Latest News

January 11, 2011

NSPE attended a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Human Rights Coalition. The meeting included discussions about post-earthquake reconstruction in Haiti, enhancing collaboration between the science and human rights communities, and working with United Nations human rights mechanisms.

January 10, 2011

NSPE will cosponsor the Society of Women Engineers's April 2011 Diversity and Inclusion Fuels Innovation in STEM Capitol Hill Day, when leaders from engineering organizations will discuss science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education issues with members of Congress. NSPE also cosponsored last year's event, when NSPE leaders met with Congressmen Paul Tonko (D-NY-21) and Jerry McNerney (D-CA-11), both of whom have worked as engineers.

January 5, 2011

Two Republican measures could impede infrastructure funding. On their first day of work, members of the 112th Congress adopted rules of order including a repeal of a 1998 provision that allowed lawmakers to block legislation that failed to appropriate transportation funds at the level set forth in authorization legislation.

December 21, 2010

Congress passed the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act (H.R. 5116, S. 3605). The America COMPETES Act, first enacted in 2007, was drafted in response to " Rising Above the Gathering Storm," the National Academies' report on America's lagging competitiveness in science and technology.

NSPE Senior Manager of Government Relations Sarah Ogden represented NSPE at a Coalition for National Science Funding meeting. NSPE is a member of CNSF, an alliance of more than 125 organizations united by a concern for the future of the national science, mathematics, and engineering professions. CNSF supports increasing national investment in the National Science Foundation's research and education programs.

December 17, 2010

The President signed into law the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act. The tax package includes a two-year extension of the R&D tax credit (retroactive to January 1, 2010, through 2011).

December 15, 2010

NSPE General Counsel Arthur Schwartz commented before the Chemical Safety Board on the role of professional engineers in offshore oil-drilling safety. NSPE believes that PEs should supervise all engineering design, operations, and maintenance of offshore oil rigs.

NSPE Senior Manager of Government Relations Sarah Ogden and NSPE member Robert Cargill, Ph.D., P.E., attended a Food and Drug Administration External Defibrillator Improvement Initiative workshop. Cargill participated in a panel discussion on engineering design practices that could improve the next generation of devices.

December 14, 2010

NSPE cosponsored a High-Performance Building Congressional Caucus Coalition briefing, " Building Metrics: Understanding Performance & Making Informed Choices." The briefing included presentations by professional engineers from the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers and the U.S. Green Building Council and a representative from the National Institute of Building Sciences.

NSPE Senior Manager of Government Relations Sarah Ogden participated in an R&D Credit Coalition teleconference. The Senate is expected to pass the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act, a tax package that includes a two-year extension of the R&D tax credit (retroactive to January 1, 2010, through 2011).

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