Fellows in Service to the Nation

Mechanical Engineering, Jul 2007 by Legatski, Mary James

Congress could have been blindsided by the energy crisis of 1973. There was an oil embargo. Gasoline prices soared. Fistfights broke out near filling stations. As lawmakers pondered what to do, they were able to call on a new resource for information-Barry Hyman, the first ASME Federal Fellow.

The Senate Commerce Committee gave Hyman the job of drafting a committee staff report, "Initiatives in Energy Conservation," which laid out the rationale for legislative action. The Energy Policy and Conservation Act was eventually signed into law. Hyman also drafted legislation and organized hearings on a new panel to advise the president, the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Legislators vote on laws that affect the quality of our environment, the safety of our food, the operation of our businesses, the education of our children. Yet, few elected officials have technical or scientific backgrounds. U.S. Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire, one of the few engineers to have served in Congress, put it this way: "If we want good public policy, then it has to be I made by those who understand the issues. We need to apply the problem-solving approach used by engineers to understand the realm of solutions, as well as the law of unintended consequences, in the public policy arena."

According to Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey, a member of the House Committee on Science and Technology, "Decisions made about fisheries, biofuels, agricultural technologies, educational technologies, intellectual property rights, technology transfer, foreign aid, the health care system, and broadband communications will determine the course of our nation. Investment and decisions concerning science and technology require an understanding of the scientific and technological development process."

Under the Federal Fellows Program, selected ASME members devote a year to working in government providing engineering and technical advice to policy makers in Congress, federal agencies, and the White House. As engineers, Federal Fellows bring analytical and problemsolving skills to the making of public policy.

The world has undergone tremendous change since 1973. Besides energy prices and supply, new issues-on climate change, national security, health care, nanotechnology, and education-have entered public policy debate.

Matthew Allen, a nuclear engineer and staff physicist at Sandia National Laboratories, is serving on the House Committee on Homeland Security. He is assigned to the minority staff on the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology. The subcommittee is the technical arm of the Homeland Security Committee and has jurisdiction over a variety of areas, including chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. In his role as the nuclear fellow, Alien will play a part in drafting a planned law to give the Department of Homeland Security the resources to develop techniques for the forensic analysis of nuclear material.

Stephen A. Lehrman, an expert on the engineering and commercial assessment of new technology, is a Federal Fellow working on the staff of Sen. Mark L. Pryor of Arkansas. Lehrman was invited to join the senator's legislative staff because of his experience in nanotechnology commercialization and its environmental, health, and safety issues. He recently drafted a letter to the Government Accountability Office requesting that it perform a study of the National Nanotechnology Initiative investment and report to Congress on the regulatory activity of the four agencies responsible for worker and consumer safety.

Lehrman also drafted two bills to reauthorize the Department of Defenses nanotechnology program and to expand the National Science Foundation nanotechnology research center program to provide greater opportunities for academic institutions in small, rural states. He is working with the Department of Commerce to develop a meeting in Arkansas on "Barriers and Solutions to Nanotechnology Commercialization."

Applicants to the ASME Federal Fellows Program must possess solid technical credentials and communications skills. U.S. citizenship is required, as is membership in ASME. Preference is given to candidates with at least five years of professional experience, an advanced engineering degree, professional engineer registration, and public policy experience.

ASME Federal Fellows attend a two-week orientation course in Washington each September. The training is administered by the American Association for the Advancement of Science for Federal Fellows from approximately 20 different societies.

The Federal Fellows Program is sponsored by ASME with supplemental grants from the ASME Foundation. The Foundation has contributed more than $550,000 to the program since 2001.

John Voeller, a former ASME Federal Fellow with the Office of Science and Technology Policy, summed it up this way: "For companies whose employees become ASME Federal Fellows, the experience will provide knowledge about how the world of government really works, how things get done, and how to leverage a vast array of assets and relationships."