Office of Science and Technology Policy Blog

"Start Breaking Stuff'": Advice From America’s Top Young Women Scientists

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What advice do some of the top women scientists and engineers in America have for girls all over the country?

“Go ahead and start breaking stuff,” said researcher Gayle Hagler in the above White House video, because that’s how she got her start. 

Gayle was one of 94 recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) who gathered in the East Room of the White House to meet the President earlier this month.  PECASE awardees are selected each year to honor outstanding scientists and engineers who are beginning their independent research careers, show exceptional potential for leadership, and have demonstrated a commitment to community service and the advancement of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. 

Gayle, in particular, was recognized for “exceptional research to characterize the effects of traffic-related air pollution,” but there was a time when she didn’t even know the difference between a Phillips and a Flathead screwdriver. That’s why she and a few of her fellow female PECASE recipients took a few minutes out of their busy visit to the White House to send a special video message to girls who might be interested in STEM subjects:  Get hands on experience, and get it now.

Moving America from the middle to the top of the pack in STEM education is a priority championed by President Obama and the First Lady, and making sure girls and other historically underrepresented groups have the tools and support they need to excel in these subjects is part of this effort.  Less than a month ago, the First Lady made this clear in an event at the White House:  “If we’re going to out-innovate and out-educate the rest of the world, then we have to open doors to everyone.  We can't afford to leave anyone out.  We need all hands on deck.  And that means clearing hurdles for women and girls as they navigate careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.”

And these hurdles are coming down left and right. Thanks to flexible workplace policies like those featured in the National Science Foundation’s recently launched Career-Life Balance Initiative, women researchers are facing an easier path to having careers as innovators while also enjoying rewarding lives as parents. Considering that women in STEM careers earn 33 percent more than their non-STEM counterparts, these steps to retain women in the STEM workforce ensure increased opportunities for women to achieve economic prosperity.

One need only look at this year’s PECASE winners to witness the incredible frontiers that women scientists and engineers are already traversing. As the President noted in his remarks in the East Room, roughly 40 percent of this year’s PECASE winners were women, among them individuals who serve as important role models to girls within their community and beyond. Check out the full list here.

As these women and the winners of the Google Global Science Fair prove, girls are just as capable as boys when it comes to math, science, and technology. So, girls, in the spirit of Gayle Hagler, grab a tool kit and get to work!

Responsible Development of Nanotechnology: Maximizing Results while Minimizing Risk

Nanotechnology holds the promise of new materials and devices that can be designed and engineered to solve critical questions in almost every sector of our economy – from treating cancer, to cleaning contaminated water, accelerating advanced manufacturing, meeting energy needs, and fixing our roadways and bridges. That’s why, for the last 10 years, the United States has engaged in an ambitious effort through the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) to leverage the research programs and resources of Federal agencies and maximize the potential for translating the results of nanotechnology research into products that strengthen the economy and improve our quality of life.

Nanotechnology is the study and manipulation of matter at a very tiny scale, the nanometer scale.  A nanometer is one billionth of a meter. If we think in terms of nanometers, asheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick, and a human hair is approximately 80,000 nanometers wide. But nano is not just about being small; unusual things happen at the nanoscale (a term generally understood to mean at a scale less than 100 nanometers). Specifically, unexpected physical, biological, and chemical properties emerge that are not present in the same materials at larger scales. These unique properties are what make nanomaterials useful in ways limited only by our imaginations – allowing certain materials to be extremely strong even as they are incredibly light, or granting materials highly useful electrical or optical properties.

The Federal Government is committed to the responsible development of nanotechnology so that the benefits to society are maximized while the potential for unintended consequences from nanomaterials’ novel properties is minimized. Responsible development of nanotechnology requires an integrated, risk-management-based approach to environmental, health, and safety (EHS) research.  Accordingly, NNI participating agencies produced their first NNI strategy for nanotechnology-related EHS research in 2008, and today provide a revised and updated 2011 NNI EHS Research Strategy. This updated strategy reflects the current status of the science and will serve as a guide to agencies as they develop their agency-specific nanotechnology EHS research programs. 

Core research areas addressed in the 2011 strategy include: nanomaterial measurement, human exposure assessment, human health, environment, risk assessment and management, and the new core area of predictive modeling and informatics.  Also emphasized in this strategy is a more robust risk assessment component that incorporates product life cycle analysis and ethical, legal, and societal implications of nanotechnology. Most importantly, the strategy introduces principles for targeting and accelerating nanotechnology EHS research so that risk assessment and risk management decisions are based on sound science.

Progress in EHS research is occurring on many fronts as the NNI EHS research agencies have joined together to plan and fund research programs in core areas. For example, the Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health have researched the safety of nanomaterials used in skin products like sunscreen; the Environmental Protection Agency and Consumer Product Safety Commission are monitoring the health and environmental impacts of products containing silver nanoparticles, and National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has recommended safe handling guidelines for workers in industries and laboratories.

More information on the National Nanotechnology Initiative, including the full range of NNI documents and resources, is available here.

Sally Tinkle is Deputy Director of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office; Tof Carim is Assistant Director for Nanotechnology at OSTP