and exoskeleton man-amplifiers the report explained.
The National Robotics Technology Roadmap was the result of an unprecedented level of cooperation among members of the business community and academia. This effort was led by the Computing Community Consortium and sponsored by the Computing Research Association via a grant from the National Science Foundation. The Computing Research Association is an association of more than 200 North American academic departments of computer science, computer engineering, and related fields; laboratories and centers in industry, government, and academia engaging in basic computing research; and affiliated professional societies. For more information, visit www.cra.org.
The Computing Community Consortium is an activity of CRA that supports the computing research community in creating compelling research visions and the mechanisms to realize these visions. For more, visit www.cra.org/ccc
Two events this week on Capitol Hill that CRA will be involved in. First, there will be a Congressional STEM Education Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus briefing on CS education called Bringing Innovative Computing Curriculum across the Digital Divide that CRA is co-sponsoring with ACM, CSTA, NCWIT, SWE, IEEE-USA, and Microsoft. The briefing will cover the current state of CS education at the K-12 level and discuss new curriculum and teacher preparation developed by NSF and Microsoft. The briefing will take place on Wednesday, May 20 at noon in B339 Rayburn.
The second event will unveil the first CCC funded initiative in robotics this Thursday, May 21. The Congressional Robotics Caucus is hosting this briefing to showcase the Robotics Roadmap and the potential for growth and roadblocks for the use of robotics in various industries. Speakers at the briefing will include Henrik Christensen who led the CCC robotics effort, Rodney Brooks of Heartland Robotics, Dan Jones of Intuitive Surgical, Eric Close of RedZone Robotics, and Jared Cohen of Carnegie Mellon University. The briefing will take place beginning at 11:45 at the Capitol Visitor Center HVC 201 A-B. Lunch will be served and it will be a widely attended event. RSVP to Patti Rote at pattir at techcollaborative.org.
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A Systems Approach to Improving K-12 STEM Education
/In: Policy /by MelissaNorrThe House Subcommittee on Research and Science Education held a hearing yesterday to examine how to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics education through partnership of public and private stakeholders in an urban K-12 system. Last year the Committee examined this issue by focusing on the small-town school district of Texarkana, Texas. In contrast, this hearing used the large urban school district of Chicago (400,000 students) to investigate a systems approach to STEM education. Panelists and Committee members agreed that STEM education successes occur in pockets throughout the country, but the question of how to bring these successes to scale remains.
(Watch the archived webcast of the hearing and view copies of witness testimonies at the House S&T Committee website.)
Witnesses included Dr. Wanda Ward, Acting Assistant Director at the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (NSF); Ms. Maggie Daley, Chair of After School Matters; Mr. Michael Lach, Officer of Teaching and Learning, Chicago Public Schools; Dr. Donald Wink, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Chemistry, and Director of Graduate Studies, Learning Sciences Research Institute, University of Illinois at Chicago; Ms. Katherine Pickus, Divisional Vice President, Global Citizenship and Policy, Abbott Laboratories.
Subcommittee Chairman Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) framed the day’s discussion by recalling recent developments in STEM education: The National Academies Rising Above the Gathering Storm; the 2007 America COMPETES Act; and the passing of the STEM education bill H.R. 1709 in June of this year. From his opening remarks:
Dr. Ward opened her remarks by pointing to NSFs role in aligning stem priorities in the America COMPETES Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, with four foci: innovation, broad participation to improve workforce development, enrichment of teacher education, and fostering cyber learning to enhance STEM education.
Ms. Daly used her opening statement to emphasize the importance of creating learning experiences in informal environments. Using her own program, After School Matters, as an example, Daly noted the successful interaction between hundreds of paid instructors and thousands of students in Block 37 programs where professionals address workforce trends with students, and students are exposed to workplace problems. She pointed specifically to a partnership for students to design and build robots with mentors provided by Motorola. Daly requested that more attention be given to assessment of such efforts; historically, little resources have been used for evaluating non-profit initiatives like After School Matters.
Mr. Lach provided the public school district’s perspective, sharing a vision of high quality instruction involving professional development of teachers that partner with local industry and higher educators. One area of strength in Chicago, he noted, are the strong partnerships between the public schools and local universities. In addition, he shared some of the learnings from Chicago’s efforts:
Dr. Wink focused his remarks on the relationships, leadership and research that are necessary for the flow between K-12 students and higher education to strengthen STEM education. The most valuable investment, in his view, is made in people and relationships. He recommended to focus work with existing products and on existing research and to incorporate K-12 data on student performance in universities.
Ms. Pickus gave the perspective of a private firm involved in STEM education activities. Abbott, a large pharmaceutical health care company, provides mentors that give real world experience for students. Abbott’s involvement in Chicago’s public schools represent part of the private science community efforts to creating meaningful, informal experiences for students and training for teachers. Pickus emphasized the need to give public schools access to scientists, start early, and involve parents.
Representative Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) lessened the sanguine tone of the hearing, asking Mr. Lach about dropout rates in Chicago’s public schools (above fifty percent). While there have been successes, Ehlers reminded the room of the tremendous work that must still be done.
During questioning, Representative Marcia Fudge (D-OH) asked about NSF’s work in developing the role of administrators. Ward responded positively, but did not give any specific examples of programs. Fudge also brought up the significant gap in achievement among minority students asking how STEM efforts can be targeted toward them. Mr. Lach responded that there is no silver bullet for decreasing the achievement gap. However, he felt that minority students can achieve when the supports he mentioned in his above opening remarks testimony are in place.
Representative Russ Carnahan’s (D-MO) question about the disconnect that often occurs between world-class institutions and infrastructure in large urban centers and STEM activities in public schools brought out discussion among the panelists about the critical role of the executive support. Each panelist agreed that mayoral support and political capital were vital to the success of STEM efforts in Chicago.
On a side note, when asked about compensation for math and science teachers, all panelists were in favor of increasing salary or stipends in order to attract, train, and retain quality STEM teachers.
Healthcare Robotics Briefing
/In: Computing Community Consortium (CCC), Events, Policy /by MelissaNorrYesterday the Congressional Robotics Caucus, chaired by Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), hosted a briefing on healthcare robotics. Four speakers addressed various aspects of robotics in healthcare. They were: Tandy Trower, Microsoft, who spoke on Healthcare Challenges and Robotic Solutions; Maja Mataric, University of Southern California, who spoke on Socially Assistive Robotics for Personalized Care for Stroke, Autism, and Alzheimers Disease; Charles Remsberg, Hocoma, Inc., who spoke on Robots in Rehabilitation Medicine; and Howie Choset, Carnegie Mellon University, who spoke on Same Day Surgery: The Future of Medical Robotic Technology Interventions.
Healthcare is clearly a hot topic on the Hill these days and the speakers emphasized that robotic technologies could lower costs, particularly with a growing senior population. All the speakers called for more research in robotics but showed examples of currently deployed healthcare robotic technology and had demonstrations available before and after the presentations.
Trower pointed out that, outside military robotics, the United States research funding for service robotics is limited. He referenced the CCC funded Roadmap for US Robotics which calls for increased research funding, accelerating commercialization of robotics research, and promoting robotics, among other recommendations.
Remsberg discussed the strides already made by the Department of Veterans Affairs to increase the use of rehabilitative robotics for returning wounded veterans but called for wider adoption of the technologies in light of the costs of physical therapy using human therapists. Remsberg points out that therapy using the various robotic technologies allows more patients to get more therapy and have better outcomes than using human physical therapists alone.
Mataric focused on stroke, autism and Alzheimers patients and how they can be assisted with robotics. Many autistic children will interact with, and learn from, robots when they cannot do so with people according to Mataric.
Choset spoke on the need for better surgical robotics to lower the invasiveness of surgery and therefore, decrease recovery and hospital stay time for patients. He also stressed that robotic technology in surgery is not meant to replace human surgeons but to assist them in doing the surgery faster and safer.
The presentations will be available online at the Robotics Caucus web site next week.
CCC Announces New Networking Research Agenda
/In: Computing Community Consortium (CCC), Research /by MelissaNorrCCCs Network Science and Engineering (NetSE) Council, led by Ellen Zegura, released a new agenda for networking research at the GENI Engineering Conference this week. The agenda, version 1.0, is available here (pdf) but the Council stresses that this is a living document and as such requests feedback and comments from the community at the CCC NetSE web site.
The agenda is the result of a process initiated in 2008 at the behest of the CCC, who charged the NetSE Council with developing a comprehensive research agenda that would support the development of better networks. Through a series of workshops and much community input, the NetSE council gathered the input to produce this draft, which includes four overarching recommendations:
More information on the NetSE effort and the full version of the report are available at the CCC NetSE web site. Also, feel free to comment on the
CCC Blog.
NSF Shows Off Cyber-Physical Systems on the Hill
/In: Events /by MelissaNorrOn Thursday, the National Science Foundation (NSF), with co-sponsorship from CRA, presented an open-house luncheon briefing on cyber-physical systems (CPS). Held in the Hart Senate Office Building, the luncheon briefing allowed industry and academic experts to share their insights into an area of IT that has been the subject of increasing attention from Congress since a 2007 report of the President’s Council of Advisors for Science and Technology called it out for increased priority.
From the press release:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid provided opening remarks by praising the efforts of scientists whose work is vital in bringing about smarter technology that will help save lives, improve energy efficiency and transform economic competitiveness. Due to health reasons, Senator John D. Rockefeller IV was unable to attend. Other speakers included Dr. Arden L. Bement, Jr., Director of the National Science Foundation; Dr. Cora B. Marrett, Acting Deputy Director of the NSF; Dr. Jeannette Wing, Assistant Director for Computer & Information Science and Technology, NSF; Mr. Don Winter, Vice President of Engineering & Information Technology, Boeing Phantom Works; and Dr. Julian Goldman, Medical Director of Partners HealthCare System Biomedical Engineering.
Dr. Wing spoke about the important function of the NSF in fostering an environment where scientific innovation can flourish and be shared across disciplines. The NSFs role, she highlighted, is to coordinating these innovations among the sectors of industry and academia so that they can be instantiated in other areas. Dr. Goldman provided a glimpse into the challenges of medical information technology. In high-risk environments like a hospital operating room, system failure can lead to patient injury or death. While CPS Innovations in systems that prevent human error have been developed in some high-risk environments, Goldman explained that the barrier of interoperability has prevented widespread development and deployment of such systems in health care.
Researchers, ranging from Baltimore high school students to professors and graduate students, presented a variety of demonstrations representing the latest research on CPS. Many of the exhibits highlighted robotic and human-machine systems that could help people with disabilities, be used as tools for behavior studies, assist surgeons in operating rooms, drive autonomous vehicles, or be capable of haptic interaction. Other systems included those that could reason about human or environmental activities.
In addition to CRA, other co-sponsors of the event included the Coalition for National Science Funding, the American Chemical Societys Science & the Congress Project and the Association for Computing Machinery.
New DARPA Director Announced
/In: People /by Peter HarshaRegina Dugan will become the first woman to head the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in its 51-year history, the Department of Defense announced today. Dugan takes the reins from acting director, Robert Leheny, who has been running the agency since Tony Tether stepped down in February 2009.
From the official press release:
While Tether’s tenure with DARPA was the longest of any DARPA director, it also caused strain between the agency and the university research community — particularly the university computing research community — who felt that under his leadership, DARPA adopted policies that discouraged university participation in defense-related research. This blog has spilled a considerable number of electrons making that case as well. With the appointment of Dugan (and with someone familiar with the computing community in Lemnios as Director Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E)) it’s fair to say the community is optimistic some of those incredibly productive ties between university researchers and the agency will get restored. We’ll let you know how it progresses!
House S&T Committee Assesses Cybersecurity Activities at NIST and DHS.
/In: Policy /by MelissaNorrThe House Science and Technology committee held a hearing last Thursday afternoon to asses the cybersecurity efforts of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The committee reviewed the agencies’ current cybersecurity programs, asking the advice of private sector security experts on the role the federal government has in securing the private sector’s infrastructure, enhancing the monitoring of federal networks, and more clearly defining cybersercurity metrics. Called to testify were Mr. Greg Wilshusen, the Director of Information Security Issues at the Government Accountability Office (GAO); Mr. Mark Bregman, the Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Symantec Corportation; Mr. Scott Charney, the Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Group; and Mr. Jim Harper, the Director of Information Policy Studies at the Cato Institute.
In his opening statement, Technology and Innovation Subcommittee Chairman David Wu (D-OR) asked the witnesses what is required to implement the recommendations of the 60-day review. He praised the review’s call to develop metrics to improve program assessment, budgeting, research and development, and planning. He stressed, however, that the $830M request this year from NIST and DHS on cybersecurity efforts needs to used wisely.
The panelists were circumspect about the role of the new cybersecurity czar, warning against government taking too large a role by acting as a co-partner or regulator of industry. Government, they agreed, should set security policy, minimum goals and desired outcomes, as well as facilitate best practices to help agencies meet these goals.
Mr. Wilshusen pointed out that DHS has yet to fully satisfy its cybersecurity requirements. He recommended that DHS work to bolster cyber analysis and warning systems, improve infrastructure control systems, strengthen recovery ability, reduce organizational inefficiencies, and secure internal information systems.
Mr. Bregman higlighted the global nature of problems in cybersecurity, “We all are using the same hardware and software. We all share the risks of cybersecurity.” Bregman defined the role of DHS and NIST as agencies that provide strategic direction, coordination, and balance for the nation, as well as taking a prominent role in international cybersecurity.
In his opening testimony, Mr. Charney remarked, “Government must develop a model for managing its own security.” Charney supported the near-term action plan of the administration’s review, especially in areas where DHS and NIST can expand their capabilities to support government-wide policy, standards and oversight of cybersecurity.
Mr. Harper responded to the review by expressing his concern with threat exaggeration that may lead to policies that supress competition and jeopardize civil liberties. Government, he stated, is a large consumer of cybersecurity goods, and can set high standards simply in its purchasing of products. Companies, he explained, should bear the burden of failure, not the government.
Mr. Wu’s question regarding public-private partnerships spurred a good deal of discussion. Charney, while agreeing with Mr. Harper regarding market liability, added that the market can supply security for the government in some cases and in other cases cannot. The government can fill in the gap by providing appropriate incentives. Charney acknowledged that there is some research industry cannot do because there is no economic model for it (e.g. the Internet). Mr. Bregman added that a clearly defined research agenda would stimulate investment in both the private and academic worlds. By aligning the research agendas of government agencies, a larger community of expertise can be created. Mr. Harper responded by stressing the importance of government and industry staying in their roles, and working separately in their respective areas.
Thursday’s hearing was the last of three hearings on cybersecurity in response to the administration’s Cyberspace Policy Review (pdf). For more information about the first hearing and second hearing, including testimony from the Computing Research Association board member Dr. Fred Schneider, see our earlier blog post.
An archived web cast of the hearing as well as copies of witness testimonies can be found on the House S&T Committee website.
Microsoft Research TechFair 2009
/In: Events /by MelissaNorrMicrosoft Research hosted its annual TechFair this Wednesday afternoon to show off some of the organization’s newest innovations to the DC policy crowd and the press. Held at the Newseum in Washington D.C., the event gave visitors an opportunity to chat with researchers about projets that addressed challenges in energy sustainability and efficiency, privacy, as well as personal and research productivity.
Two projects concerned themselves with the scientific research community, attempting to manage research workflows and make processing large amounts of data simpler and easier for scientists. Dryad, a distributed computing engine, simplifies the task of distributed applications on clusters of Windows computers. Trident makes it easy for scientists to design and manipulate workflows without having to rewrite the original algorithm (see below). Both systems will be offered as open-source software the research communiuty.
Microsoft Research provided 13 demonstrations that included an interactive omni-directional projector (see right), a system for social grouping of a user’s communication, an in-car dialogue system that allows natural language input, and a large scale spamming botnet detector called BotGraph.
This new system can uncover correlations among botnet activities by constructing a large scale user graph of major Web-email services and looks for patterns of use among “spam” accounts.
Social graphing appeared a number of times during the roadshow. One project used a social network graph in order to create a “trust” recommendation system by weighting the recommendations of direct relationships over indirect relationships.
Another project, the Commute UX dialog system (see below), hopes to make a drivers interaction with the many devices they use in the car safer and easier to use. The system is able to activate song playlists, make phone calls, and read and send text messages through natural speech.
Also on display was PINQ, the organization’s attempt at making privacy preservation easy for privacy non-experts. Data analysis of private data is still possible since PINQ gives access to the metadata generated from a computation while hiding the content itself.
Microsoft holds their TechFair in hopes that their demonstrations will highlight their committment to innovative research as well as to their ongoing collaboration with top universities around the world.
House S&T Committee Discusses Cyberspace Policy Review Report With Federal Agencies
/In: Events, Policy, Security /by MelissaNorrThe House Science and Technology Committee held a hearing Tuesday afternoon to review the response of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to the Administration’s recently released Cyberspace Policy Review (pdf). Near-term and mid-term action plans in the review raise a number of concerns relevant to the Committee’s work. These issues center around federal agency efforts in research and development, education, standards, information coordination and interagency collaboration. Witnesses called to testify were Ms. Cita Furlani, Director of the Information Technology Laboratory (NIST); Dr. Jeannette Wing, Assistant Director at the Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (NSF); Dr. Robert Leheny, Acting Director (DARPA); Dr. Peter Fonash, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Office of Cyber Security Communications (DHS).
Technology and Innovation Subcommittee Chairman David Wu (D-OR) opened the hearing by expressing his concern regarding previous federal cyber security efforts he believes were too “output oriented” rather than “outcome driven”, and was hopeful that the new administration will focus on achieving fewer breaches of federal systems, fewer cases of identity theft, as well as ensuring the security of smart grid systems and health IT systems. In his opening statement, he called upon witnesses to explain how each agency hopes to improve its cyber security in light of the Administration’s review.
Speaking next, Representative Adrian Smith (R-NE) drew attention to the agencies’ efforts in investing appropriately in cyber security research and development, securing the dot-gov domain as well as the critical infrastructure of the private sector.
Research and Science Education Subcommittee Chairman Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) emphasized the need for increased collaboration between public and private sectors to expose weaknesses in security and share breach information, as well as a multidisciplinary approach to cyber security in order to understand how we interact with computers and their information, calling people the “weakest link” in cyber security.
In their opening remarks, the witnesses discussed their responses to the review. They each expressed their appreciation that the review highlights the need for unclassified cyber security research and cyber security education. Ms. Furlani restated NIST’s mission to work with federal, state, local, private and academic institutions to develop the standards for information security. Dr. Wing, reminded the committee that many security measures implemented today are built on practices that were designed decades ago. Wing called for increased openness in the field of cyber security research. Looking ahead, she stated that the need to develop new practices based on current research could be filled by such an increase in the collaboration between industry and academic research institutions. Dr. Leheny echoed previous remarks that recognized the need for innovation to address cyber security threats. He also highlighted a DARPA project to develop a National Cyber Range that would have the ability to perform rigorous, realistic assessments of cyber security technology. In response to the review, Dr. Fonash described the role of the DHS in updating national security strategy, strengthening international partnerships, educating the public, and working with the U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) to prepare for plan for cyber incidents.
The member questions tended not to focus on any particular issue. Rep. Ehlers (R-MI) asked the panel how we can ensure security and at the same time preserve the freedom of unfettered communication. Rep. Ehlers’ question about the decreasing enrollment of computer science majors in the U.S. led to a discussion of the various programs each agency has in order to address the seeming decline in computer science interest among students. Dr. Wing, citing the CRA Taulbee Survey and expressed hope that the recent uptick in enrollments will continue. Dr. Leheny described two DARPA programs that focus on developing the attractiveness of computer science for undergraduates and untenured faculty. Rep. Lujan asked the witnesses how we can tap into the expertise of classified cyber security practices and research. Wing responded by explaining the formal process for agency collaboration under the National Coordinating Office for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) where unclassified IT research and development investments for thirteen Ferderal agencies are coordinated. Rep. Smith, while acknowledging the need for public and private partnership in cyber security, asked Dr. Fonash how the private sector can be compelled to follow standards. Fonash responded by stressing the importance of information sharing programs in order for industry to not only be aware of security standards, but that they know how to take the appropriate measures to secure their private data. When pressed about the need for legislation in this regard, Fonash replied that he couldn’t say yes or no at this time.
Tuesday’s hearing was the second of three hearings on cyber security. The first hearing was held by the Research and Science Education Subcommittee on the research needs of improved cyber security. Computing Research Association board member Dr. Fred Schneider testified about the state of cyber security education as well as the range of federally supported research. The final hearing regarding the cyber security activities of NIST and the DHS will be held next week.
An archived webcast of the hearing as well as copies of witness testimonies can be found on the House S&T Committee website.
U.S. Lags Globally in Robotics Development
/In: Policy /by Peter HarshaExperts Warn of Technology Drain; seek federal intervention
Washington, May 21, 2009 Robotics have the potential within the next decade to become as prevalent as computers in daily American life, but the country lags behind others worldwide in recognizing the importance of this technology.
In a report released today, titled National Robotics Technology Roadmap, (link forthcoming) a group of 140 experts from industry, federal laboratories, and leading academic institutions assert the United States lags behind other countries in its ability to compete economically unless more investment is made in this technology.
To address this issue, the Roadmap urges Congress to increase spending in the FY 2010 budget and calls on the Obama administration to establish a high profile position at the White House to coordinate and integrate robotics policy throughout government.
Unfortunately, the United States lags behind other countries in recognizing the importance of robotics technology. While the European Union, Japan, Korea and the rest of the world have made significant R&D investments in robotics technology, the U.S. investment, outside unmanned systems for defense purposes, remains practically non-existent. Unless this situation can be addressed in the near future, the United States runs the risk of relinquishing its ability to globally compete in these emerging markets putting the nation at risk of having to rely on the rest of the world to provide a critical technology that our population will become increasingly dependent upon.
Robotics technology holds the potential to transform the future of the country. The next generation robotech industry will affect the lives of every American and have an enormous economic, social and political impact on our future. Human-robot interaction is central to many of the most exciting application of robots, including the use of medical robots, assistive robotics, prosthetics, rehabilitation, transportation, human augmentation, entertainment and education. Other applications on the horizon include factory and military robots, domestic service robots, a team of search and rescue robots and exoskeleton man-amplifiers the report explained.
The National Robotics Technology Roadmap was the result of an unprecedented level of cooperation among members of the business community and academia. This effort was led by the Computing Community Consortium and sponsored by the Computing Research Association via a grant from the National Science Foundation.
The Computing Research Association is an association of more than 200 North American academic departments of computer science, computer engineering, and related fields; laboratories and centers in industry, government, and academia engaging in basic computing research; and affiliated professional societies. For more information, visit www.cra.org.
The Computing Community Consortium is an activity of CRA that supports the computing research community in creating compelling research visions and the mechanisms to realize these visions. For more, visit www.cra.org/ccc
Two Hill Briefings This Week
/In: Computing Community Consortium (CCC), Computing Education, CRA, Diversity in Computing, Events /by MelissaNorrTwo events this week on Capitol Hill that CRA will be involved in. First, there will be a Congressional STEM Education Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus briefing on CS education called Bringing Innovative Computing Curriculum across the Digital Divide that CRA is co-sponsoring with ACM, CSTA, NCWIT, SWE, IEEE-USA, and Microsoft. The briefing will cover the current state of CS education at the K-12 level and discuss new curriculum and teacher preparation developed by NSF and Microsoft. The briefing will take place on Wednesday, May 20 at noon in B339 Rayburn.
The second event will unveil the first CCC funded initiative in robotics this Thursday, May 21. The Congressional Robotics Caucus is hosting this briefing to showcase the Robotics Roadmap and the potential for growth and roadblocks for the use of robotics in various industries. Speakers at the briefing will include Henrik Christensen who led the CCC robotics effort, Rodney Brooks of Heartland Robotics, Dan Jones of Intuitive Surgical, Eric Close of RedZone Robotics, and Jared Cohen of Carnegie Mellon University. The briefing will take place beginning at 11:45 at the Capitol Visitor Center HVC 201 A-B. Lunch will be served and it will be a widely attended event. RSVP to Patti Rote at pattir at techcollaborative.org.