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Office of Science and Technology Policy Blog

  • Students Speak: “Why I’m in STEM”

    Posted by Becky Fried on December 7, 2012 at 2:56 PM EDT

    This week, OSTP asked winners and finalists from the 2012 Siemens Foundation student competition in Math, Science, and Technology to tell us why they are pursuing STEM and what it means to them.

    The Science of Sleep

    Daniel Fu (Park Tudor School, Indianapolis, Indiana) and Patrick Tan (Carmel High School, Carmel, Indiana): Daniel and Patrick developed two new mathematical methods for analyzing the human body’s oscillatory network—the system of genes and proteins in the body that regulate periodic processes such as the 24-hour sleep cycle. Their work could help inform the development of better treatments for illnesses that result from irregularities in these processes, such as sleep disorders.

    “We first became interested in this problem after watching Inception, which deals with dreams and sleep to a major extent. The movie inspired us to investigate the nature of sleep at a fundamental level, which led us to the 24-hour sleep cycle and genetic oscillatory networks. We like STEM because it can provide answers to fundamental questions about the universe. It is by definition at the forefront of human capability, and it is the only way to advance the human frontier.”—Daniel Fu

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  • OSTP Director to Stellar STEM Students: “Keep Innovating!”

    Posted by Becky Fried on December 4, 2012 at 7:05 PM EDT

    Holdren Siemens 20121203

    December 03, 2012 - Dr. Holdren speaks at the Siemens Foundation Student Competition in Math, Science, and Technology gala event. (Photo courtesy of Siemens Foundation)

    On Monday in Washington, DC, OSTP Director John Holdren spoke to an audience of scientists and innovators, including the student finalists of the Siemens Foundation Competition in Math, Science, and Technology. In his remarks, Dr. Holdren, who at the event accepted the Siemens Founder’s Award on behalf of the Administration for its work to promote student engagement in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), made the case that a solid STEM education is one of the most powerful routes to a career that is both successful and meaningful to society.

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  • HUD and Partners Pitch in to Help Families Find Housing Following Hurricane Sandy

    Posted by Becky Fried on November 30, 2012 at 1:44 PM EDT

    Earlier this month, Hurricane Sandy tore through the Northeast leaving thousands of families to pick up the pieces of their homes.  As families begin the process of rebuilding, the demand for rental housing is making it difficult for these families to find alternative housing. 

    While the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has worked to expand housing options for lower income families displaced by Hurricane Sandy, HUD, in conjunction with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), worked with several technology companies that have joined a national effort to help these families with innovative housing solutions. These efforts are evidence of the good that can come when Federal agencies work with the private sector to harness data and technology in creative ways.

    Read about these innovative collaborations and how they've helped families on the HUDdle blog.

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  • $25M in Research Awards to Advance Administration’s Materials Genome Initiative

    Posted by Cyrus Wadia and Meredith Drosback on November 29, 2012 at 4:33 PM EDT

    Last month, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DOE) announced more than$25 million of funding for innovative materials-science research projects. The research awards are a significant milestone for the Administration’s Materials Genome Initiative (MGI)—a collaborative effort of public, private, and academic leaders to make the discovery, development, and deployment of cutting-edge materials faster and cheaper than ever before.

    Includes Photo Gallery
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  • USAID Launches Development Labs at Seven Universities

    Posted by Tom Kalil and Robynn Sturm Steffen on November 16, 2012 at 6:20 PM EDT

    Last week, OSTP Director John P. Holdren joined USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah in launching the Higher Education Solutions Network (HESN)  – a groundbreaking partnership between USAID and seven top universities that is designed to harness the ingenuity and passion of university faculty and students  to develop innovative solutions to global development challenges.

    USAID’s HESN was first announced at the White House in February 2012 and its formal launch marks the latest milestone in the Administration’s work to leverage US comparative advantages in science, technology, and innovation to accelerate progress toward global development goals. The effort is a direct response to the President’s Policy Directive on Global Development, which calls for investments in game-changing innovations with the potential to solve long-standing development challenges—such as vaccines for neglected diseases; drought-resistant seed varieties; and clean energy technologies.

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  • Inaugural Splash for High-Tech Research Ship Built with Recovery Act Help

    Posted by Becky Fried on October 23, 2012 at 5:43 PM EDT

    This week, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and partners successfully heaved a 3,665-ton ship into Great Lakes waters near Green Bay, Wisconsin. The massive vessel, better suited for science than subtlety, lumbered loudly into the water in less than 30 seconds, splashing bystanders and rolling so radically as to give new maritime meaning to the term “tipping point.”

    The research ship, called Sikuliaq, which means “young sea ice” in the language of northern Alaska’s Inupiat people, is bound for ice-breaking adventures in the Arctic, starting in early 2014. The ship was made possible by $148 million in Federal Recovery Act investments through an NSF grant to the University of Alaska Fairbanks. It was constructed by the Marinette Marine Corporation of Wisconsin, a major regional employer that added local jobs and reinstated previously laid-off workers in order to build the boat.

    Read more about the high-tech ship and the scientific research it will enable on the NSF website.

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