News Release
Contact: Terry Costlow
Phone: + 1 847 966 0973
E-Mail:
tcostlow@core.com |
Pender M. McCarter, APR, Fellow PRSA
IEEE-USA Communications &
Public Relations Director
Phone:
+1 202 785 0017 ext. 8353
E-Mail:
p.mccarter@ieee.org |
House Science Committee Chair Addresses
Engineering Jobs, Education and Hubble:
Exclusive IEEE-USA Today's Engineer
Interview
WASHINGTON (28 April 2005)
— Science
and engineering are under pressure from many
areas, from offshore interests to Congressional
budget cutters. In an expansive IEEE-USA
Today's Engineer
interview in April, Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.),
the House Science Committee chair, examines the
ways those pressures affect education,
offshoring and immigration, as well as rescuing
the Hubble space telescope.
Boehlert has been a proponent of scientific and
engineering programs since joining Congress in
1982, but he expressed many concerns over the
state of engineering today. "We've got to
produce more engineers, we've got to have a
better educational system, we've got to solve
the visa problem," he said.
Though engineers are hunting for jobs in some
regions, the inability to get talent in some
areas is a big concern in some parts of New
York. "It bothers me that the American business
community, in some of the engineering
disciplines, can't accommodate its needs with a
homegrown workforce," Boehlert told Today's
Engineer
. Though he's in favor of creating jobs for
Americans, Boehlert feels that employers should
have access to foreign workers who now find it
difficult to get visas.
Another hot scientific topic in Washington is
the Hubble telescope. "I want to extend the life
of Hubble, but not at all costs," Boehlert said.
Expenses seem too high for a Shuttle mission,
around $2 billion, while a robotic rescue can't
be done in a timely manner, putting a dark cloud
over Hubble's future.
The nation's tight finances have also led to a
reduction of government funding for R&D. While
NASA is seeing an increase, other budgets are
"inadequate" after recent cuts. According to the
House Science Committee chair, "Our future is
largely dependent on our response to the
challenge to invest more in R&D on the part of
the government."
For the complete Today's Engineer
interview with Boehlert, go to
www.todaysengineer.org/2005/Apr/interview.asp.
A related article on the Hubble can be found at
www.todaysengineer.org/2005/Apr/hubble.asp.
To see the latest monthly Today's Engineer,
and to be added to the subscription list at no
charge, go to
www.todaysengineer.org/emailupdates.
IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of the IEEE.
It was created in 1973 to advance the public
good and promote the careers and public policy
interests of the more than 220,000 technology
professionals who are U.S. members of the IEEE.
The IEEE is the world's largest technical
professional society. For more information, go
to
www.ieeeusa.org.
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Last Update:
15 May 2007
Staff Contact: Pender M. McCarter,
p.mccarter@ieee.org
|
