The Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology (FAST) is an international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging Fulbright scholars and other leaders in partnerships that advance science and society.

Selected books written by FAST members are now available for purchase through the FAST Bookstore on our website. If you would like us to promote your book, please send us the title (it must be available through Amazon.com). If you purchase other items from Amazon through our website, FAST gets a small commission, so please visit FulbrightAcademy.org when you buy your books, videos, etc.

TWO IMPORTANT UPDATES: See below for details on the EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT for our 2008 Conference in Singapore and the RESULTS of our Health & Environment Workshop in Qatar.

"Futuropolis 2058: Creating Sustainable Urban Environments through Innovation” will be held in Singapore on October 21-22, 2008 (Tuesday-Wednesday). We are expecting 100 Fulbright scholars and 200 other leaders, experts and interested individuals.

Hosted by FAST and Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology & Research (A*STAR), this conference will bring together many of respected technical experts and visionaries to shape the thinking and practice of urban leaders. The conference will be a catalyst to influence how the urban environments of the future are studied, planned and managed through areas such as: ** urban infrastructure ** city management ** renewable energy ** social networking technologies ** future transportation systems **

Invited speakers include Christopher Flavin (CEO, Worldwatch Institute), Mike Douglass (Director of the Globalization Research Center, University of Hawaii), Ana Maria Majano (former Minister of Environment, El Salvador), Jeff Kenworthy (Professor in Sustainable Cities, Murdoch University, Australia), Patrick Chanezon (Senior executive for social networking, Google); and Ellen Brennan-Galvin (former Chief of the Population Policy Section, United Nations Population Division).

Additional special events will be held on October 19-20 for Fulbright Academy members and friends, including a special city tour hosted by Singapore Management University.

We would like to include your ground-breaking research in the poster session. To submit an abstract for the poster session, please contact us via email (ehoward@FulbrightAcademy.org). Topics include: transportation infrastructure, innovations in clean drinking water, sanitation & wastewater management, energy use in urban areas, alternative energy, urban parks, urban disaster planning, technologies for city management, meetings in virtual reality, internet-based social networks, urban healthcare, and architecture.

Special early-bird registrations are available through FAST for $250 - you must register prior to April 19. Regular registration will be $500 for academics. Call for details: 1-207-799-3098.

With important support from the Qatar Foundation, FAST was able to host a three-day workshop in Doha for 70+ experts in health and environment, with a particular focus on nursing and education. Over forty institutions and twelve countries were represented at the workshop - from North America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

In terms of outcomes, Qatar Foundation will engage partners to create an integrated research program on environmental epidemiology and toxicology in order to prepare the required professionals to ensure that initiatives put in place will be sustained by qualified people as well as to serve the needs of public health in Qatar and the region.

At the national level, Qatari stakeholders will seek to set up a National Consultative Committee on Environmental Health involving relevant experts who will draw up the Qatari framework, policy and guidelines to mitigate environmental health risks arising from exposure to harmful chemical or environmental conditions, particularly in health care settings.

The meeting also explored the creation of a regional/ international Council for Environmental Health, perhaps in partnership with the World Health Organization in order to bring the latest medical and health care practices to the Middle Eastern countries. The creation of a journal was also discussed, and a follow-up meeting in 2009 is under consideration.

Copies of the white papers and powerpoint presentations can be downloaded from the FAST website.

Five Ashoka-Lemelson Fellows are working diligently to support the U.N.'s goal to provide an additional 1.6 billion people with sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015. The five fellows are based in Nigeria, Egypt, Indonesia, Peru, and Singapore.

Like the FAST Workshop in Qatar, the Ashoka-Lemelson initiative seeks to link up leaders in an effort to implement the UN Millennium Development Goals, which were the theme for the FAST 2007 Conference in Panama. [The Lemelson Foundation is an institutional member of FAST.]

To date 34 Fellows are striving to identify solutions to pressing global concerns - the goal is build a critical mass of 100 inventor-entrepreneurs by 2010. The Lemelson Foundation uses its resources to inspire, encourage and recognize inventors, innovators and entrepreneurs to support invention-led economic, social and environmentally sustainable development. It has donated or committed more than $140 million in support of its mission in the U.S. and developing countries.

The 116th Annual American Psychological Association Convention is on August 14-17, 2008 in Boston, Massachusetts. The APA Office of International Affairs is expecting over 100 Fulbright scholars from the US and abroad to participate in two-days of special events on August 14 & 15. Activities will include an evening reception, a poster session and a discussion/dialogue which will address topics such as the value of Fulbright scholarships to the advancement of Psychology. You do not need a personal invitation to attend meetings of the American Psychological Association. The Association's meetings are open scholarly events and all persons who are interested and pay the necessary registration fee may attend. For information on the meeting please visit the APA website or call FAST at 207-799-3098.

Also this summer, FAST is organizing a reception in Southern Florida in conjunction with the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS). FAST is a sponsor of the ICRS, which is the week after the 4th of July, and we will be hosting a recpetion on the evening of July 9th. Expected attendees at the reception include Dr. Bob George (former FAST Board member & Research Professor at the University of Miami); Dr. Judy Kleypas (National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado) and Mike Beck (Senior Scientist with the Marine Initiative of The Nature Conservancy).

FAST is a grass-roots organization - both of these events were initiated by our members. 2008 programs include conferences/ workshops in Boston, MA; Doha, Qatar; Liverpool, UK, and Singapore. Smaller forums and programs are in Quito, Ecuador, Cambridge, MA; Denver, CO; Washington, DC; Los Angeles, CA; and Fort Lauderdale, FL.

If you would like to host a FAST meeting, reception or program, please contact Lisa Smith, our Deputy Director, at 207-799-3098. The generosity of individual contributors and income received from our institutional memberships makes these programs possible. If your institution is not a member, please ask us for details.

FAST is a non-profit 501-c-3 membership-based organization that serves scientists, executives, and scholars worldwide. At their January 2008 meeting, the board adopted a $222,000 annual budget - not including an estimate of $210,000 of in-kind support in 2008 from organizations such as A*STAR, the Qatar Foundation, NASA, and many institutional members and supporters.

Our members and sponsors include individuals and institutions such as universities, corporations, government agencies and foundations. FAST collaborates with many Fulbright-related entities, but it is not affiliated with the US Fulbright Association or the Fulbright Exchange Program. Regular membership is $60 for individuals and $500 for most institutions. Discounts are available; visit our website for details or to watch a 10-minute video about the Academy: "FAST is a Blast!"