Education / training

U.K. MPs have doubts about a biometrics IT system for screening students
The Home Affairs Committee looked at the role of the National Biometric Identity Service (NBIS) in student visa applications as part of a report into migration processes; universities have already voiced their concerns that the enrollment of students will depend on the untested NBIS, and the MPs say they share this concern
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Study: No high engineering dropout rate
New study from Purdue University busts two education-related myths - - that engineering has a higher dropout rate than other majors and that women do not as well as men
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Encouraging student technology start-ups
Wolverhampton University’s program gives students the opportunity to set up their own business while they are still at university
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Licensing cybersecurity professionals, II
Even with all the unanswered questions, some cybersecurity experts are happy just to be having the conversation on the topic; they say that all the focus on cybersecurity will turn more attention on training and certification efforts
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Licensing cybersecurity professionals, I
There is a move in Congress to require the Commerce Department to develop or coordinate and integrate a national licensing, certification, and periodic recertification program for cybersecurity professionals
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DOE awards $9 million to encourage nuclear power eduction
Funds will benefit nuclear science and engineering students and university research infrastructure
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Chatham creates School of Sustainability and the Environment
Two trends — globalization and the centralization of food production — have pushed food safety issues to the fore; Chatham University launches a new degree program designed to provide students with “a deep understanding of the issues surrounding food such as the environmental costs of food production and distribution, cultural issues, sustainability of communities, and safety of the food supply”
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NSF receives $3 billion in stimulus package funds
NSF director: “The Obama administration understands the role of science in dealing with national problems. It’s built into their priorities and the people they have appointed to get the agenda moving”
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Wanted: high school hackers, crackers, and other digital deviants
The Pentagon is looking for a few good high-school hackers; in an effort to counter sustained Chinese and Russian hacking of U.S. government and industry networks, the Pentagon is launching a new military-funded program aimed at leveraging an untapped resource: the U.S. population of geeky high school and college students
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UCI awarded $45 million for infectious disease research
Research facility receives finds to improve detection, treatment, and vaccine development
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The near future will see self-cleaning materials, water-striding robots
Researchers at the University of Nebraska and Japan explain a property called super hydrophobia, in the process giving engineers and materials scientists important clues as to how to develop the long-sought super hydrophobic materials
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U.K. science community welcomes Rose Review of primary curriculum
The body representing the U.K.’s foremost science education organizations said it welcomed the publication the other day of the Rose Review which suggested reforms of of the entire primary science curriculum
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No dog left behind: DARPA seeks dog-training machines
Impatient with old-fashioned dog trainers and their archaic techniques of squeaky toys and personal affection, DARPA solicits ideas for machines which would “automates the training of complex behaviors in animals without human intervention”; the training machines should also be able to collect performance metrics that will “indicate” a dog’s “intelligence, capability, and progress”
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SBAC to U.K. government: don't starve successful sectors
The Society of British Aerospace Companies tells government investment in defense and aerospace should be increased; more investment should go to science, technology, engineering, and maths education
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Texas university offers maritime degree
The growing security mandates imposed on U.S. sea ports, and need to manage these mandates with but minimal disruption of the flow of commerce, have led Texas Southern University to begin to offer a new degree program in maritime transportation; the bachelor’s and master’s degrees will prepare students in three areas: maritime logistics, security, and environmental compliance
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