Education and the Future

NSB Offers Recommendations on
Future of Federal Role in Graduate Education
The National Science Board (NSB) urges a reexamination of the federal/university partnership, and offers several recommendations for improvement, in a policy paper released recently titled "The Federal Role in Science and Engineering Graduate and Postdoctoral Education." "The partnership has been working well, but signs of stress and distress are clearly evident and need attention," said NSB Chairman and Stanford chemist Richard Zare. The Board paper describes changes such as an increased demand for higher education; and acknowledges many stresses on universities and faculty resulting from those changes, such as rising costs and administrative burdens.    More...

Exploring Polar Connections with
Hands-On Science and Engineering Activities
The 1998 National Science & Technology Week (NSTW) theme, Polar Connections: Exploring the World's Natural Laboratories, highlights the fact that both the North and South Poles are "natural laboratories"--unique in the matchless opportunities they offer scientists and engineers to conduct research in pristine, natural environments. The National Science Foundation presents a new web site of NSTW teaching activities in science, mathematics, and technology. These activities are designed to provide opportunities for students to engage in creative, hands-on science and engineering activities around a polar theme.    More...

Graduate Enrollments in Science and
Engineering Continue Downward Move
Following 15 years of consistent gains, graduate enrollments in science and engineering for 1996 declined for a third straight year, according to a newly published National Science Foundation (NSF) Data Brief. The NSF figures show that enrollment of women in graduate science and engineering (S&E;) programs, which rose consistently since 1980, went up again by about one percent over the 12-month period ending in the fall of 1996. Meanwhile, graduate S&E; enrollments for men, which started downward in 1992, continued its slide, down 3.3 percent from 1995 to 1996.    More...

MIT Engineers May Have Found
Way to Create Crack Resistant Surfaces
Research engineers at MIT have found a way to test, then confirm, a mathematical theory about properties of graded materials. The theory could lead to new materials with exceptional properties for everything from dental implants to military armor. The research, conducted in part with support from NSF, is reported in several engineering journals internationally. Graded materials are those made of two or more materials mixed together, with the proportions of each differing at the surface versus different depths.    More...