WHAT'S IN IT FOR US?

A search on the Internet shows no evidence that it was former United States Vice President and online juggernaut Al Gore who first realized we need sustainable solutions to the atmospheric, environmental, technological, or even the financial woes burdening the world today.

But eight years after Gore almost became President of the United States of America, a groundbreaking new administration this month takes the helm of the world’s most influential nation. John L. O’Sullivan, who coined the phrase Manifest Destiny, would be proud of those last four words: world’s most influential nation. No, it is not because Barack Obama is the first black man in American history to hold this eminent post; it is groundbreaking because Obama’s campaign rhetoric promised that as President, he would pave the way for substantial federal investments to fill up engineering-related coffers. His political rival last year, John McCain, also promised such funding, but to a lesser extent than Obama and did not make it a primary theme of his campaign. If Obama sees to it that his ambitious promise of financial support finds its way to the proper channels, then the U.S. claim of solving global ills will be recognized internationally.

Irrespective of party preferences, engineering (or generically, technology) is at the root of the solution to many of the problems plaguing our only Earth—and you can add “political” to the list of woes.

In his celebrated book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Pulitzer-Prize-winning columnist and author Thomas L. Friedman sounds the alarm for a need to get back to basics. “Government’s job is to seed the research that will produce the sorts of fundamental breakthroughs in chemistry, materials science, biology, physics, and nanotechnology that open the way for whole new approaches to solving energy problems,” Friedman said.

Those who work in R&D don’t need Friedman to explain to them the importance of government funding. And while it is understood that venture capital investments will pick off the most promising ideas for commercialization and evolve certain technologies, such VC support doesn’t replace federal backing at the level of basic research.

We can argue over global climate change all day long—Friedman’s book presents a persuasive discussion on the need for a “green revolution”—but the focus of basic research is not on environmental or atmospheric climate concerns; it is, instead, linked to the social and thus political climates around the world. The development of innovative engineering solutions has an immense effect on local communities—from young children in remote small towns in Third World countries who need clean water, to transportation infrastructure deficiencies in our own big cities here in the U.S. These are irrefutable problems that link technology and politics.

Never has it been clearer that engineering is no longer just about designing and manufacturing materials, structures, machines, devices, processes, and systems, but that it is about influencing geopolitics.

Throughout the course of his campaign, Obama’s overarching theme was technology and innovation. So what are we, and the rest of the world, to expect from an Obama administration during the next four years, and what’s in it for engineering?

While expectations are always high for any new President, the Obama administration will be judged closely to see if the Commander-in-Chief fulfills his promise that engineers and scientists will play a significant role in his administration. His resolve to secure the promised funds to technology areas—and, subsequently, to ensure that the funds are spent properly—will also be tested.

Specifically from a dollars perspective, the most significant of the new President’s pledges is a doubling, to $56 billion, of federal funding allocated for basic research, with a focus on materials and life sciences.

To press forward the next generation of advanced biofuels, including cellulosic ethanol, and fuel infrastructure, accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids, promote the development of commercial-scale renewable energy, invest in low-emissions coal plants, and begin the transition to a new digital electric grid, Obama promised to allocate an additional $150 billion over 10 years in what he calls Clean Energy Technology Programs.

/// Engineers will play a significant role in government. /// $56 billion for federal R&D. /// $150 billion over 10 years for Clean Technology Programs. /// $50 billion over five years for Clean Technology Deployment Venture Capital Fund. /// Creation of a Chief Technology Officer.

And in order to “ensure that promising technologies move beyond the lab and are commercialized in the U.S.,” Obama has pledged another $50 billion over five years to the Clean Technologies Deployment Venture Capital Fund. This program is modeled after the Central Intelligence Agency’s In-Q-Tel, a non-profit, independently managed venture capital fund developing new intelligence technologies for the CIA. The Clean Technologies Deployment Venture Capital Fund will partner with existing investment funds and the national laboratories to take promising technologies from the lab and commercialize them in the U.S. Some examples of such technologies are cellulosic ethanol, carbon capture and sequestration, and bio-based plastics.

The creation of a new Chief Technology Officer post in the administration, as promised, demonstrates an earnest belief that critical issues facing the technology world must be addressed, as is maintaining an open line of communications between government and its citizens. The CTO will be tasked with ensuring that federal agencies use best-in-class technologies. Related to that is the commitment to include individuals with technology backgrounds in economic policy-making organizations and councils. Such an initiative to learn from the experience of engineers was also proposed by McCain.

The effectiveness of any new president is tied to political realities and to non-partisan rules on how government works. But the stakes are high. And in order to support our legitimate Manifest Destiny to remain among the world’s most influential nations, especially when it comes to engineering prowess, we cannot let politics stand in the way.

—John G. Falcioni, Editor-in-Chief
He can be reached by e-mail at falcionij@asme.org