The University of Washington Fiscal Year 2010 Federal Agenda is now final. The document proposes partnerships with the federal government on a number of high priority projects that will have a significant impact on our institution, state, and region. In the coming months, the Office of Federal Relations will work to garner support for the UW federal agenda projects. Additionally, the office will make agency/program funding recommendations in areas of critical importance to student aid, research and academic achievement.
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Brookings Institution Releases Energy R&D Proposal
Last week, the Brookings Institution released a proposal to establish a network of regional energy discovery and innovation institutes (e-DIIs). According to the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, the e-DIIs would support the overarching goals of renewing America’s economy, promoting energy independence, and addressing climate change. Cities that are currently leaders in innovation, like Seattle, would serve as natural fits for an e-DII. The regional centers would be funded through the Department of Energy and operate as hubs of a distributed research network, linking the nation’s top scientists, engineers, and research facilities. The proposal, Energy Discovery-Innovation Institutes: A Step toward America’s Energy Sustainability, was drafted through a collaborative effort led by James Duderstadt, president emeritus at the University of Michigan. The central idea put forward in the proposal joins the nation’s major research universities with federal and corporate research and development laboratories. More specifically, the e-DIIs would:
- Foster partnerships to pursue cutting-edge applications oriented to research among multiple participants and disciplines;
- Develop and rapidly transfer highly innovative technologies into the marketplace;
- Build the knowledge base and human capital necessary to address the nation’s energy challenges; and
- Encourage regional economic development by spawning clusters of nearby start-up firms, private research organizations, suppliers, and other complementary groups and businesses.
According to the working group that assembled the proposal, the federal government should establish several dozen eDIIs at an annual cost of $6 billion or up to $200 million per competitively awarded eDII. The group anticipates that federal investments would be augmented by funding from academia, state governments, and industry. The February 9th rollout of the Brookings’ proposal, attended by leaders froma academia, industry, and government, demonstrated the widespread recognition of the need for increased federal investments in energy research and development. Panelists and presenters included: William Bates, Council on Competitiveness; John Denniston, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; Billy M. Glover, Boeing Commercial Airplanes; Peter McPherson, National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges; Michael Shellenberger, Breakthrough Institute; Howard Berke, Konarka Technologies Inc.; William Harris, Science Foundation Arizona; Jeffrey Wadsworth, Battelle Memorial Institute; Keith W. Cooley; NextEnergy; E. Gordon Gee, The Ohio State University; Michael Crow, Arizona State University, and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
The Obama administration has clearly stated a desire to increase federal investments in energy research and development. The recently passed stimulus package includes $2 billion for related research activities and serves as an example of the focus that we can expect from administration. However, the funding level proposed in the Brookings proposal remains a heavy lift. In the coming days and weeks, we can expect to get a sense of how feasible the Brookings plan is, as federal agencies begin to detail exactly how they plan to spend the billions of dollars of research funding contained in the economic recovery package, and as a Fiscal Year 2010 budget request is finalized and presented to Congress in the spring.
A full transcript of the event, audio/video recordings, and presentations are available on the Brookings website (click here).
Senator Cantwell Picked to Head Energy Subcommittee
The scope of the subcommittee includes such issues as climate change and renewable energy. Senator Cantwell intends to focus much of the subcommittee’s efforts on advancing clean energy initiatives. According to a news release from the Senator’s office, “Renewable energy, smart grid technologies, research at national labs, energy market regulation and nuclear waste cleanup are among my top priorities as the new chairwoman of the Energy Subcommittee. Transitioning to a clean energy system is a key component of our economic recovery, and I am anxious to continue working with members of the Energy Subcommittee and green energy technology leaders to move America toward this new clean energy future.”
Fiscal Year 2010 Federal Agenda
| Project Title |
Project Description |
Amount | Funding Mechanism | Appropriations Bill and Account |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Institute for Simulation and Interprofessional Studies (ISIS) | Supports the development of new methods for deployment training and reset training of soldiers in the Madigan Army Medical Center Warrior Transition Unit, as well as reintegration training of physicians and civilian reservists in the Pacific Northwest; skills training through simulation; and research of how to leverage the power of distributed training and treatment over the Internet. | $6.38 million | Directed Appropriation | Defense – USAMRMC |
| Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) | Supports the construction of a networked infrastructure of science-driven sensor systems to measure the physical, chemical, geological and biological variables in the ocean and seafloor. Greater knowledge of these variables is vital for improved detection and forecasting of environmental changes and their effects on biodiversity, coastal ecosystems and climate. | $130 million (for the OOI component of the MREFC account) | Programmatic | Commerce/Justice /Science – NSF Major Research Equipment Facilities Construction (MREFC) Account |
| Puget Sound Ecosystem Research Initiative (PSERI) | Supports the integration of scientific data and information in the implementation of the Puget Sound Partnership Action Agenda for the protection and restoration of the Puget Sound. | $2.13 million | Directed Appropriation | Interior/EPA – Environmental Programs and Management |
| Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center | Supports the NW Center, an Oregon State University/University of Washington partnership. OSU will direct the NW Center and focus its efforts on applied research for wave energy. UW will focus on research specific to tidal energy. The two Universities will leverage their expertise and experience to accelerate the development of ocean energy. The NW Center will work directly with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. | $5 million ($1.2 million to UW) | Directed Appropriation | Energy/Water – Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects |
| House of Knowledge | Supports a multi-service learning and gathering space for Native American students, faculty and staff, and others of various cultures and communities to come together in a supporting and welcoming educational environment to share their knowledge and their cultures. Requested funding will support design. | $1 million | Directed Appropriation | Transportation/HUD – Economic Development Initiative |
| Integrated Transportation Lab and Research Program | Supports research initiatives for green roads sustainability rating system; power roads system of using transportation infrastructure to generate electricity; rapid construction techniques; freight forecasting; simulation and visualization of traffic operations; and improved safety for non-motorized and motorized travel. | $2 million | Directed Appropriation | Transportation/HUD – STP or TCSP |
| UW Bothell Nursing Faculty Consortium Training Program | Supports the final phase of a three-year project designed to increase the number of master’s-prepared nursing faculty available to teach in Washington state higher education facilities, increasing the quantity and quality of practicing nurses. | $500,000 | Directed Appropriation | Labor/HHS/ Education – FIPSE, or HRSA |
| Washington State Biofuels Industry Development | Supports the provision of critical equipment for converting Washington state mixed biomass sources into transportation fuels. | $1 million | Directed Appropriation | Energy/Water – Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects |
| Center of Excellence in Prevention, Diagnosis, Mitigation, Treatment, and Rehabilitation of Hearing Loss and Auditory System Injuries | Supports focused research on the prevention of hearing loss and other inner ear diseases due to combat exposures and aging. Enormous progress can be achieved in a relatively short time by investing resources on biological approaches toward prevention and regeneration. | $45 million | Programmatic | Defense – Army |
| Federal Agency Funding Level Recommendations | In addition to the specific projects and programs mentioned above, the UW will make funding recommendations for agencies of particular significance, which include: USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Services; NOAA; NSF; DoD RDT&E; DoE Office of Science; DHS S&T Directorate; EPA, DoA State and Private Forestry, USGS Survey Research, NEA, NEH, DoEd., HRSA, NIH, and VA Medicine. Given the delayed release of a full PBR, the UW will make recommendations by spring 2009. | TBD | Programmatic | Various |
International Education Meeting to Commemorate Title VI Anniversary
Next month, campus international education officials and a number of university presidents and chancellors will come to Washington, D.C. for a conference to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title VI, which authorizes the international education programs funded through the Department of Education.
The Title VI meeting and celebration will be held March 19 to 21 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Capitol Hill at 400 New Jersey Avenue, NW.
Additional information about the conference is available at: http://titlevi50th.msu.edu/ .