1 STEM Innovations and Future of WorkforcePramod Khargonekar Assistant Director for Engineering National Science Foundation FedScoop Tech Town Hall September 9, 2014
2 “to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…” NSF Act, 1950
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4 NSF ENG: Investing in engineering research and education to foster innovations for benefit to society Research Education Innovation Societal Benefits
5 Nanoscience and NanotechnologySustainable Nanomanufacturing Nanoelectronics for 2020 and Beyond Nanotechnology for Solar Energy Nanotechnology Knowledge Infrastructure Nanotechnology for Sensors
6 NAnomanufacturing Systems for Mobile Computing ENergy Technologies (NASCENT)Fundamental Knowledge Systems Enabling Technologies Machines, Materials, Models & Devices Nano-Enabled Electronic, Energy and Healthcare Device Needs Nano-scale manufacturers
7 Advanced Manufacturing
8 Clean Energy Photosynthetic Biorefineries
9 Bio-Medical Frontier Synthetic BiologyParts Sensors oxygen pH Switches Controls Devices Circuits logic memory Scaffolds Chassis Metabolism Codon usage Containment Medicines Anti-malaria vaccines Drug testing Stem cells Chemicals Polymers fabrics cosmetics Solvents Engineering of biology and medicine Advanced bio-manufacturing Smart and connected health
10 Data Driven Discovery
11 Secure and Trustworthy CyberspaceSupport fundamental scientific advances and technologies to protect cyber-systems from malicious behavior, while preserving privacy and promoting usability. Image Credit: ThinkStock
12 Scholarship for ServiceThe CyberCorps(R): Scholarship for Service (SFS) program seeks to increase the number of qualified students entering the fields of information assurance and computer security and to increase the capacity of the United States higher education enterprise to continue to produce professionals in these fields. Two tracks: The Scholarship Track provides funding to colleges and universities to award scholarships to students. The Capacity Building Track providing funds to support curriculum, outreach, faculty, institutional, and/or partnership development.
13 Smart Systems: Sensing, Reasoning, and DecisionEnvironment Sensing Emergency Response Situation Awareness: Humans as sensors feed multi-modal data streams Agent (Reasoning) Percepts (sensors) Pervasive Computing Social Informatics Actions (controllers) This trend will continue to accelerate in the coming decades as a breathtaking pace of advances has brought computing and communication into all facets of our society. In our community, this is being ushered in by widespread deployment of low-power sensors ranging -- from tiny specialized communicating processors (“smart dust”) and -- specialized sensors (in body sensors, structural sensors, power sensors) to -- mobile phone-based sensors (geolocation, vibration, etc). Enabling applications including: -- sensing environmental information (air quality, beech erosion), -- physical structural information (health of bridges and buildings, power consumption of buildings and campuses) -- Emergency response during man-made or natural disasters -- social data and health information. Of course, we can often do more than just monitor and observe: we can combine disparate sources of data to create a deeper form of reasoning, and we can make decisions, i.e. control or react IT’S ABOUT … Instrument, observe, analyze and respond. People-Centric Sensing Smart Health Care Sense Identify Assess Intervene Evaluate Public Sensing Social Sensing Personal Sensing Sources: Sajal Das, Keith Marzullo, Images public domain and courtesy of University of Florida 13
14 Boundaries between services, manufacturing and agriculture sectors getting blurred“The first three industrial revolutions came about as a result of mechanization, electricity and IT. Now, the introduction of the Internet of Things and Services into the manufacturing environment is ushering in a fourth industrial revolution.”* *Source: Securing the future of German manufacturing industry, Forschungsunion, April, 2013.
15 Smart Service Systems Systems Integration Computer Science Smart Technology Research Cognitive Engineering/ Human Factors Research Human interaction with technologies and with physical and virtual realities can produce and deliver service(s) never before imagined. A "smart" service system: capable of learning, dynamic adaptation, decision making based upon data received, transmitted, and/or processed human-centered. Pushing the frontier in autonomy, the ability to deal with ambiguity, and cognitive reasoning to provide some type of benefit to humans. Human-centered Smart Service System Industrial Partner Academic Team **Free images taken from iStockphoto/Thinkstock
16 Research to Commercialization: Filling the GapPFI: BIC/AIR NSF overall SBIR GOALI STTR I/UCRC I-Corps STC ERC Industry Investors Translational Research Valley of Death Foundations Small Businesses Universities Discovery Development Commercialization
17 The Second Machine Age “In short, we’re at an inflection point—a point where the curve starts to bend a lot—because of computers. We are entering a second machine age.” Image courtesy Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee
18 “According to our estimates, about 47 percent of total US employment is at risk.”THE FUTURE OF EMPLOYMENT: HOW SUSCEPTIBLE ARE JOBS TO COMPUTERISATION? Osborne and Frey, 2013, Oxford University “Our model predicts that most workers in transportation and logistics occupations, together with the bulk of office and administrative support workers, and labour in production occupations, are at risk.”
19 Science of Learning and Cyber-LearningUnderstand the process of learning Develop new technologies for improved learning “Sixty-five percent of fifteen year olds alive today will work in careers that have not yet been invented.” Cathy Davidson Image Credit: Georgia Computes! Georgia Tech
20 Educational Research & Practice Continuum
21 Glimpse into the Future of Higher Education“The past few years have brought mounting evidence that higher education stands at a crossroads. … At MIT, we are choosing to meet this challenge directly by assessing the educational model that has served the Institute so well for so long.” R. Reif, President MIT Institute-wide Task Force on the Future of MIT Education
22 A New Playing Field Today’s MOOCs, Flipped Classrooms, Digital Resources, etc. - offer unrestricted access to knowledge (e.g., cost, location, time) Ubiquitous access (Anything, Anytime, Anywhere by Anyone) – ability to personalize content (e.g., MOOCs can be great organizing structures for the vast array of on-line materials)
23 Who is in STEM Workforce?Group Percentage of population (2008)* Percentage in Science and Engineering occupations (2006)** White men 33% 55% Asian Men 2% 12% White women 34% 18% Asian women 5% Black women 6% 1% Black men Hispanic women 7% Hispanic men 8% 3% Other women Other men ~65% ~33% *Source: US Census Bureau **Source: NSF
24 Demographic Changes “If ability, and not the circumstances of family fortune, determines who shall receive higher education in science, then we shall be assured of constantly improving quality at every level of scientific activity” Vannevar Bush
25 Conclusions NSF is enabling basic research in science and engineering and nurturing the innovation eco-system NSF is fully engaged in STEM education and broadening participation issues
26 Questions? Ideas, thoughts!