Tom Friedman has a wonderful op-ed in today’s New York Times.  Read it here.  Then go to the National Lab Day website, here, and register! “What the country needs most now is not more government stimulus, but more stimulation. We need to get millions of American kids, not just the geniuses, excited about innovation and entrepreneurship again. We need to make 2010 what Obama should have made 2009: the year of innovation, the year of making our pie bigger, the year of ‘Start-Up America.’ “Obama should make the centerpiece of his presidency mobilizing a million new start-up companies that won’t just give us temporary highway jobs, but lasting good jobs […]

Today, January 17th, is the anniversary of the 1995 Kobe, Japan, earthquake which killed over 6,000 people. I am in Japan, ironically, accepting the Motohiro Kisoi Award for academic contributions to rescue engineering.  I am thinking about Haiti, what is and what might have been. My Japanese hosts at the International Rescue Systems institute are sanguine about the long delays in getting new technologies from the labs and into the hands of the responders, agencies, and the victims themselves. It takes time, they say.  They are patient; it took 5 years to rebuild Kobe with the resources of one of the great nations of the world. During my visit this week and […]

New material has been posted on the website for the Library of Congress symposium hosted by CCC in spring 2009.  Each of the 13 talks now includes slides, a YouTube video, a video download, and (new!) a one-page summary.

Barbie has had over 120 careers!  What do you think her next job should be?  Vote for your favorite, then check back to find out what Barbie will be next. Environmentalist Surgeon Architect News Anchor Computer Engineer Get out the vote! http://www.barbie.com/vote/

Every second year, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics provides a ten-year forecast of job growth in all fields of employment.  The most recent forecast, released in November 2009 and covering the period 2008-2018, may be found here (pdf).  Among the highlights: Among the 10 major BLS occupational groups, the “Professional and related” category (which includes computer science occupations) is projected to grow by the largest percentage between now and 2018 — by 16.8%.  (The average growth projected across all occupations is 10.1%.) Focusing in on the “Professional and related” occupations, of the 8 occupational clusters that are included, “Computer and mathematical” occupations are projected to grow by the largest […]