1) CAPITOL HILL WATCH

• Energy Bill Compromise Unlikely
  
• National Science Board For Increased STEM Education Coordination
  
• Globalization and the American Workforce: House Science Committee Hearings
  
• Senate Adds $1 Billion to FY 2008 NASA Budget Bill (H.R. 3093)

2) WHITE HOUSE & EXECUTIVE AGENCY WATCH

• USPTO Publishes Examination Guidelines for Determining Obviousness in Light of the Supreme Court's KSR v Teleflex Decision
  
• Department of Energy Marks 30th Anniversary
  
• USPTO Will Begin Study of Patent Examiners' Production Goals, Study Complements GAO Recommendation

3) REPORTS, SPEECHES & DOCUMENTS OF NOTE

4) U.S. COURTS ACTIVITY

5) U.S. STATES WATCH

6) AWARDS & GRANTS

7) CONFERENCES, FELLOWSHIPS, PROGRAMS & INTERNSHIPS FOR ENGINEERS, and STUDENTS and SCHOLARS OF ENGINEERING

8) LATEST IEEE-USA & IEEE ACTIVITIES

• Help Put a 'New Face' on Engineering in 90 Seconds; 'How Engineers Make a World of Difference'
  
• Semiconductor Industry Association and IEEE-USA Urge Action on Immigration Reform
  
• IEEE/IEEE-USA Seek Nominations for 2008 "New Faces of Engineering" Recognition Program
  
• Track IEEE-USA's Progress
  
• IEEE-USA In The News

9) OTHER ITEMS OF POSSIBLE INTEREST

• IEEE GLOBECOM:  The Premier Telecommunications Event!

1) CAPITOL HILL WATCH

• Energy Bill Compromise Unlikely

House and Senate leaders have largely abandoned plans to go to conference on energy legislation (H.R. 6, H.R. 3221) and instead are pursuing informal talks to reach a compromise. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wanted to begin a formal conference on the bills, but that would have required finding 60 votes to overcome any objections from Republicans. Instead, the leadership could reach a deal informally that would move between the chambers. "Absent a conference, ..., " said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), "It would be done in conjunction with committee chairs that have jurisdiction." Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) office said energy legislation remains a top priority.

Despite commitments from leadership to finish the legislation, negotiations are to remain difficult due to major differences between the House and Senate bills. Lawmakers will have to decide whether to include vehicle fuel economy standards (CAFE), which are in the Senate-passed bill but not the House version. The House bill contains a mandate that utilities generate a certain percentage of electricity from renewable sources. The Senate bill includes no such provision.

• National Science Board For Increased STEM Education Coordination

Dr. Steven Beering, chairman of the National Science Board, testified during a recent hearing of the House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Science Education, saying that Congress should take steps to ensure there is better coordination of science, technology, engineering and math education. The National Science Board recommended that a National Council for STEM Education be created and an assistant secretary position be established within the Department of Education to coordinate STEM programs within the department.

"The board is in agreement that although many of the steps already taken by Congress and underway in many states through the leadership of governors are extraordinarily valuable and important, without a focal point for coordination, these scattered programs likely will not be able to effect a large change in the nation's overall STEM education system," Beering said.

"The board is convinced that the recommendations made in the action plan for increased coordination of STEM education and, in particular, the creation of an independent and non-federal National Council for STEM Education to bring together all stakeholders must be given serious consideration by Congress."

Judy Jeffrey, director of the Iowa Department of Education, said the "federal government should play a role in improving STEM education by increasing coordination among federal agencies and programs and supporting and communicating more STEM education research that is useful to educators and policymakers." Jeffrey added that the government needs to provide assistance to states and districts for STEM programs.

Other witnesses included, Chrisanne Gayl, the National School Boards Association's director of federal programs; and Susan Traiman, the Business Roundtable's director of education.

IEEE-USA has included STEM education as one of our public policy priorities for the 110th Congress. The Career and Workforce Policy Committee is specifically responsible for working with Congress and the administration on STEM education issues.  Their next meeting is 12-14 October 2007.

• Globalization and the American Workforce: House Science Committee Hearings

Ron Hira, former IEEE-USA vice president for career activities, is working on special assignment with the House Committee on Science and Technology. During his time with the committee this year, Ron organized four investigative hearings on the subject of  "Globalization and the American Workforce" The committee will hold the fourth and final hearing in November.  This last hearing will focus on the impact of offshoring on America's science and engineering workforce. The IEEE-USA Career & Workforce Policy Committee will be preparing a statement for inclusion in the record.  For information on what happened in the first three hearings, please visit the links below:

Background: Globalization and the American Workforce, July 24, 2006 http://science.house.gov/investigations/investigations_detail.aspx?NewsID=1167

Hearing #1: The Globalization of R&D and Innovation, June 12, 2007 ttp://science.house.gov/publications/hearings_markups_details.aspx?NewsID=1864

Hearing #2: The Globalization of R&D and Innovation – Part II, The University Response, July 26, 2007 http://science.house.gov/publications/hearings_markups_details.aspx?NewsID=1926

Hearing #3: The Globalization of R&D and Innovation – Part III, How do Companies Choose Where to Build R&D Facilities?, Oct 04, 2007 http://science.house.gov/publications/hearings_markups_details.aspx?NewsID=196

• Senate Adds $1 Billion to FY 2008 NASA Budget Bill (H.R. 3093)

The Senate began consideration of the FY 2008 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill last week, but was unable to complete consideration before leaving for the Columbus Day recess. The $56 billion bill funds independent agencies, among them the National Science Foundation and NASA – a high-priority program for the Senate.

During the first day of debate, the Senate agreed to add $1.0 billion – with bi-artisan support - to the NASA budget to restore funding that had been reallocated from the "Exploration Capabilities" and "Science, Aeronautics, and Exploration" accounts. Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) said, "The goals of the amendment are clear.  It maintains our commitment to safe, reliable, and robust human spaceflight.  It keeps us on track for the next reliable space transportation vehicle and maintains our commitment to scientific discovery." Mikulski recounted events after the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia accident, when NASA foraged funds from other accounts to repair and upgrade the safety of  the remaining shuttles. NASA moved almost $100 million from the science and aeronautics budget, a move that put space exploration programs in jeopardy.

The Senate and the Bush administration clash on several major funding priorities related to H.R. 3090, including a $6.6 billion appropriation for the National Science Foundation, $636 million more than in FY 2007 and $124 million more than the President requested.

Despite threat of a presidential veto, Mikulski said, "We'll pass this bill and override the veto."

2) WHITE HOUSE & EXECUTIVE AGENCY WATCH

• USPTO Publishes Examination Guidelines for Determining Obviousness in Light of the Supreme Court's KSR v Teleflex Decision

The USPTO has published Examination Guidelines to help USPTO examiners make appropriate decisions regarding the obviousness of claimed inventions in light of the Supreme Court's decision in KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc. (2007).

"The Guidelines stress that the familiar factual inquiries announced by the Supreme Court in its much earlier decision, Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), remain the basis for every decision regarding obviousness," noted Commissioner for Patents John Doll.  "That is, patent examiners will continue to consider (1) the scope and content of the prior art, (2) the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art, (3) the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art, and (4) objective evidence relevant to the issue of obviousness."

The Guidelines also note that patent examiners must continue to explain the reasoning that leads to a legal conclusion of obviousness when rejecting claims on that ground.  The reasoning may still include the established Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit standard that a claimed invention may be obvious if the examiner identifies a prior art teaching, suggestion, or motivation (TSM) to make it.  However, in keeping with the KSR decision, the Guidelines explain that there is no requirement that patent examiners use the TSM approach in order to make a proper obviousness rejection.  Furthermore, the Guidelines point out that even if the TSM approach cannot be applied to a claimed invention, that invention may still be found obvious.

To help patent examiners make obviousness rejections that are supported by appropriate facts and reasoning, the Guidelines identify a number of rationales suggested by the Supreme Court in the KSR decision.  For each rationale, the Guidelines explain the underlying factual findings, and provide guidance about how to reason from the facts to the legal conclusion of obviousness.  The Guidelines emphasize, however, that the identified rationales are only examples, and that any explanation of facts and reasoning based on the Graham inquiries may be used to support a rejection for obviousness. The Examination Guidelines can be found at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/notices/72fr57526.pdf.

• Department of Energy Marks 30th Anniversary

On October 9th, At a celebration marking the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Department of Energy, Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman highlighted DOE's vital role in science – past, present and future: "From the very beginning, this Department has stood for excellence.  …scientific excellence.  …maintaining America's world leadership in the sciences is a thread that runs through nearly everything we do.  And over these past 30 years that leadership has produced extraordinary results, enabling advances in fields as diverse as the physical and environmental sciences, the life sciences and medicine, supercomputing, and nanotechnology….

"And today we continue to push back the frontiers of science in support of our mission.  We are actively planning for the future as well, to make sure that the next generation of cutting-edge facilities are available to our nation's scientists and engineers.  To this end, we have just completed – and will soon release – an update of our 20-year-plan for large-scale science facilities."

A new publication, "Four Years Later: An Interim Report on 'Facilities for the Future of Science: A Twenty-Year Outlook," demonstrates the progress the Office of Science has made in deploying the scientific facilities and instruments that the United States needs to maintain world scientific leadership, extend the frontiers of science, and support the DoE's missions.

The Interim Report is intended to give citizens, legislators, and stakeholder communities a summary of where the DoE's Facilities Outlook forecast stands today.

• USPTO Will Begin Study of Patent Examiners' Production Goals, Study Complements GAO Recommendation

On October 4, 2007, the USPTO announced that, as part of its quality initiatives, it will review assumptions the agency uses to establish production goals for patent examiners.  This announcement coincides with the release of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report—"Hiring Efforts are not Sufficient to Reduce Patent Application Backlog"—which recommends that the USPTO "undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the assumptions that the agency uses to establish its productions goals."  In its review, the USPTO will work with its examiners and user communities.

USPTO Director Jon Dudas praised the GAO report, stating "I am pleased that, after careful study, the GAO agrees with our assessment that hiring alone will not reduce the backlog of patent applications.  By far, our most valuable resource is our employees.  We believe that our 5-year strategic plan identifies initiatives that effectively protect innovation while promoting a quality workplace that attracts and retains employees. That is why many of our most current initiatives incentivize applicants and the public to provide the best information to patent examiners early in the examination process."

Focusing attention on the rapid changes the USPTO has faced, Director Dudas noted that "over the past decade, the USPTO workload has increased in size and complexity.  In response, we have also implemented a long list of successful internal initiatives, from automating examiner search tools to hiring over 3,600 new examiners in the past three years.  As a result, we have seen improvements in quality and production.  A next logical step in bringing the USPTO fully into the 21st century is to reevaluate how these initiatives impact our goals."

The USPTO's review of assumptions underlying the current production standards will encourage a completely fresh look at production in a manner that will motivate employees, improve its work environment, and enhance the quality and efficiency of the patent examination process.

3) REPORTS, SPEECHES & DOCUMENTS OF NOTE

• National Science Foundation

EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Grant Program (RII) - http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf08500

Opening New Possibilities for Deaf Students in Computer Science - http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=pr07135

NSF Provides Funding to Transform Computing Education - http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=pr07131

• Government Accountability Office

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office:  Hiring Efforts Are Not Sufficient to Reduce the Patent Application Backlog
(GAO-07-1102) 4 September 2007 - http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1102
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d071102high.pdf

• Harvard Business School: Where Do U.S. Inventors Come From?

According to a new paper by Harvard Business School professor William Kerr, new immigrants and foreign-born researchers are becoming a critical part of America's base of new inventors. Kerr's research is based on name-matching techniques that seek to assess the ethnic heritage of inventors based on their names (e.g. Smith is deemed an English name; Chang is deemed a Chinese name). Using this technique, Kerr finds that the number of "English-named" inventors has steadily declined since 1975 from 83 percent to 72 percent of total patents. Meanwhile, the Chinese and Indian share of inventions (2 percent in 1974) has risen, respectively, to 8 percent and 4 percent of total inventions. When one looks at inventions by a researcher's institutional background, an interesting trend emerges. In the 1970s and 1980s, most non-English-named researchers were based in universities or government labs. Today, these researchers are just as likely to be found in private firms, providing another indicator of the rise in ethnic entrepreneurship. Download the Harvard Business School Working Paper, "The Ethnic Composition of U.S. Inventors," by William Kerr. http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/08-006.pdf

• Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service

Patent Reform in the 110th Congress: Innovation Issues: http://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/reports/CRSpatentreform07.pdf

4) U.S. COURTS ACTIVITY

No items at this time.

5) US STATES WATCH

No items at this time.

6) AWARDS & GRANTS

• AAAS Grant Site

The American Association for the Advancement of Science has a service called GrantsNet Express.  Each week GrantsNet will provide a listing of science funding opportunities from private foundations and organizations, and new U.S. government grant announcements in the sciences. AAAS will send GrantsNet by e-mail to AAAS member subscribers. The weekly emails will include: — New science funding programs, divided into opportunities for postdocs/graduate students and undergraduates — Submission deadlines for funding opportunities scheduled in the upcoming week — New listings of funding for science-related research.

• National Science Foundation

NSF funding opportunities can be viewed at: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/The NSF is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to over 1,700 universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 42,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes over 10,000 new funding awards. The NSF also awards over $400 million in professional and service contracts yearly.

NSF Outreach Activities - The first National Science Foundation Regional Grants Conference of fiscal year 2008 will be held in Portland, OR and hosted by Portland State University on October 22-23, 2007, with optional FastLane sessions on the 21st.

7) CONFERENCES, FELLOWSHIPS, PROGRAMS & INTERNSHIPS FOR ENGINEERS, and STUDENTS & SCHOLARS OF ENGINEERING

No items at this time.

8) LATEST IEEE-USA & IEEE ACTIVITIES

• Help Put a 'New Face' on Engineering in 90 Seconds; 'How Engineers Make a World of Difference'

Compete for $10,000 in Scholarships — Seven scholarship awards will be presented to undergraduate students competing as individuals or in teams of two individuals or more — $2,500 awarded for first prize; $2,000 for second prize; $1,500 for third prize; and $1,000 for each of four honorable mentions.

Consider the basic premise advanced by a National Academy of Engineering panel: "Engineers make a world of difference. From new farming equipment and safer drinking water to electric cars and faster microchips, engineers use their knowledge to improve people's lives in meaningful ways." Choose an aspect of engineering that you consider to be socially constructive, appealing and "fun." Translate this into a 90-second video clip — aimed at a "tweener" student audience of 11-to-13 year-olds — that shows "how engineers make a world of difference."

Clip should help debunk engineering stereotypes by depicting engineering participation in industry, academia, and/or government. Winning videos will be used: (1) on IEEE websites, including IEEE-USA, IEEE.tv and SPECTRUM Online; (2) in IEEE public outreach and precollege activities; and (3) in National Engineers Week and MATHCOUNTS activities.

For more information on the competition, visit: http://ieeeusa.org/communications/video%5Fcompetition/

• Semiconductor Industry Association and IEEE-USA Urge Action on Immigration Reform

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers-USA (IEEE-USA, two organizations often at odds on immigration issues—notably H-1B visas—have joined forces to urge swift congressional action to ease retention of highly skilled immigrants.

In a joint letter to key Senate and House leaders, SIA and IEEE-USA urged passage of measures to ease the hiring of foreign-born scientists and engineers and other proposals to enhance the global competitiveness of the U.S. high-tech sector.

The letter, signed by SIA President George Scalise and IEEE-USA President John Meredith, reads in part, “Both IEEE-USA and SIA see the retention of highly educated immigrants as part of a broader competitiveness and innovation initiative that includes a doubling of federal investment in research in the physical sciences, improvements in science, technology, engineering and math education at the K-12 and undergraduate levels, and enactment of a permanent and strengthened R&D tax credit.”

• IEEE/IEEE-USA Seek Nominations for 2008 "New Faces of Engineering" Recognition Program

The IEEE and IEEE-USA are seeking nominations for the 2008 Engineers Week (EWeek) "New Faces of Engineering" recognition program. The campaign recognizes engineers new to the profession with outstanding educational and career accomplishments, and is open to IEEE members worldwide.

An annual event since 2002, the EWeek "New Faces" program promotes the importance of technical education, celebrates engineering careers and recognizes significant contributions to the engineering profession and society. Each year, the EWeek Web site (www.eweek.org) features the photos and biographies of five notable young engineers from each EWeek sponsoring society. In addition, a full-page USA Today ad that runs during EWeek recognizes the top individual nominee from each society.

EWeek 2008 is 17-23 February. The deadline for all IEEE nominations is 9 November 2007. IEEE nominations can be submitted through IEEE regional directors, section and GOLD chairs, or independently, and should be directed to Helen Hall at h.hall@ieee.org. The nomination form and more information are available at http://www.eweek.org/site/Engineers/newfaces2008/nomination.shtml.

Sponsored by more than 100 engineering, science and education societies, as well as major corporations dedicated to increasing public awareness and appreciation of engineering, EWeek is celebrated annually by thousands of engineers, engineering students, teachers and leaders in government and business. The IEEE served as lead society during EWeek 1993 and 2004. IBM and the Chinese Institute of Engineers-USA are serving as EWeek 2008 co-chairs.

• FYI - Recent IEEE-USA Letters to Congress

14 Sept. 07 - Letter to the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Defense offering recommendations on ways to augment the President's Executive Order on National Security Professional Development.

• Track IEEE-USA's Progress

Review IEEE-USA's year-to-date progress in working for the IEEE U.S. members at the new IEEE-USA Year-in-Review Web page. Check out what IEEE-USA activities and programs helped the IEEE U.S. members in 2004 at the new IEEE-USA Annual Report online. And find out what's on IEEE-USA's agenda through 2009, with the new, online IEEE-USA Strategic & Operational Plan.

For the IEEE-USA Year-in-Review, go to: http://www.ieeeusa.org/about/yearinreview.asp

For the IEEE-USA Annual Report, go to: http://www.ieeeusa.org/about/Annual_Report/2004.pdf

For the IEEE-USA Strategic & Operational Plan, go to:

http://www.ieeeusa.org/volunteers/strategicplan/index.html

Read a full listing of IEEE-USA lobbying activities on our web site at: http://ieeeusa.com/policy/policy/index.html

Many newly approved position statements are now available online at:

http://ieeeusa.com/policy/positions/index.html

• IEEE-USA In The News

For more IEEE-USA in the News items, see: http://ieeeusa.org/communications/inthenews/default.asp.

9) OTHER ITEMS OF POSSIBLE INTEREST

• IEEE GLOBECOM:  The Premier Telecommunications Event!

IEEE GLOBECOM celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year in Washington, DC from 26-30 November.  Themed "Innovate, Educate, Accelerate," IEEE GLOBECOM 2007 will include a general symposium and nine technical symposia that will offer more than 1,000 technical presentations, as well as diverse tutorials and workshops. Topics for the technical symposia include ad-hoc and sensor networking, communication theory, Internet protocols, optical networks, multimedia communications, signal processing, and wireless communications.

The 50th Anniversary Celebration, hosted by Dr. Irwin Jacobs (Co-Founder and Chairman, QUALCOMM, Inc.), will feature Keynote Dr. Jeong Kim (President, Bell Labs at Alcatel-Lucent); IEEE GLOBECOM Panel Session with Roberto de Marca (PUC-Rio), Ann Miller (University of Missouri - Rolla), and Tom Rowbotham (Vesbridge Partners); plus a Commemorative Lecture by Dr. Leonard Kleinrock (UCLA).

IEEE GLOBECOM 2007 will host the 2nd Annual IEEE Communications Industry Forum and Expo, which consists of ACCESS '07 Executive Business Forum, an executive-level meeting on telecommunications, Design & Developers Forum, and Industry Exhibits. The Communications Expo features distinguished industry speakers Matt Bross (CTO, BT Group), Scott McGregor, (CEO, Broadcom), Mark A. Wegleitner (Senior Vice President, Technology & CTO, Verizon Communications), and Prof. Wu Hequan (Vice President, Chinese Academy of Engineering).

Attend IEEE GLOBECOM 2007 for the latest advances in telecommunications and the opportunity to network with pioneering practitioners and leading innovators.  For detailed conference information, visit www.ieee-globecom.org/2007.

Top of Page | What's New@IEEE | EyeOnWash Archive | IEEE-USA

What's New @ IEEE-USA's Eye on Washington highlights important federal legislative and regulatory developments that affect U.S. engineers and their careers. In addition to this biweekly newsletter, subscribers receive legislative bulletins and action alerts on IEEE-USA priority issues, including: retirement security, employment benefits, research & development funding, computers and information policy, immigration reform, intellectual property protection and privacy of health/medical information.

You can change your IEEE-USA Eye on Washington subscription status by using the forms at http://www.ieeeusa.org/communications/emailupdates/default.asp

Copyright © 2007, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.  Permission granted to copy for personal use or for non-commercial republication with appropriate attribution.

Updated: 12 October 2007