Future of Cities - Leading Thinkers to Meet in Singapore

FAST has partnered with Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology & Research to host a unique conference on the Future of Cities.  Bringing together thought-leaders in sustainability issues across various disciplines, Futuropolis 2058: Creating Sustainable Urban Environments through Innovation, provides the opportunity to find out how you can be a part of the dynamic incubation processes that are positively impacting urban environments worldwide.

The program for the two-day conference consists of five themes. (1) City Management & Long Term Planning: The Challenges for Global Metropolises of the Future, (2) Next Generation Networking: Wiring the Global Citizen (3) Futuristic Living Spaces: Where We Live, Work and Play (4) Engineering & Construction: Transportation and Water in the Next 50 Years and (5) Alternative Energy Usage: Powering our Future.

Michio Kaku is the internationally recognized authority in predicting trends affecting business, commerce, and finance based on the latest research in science and the author of the international best-seller, Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century. For this book, he interviewed 150 of the world’s top scientists about their vision for the next 20 years in computers, robotics, biotechnology, space travel, etc.

Charles Zukoski is a chemical and biomolecular engineer, whose professional work now focuses on leading, enabling and supporting research initiatives, technology transfer and the economic development. At the University of Illinois, he oversaw an annual research portfolio of over $500 million through more than 3,000 sponsored research awards from the federal and state governments and private organizations.

Gordon Bell has been a principal researcher at Microsoft Research, since 1995, researching the lifetime capture and storage of everything for an individual. Not only has his previous prestigious roles included VP of R&D, Digital Equipment Corp; professor, Carnegie-Mellon University; and founding assistant director of NSF’s Computing and Information Sciences and Engineering (CISE) Directorate.  In 1972, he formulated Bell’s Law, which successfully described how computers might evolve, with a new type of computer every decade based on a new programming platform, network, and interface resulting in new usage and the establishment of a new industry.

Other speakers in the five themes include  policy makers such as Ellen Brennan-Galvin, Professor, Public Policy, Yale University (Former Chief Population Policy, United Nations), Ana Marie Majano, Consultant, Latin American Centre for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development (Former Minister of Environment- El Salvador) and technology leaders from Fortune 500 companies such as  Patrick Chanezon, API Evangelist, Google. Jyri Salomaa, Head of Service Experiences, Systems Research Office of the CTO, Nokia.

A poster session showing research conducted by Fulbright scholars and other researchers is an integral part of the conference. Abstracts for the poster session are being accepted at www.FulbrightAcademy.org. Registration information:  www.Futureofcities.com

Services to Our Members

As a young organization, FAST has been testing several types of services to help us identify how we can best serve the global alumni.  Our conferences have been very successful in bringing alumni together to share knowledge and to build new working relationships, be it professional research collaborations or personal friendships.

More recently, several institutional members have come to FAST seeking assistance in outreach to you and other members of the Fulbright community. For example, FAST was asked to identify Fulbright experts in animation to speak at the 3rd Annual Innovation Conference in El Salvador. We also have institutions who are seeking expertise in other areas, from input on international opportunities for their students to partners for collaborative research projects funded by government agencies.

FAST is a grass-roots organization. Major programs in 2008 were the result of a member coming to FAST with an idea, from the undergraduate research symposium in Ecuador, to the dialog on Nursing in Qatar and our conference on the Future of Cities in Singapore. Because of member suggestions, we participated in the National Science Teachers Association conference, the NAFSA-Association for International Educators conference, the American Psychological Association conference, and the International Coral Reef Symposium.  Members also played lead roles in smaller events in Boston, London, Denver and Los Angles.

We are open to suggestions from our members and constituents. You know what is needed to advance work in your discipline. You also know the joy of interacting with fellow Fulbright scholars. Please volunteer your time or your services to help FAST grow and be an effective for advancing the Fulbright mission in your local community or in your professional community.  Send your thoughts to info@FulbrightAcademy.org

Meetings in Los Angeles & Florida

Fulbright scholars and scientists representing work in six countries attended a FAST reception in San Fernando Valley, north of Los Angeles, on July 26.  Held at California State University-Northridge, our program included a presentation by Dr. Robert Espinoza on his recent experiences in Argentina as a Fulbright scholar doing research on lizards in cold climates.  A second presentation was by Dr. Nhut Tan Ho in the CSUN engineering program on the future of commercial aviation, and other entrepreneurial innovations of the future.  He had recently returned from a Fulbright to Vietnam.  Ms. Rosario Briones, Ecuador’s leading expert on fungus and mushrooms, was able to participate in the program because she was in the area, and a dozen other Fulbrighters expressed interest in attending but were unable to participate. The afternoon program and networking activity was initiated by Dr. Conrad Ulpindo, who had been to Japan through the Fulbright teachers program, and Conrad will be working with FAST on a follow-up program in LA later this year. 

Fifty-five Fulbright scholars and leaders in marine conservation attended a FAST reception in Fort Lauderdale on July 9, which was hosted in conjunction with the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS).  The IRCS is held once every four years, and about 3,000 people attended.  Researchers from USA, Fiji, Belize, Philippines, Australia, Costa Rica, Israel, and Guatemala attended the reception. Local Fulbrighters and university representatives also participated, including staff from NOVA Southeastern University, Palm Beach Community College, University of Miami, Florida International University, Florida Atlantic University and Florida Institute of Technology.

World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, Oceania, NOAA, US EPA, Texas A&M and other universities and organizations were also represented at the meeting. We are now exploring the possibly of creating a FAST marine-related working group. A follow-up meeting will take place no later than the International Marine Conservation Congress (IMCC) in Washington DC on May 20-24, 2009, and we are looking for other opportunities to launch the group, perhaps with an activity this fall or early in 2009. Interested participants should contact ehoward@FulbrightAcademy.org.

New / Renewing Institutional Members

As a result of our participation in international meetings in Washington, DC, FAST has some new institutional members.  They are Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia, the European Institute of Information Technology (EPITECH) in France, the State University of New York in Old Westbury, and Oklahoma State University/Oklahoma Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP).

We also have renewing members: Universidad Pedagogica de El Salvador (www.pedagogica.edu.sv), Aristotle University (www.aristotlelaw.com), the American Institute for Maghrib Studies (www.aimsnorthafrica.org), Simmons College (www.simmons.edu), and Singapore Management University (www.smu.edu.sg).

Edith Cowan University recently opened the new Perth Graduate School of Business.  The Perth Graduate School of Business offers a range of postgraduate business and law courses. Some new study areas are offered, including electronic commerce, sport management, enterprise integration, leadership and urban and regional planning. Edith Cowan University's origins go back to 1902 when it began as a teaching college. Today it is Western Australia's second largest university with approximately 23,000 students, including in excess of 3,000 students originating from more than 80 countries. ECU is the only Australian University named after a woman - Edith Dircksey Cowan - Australia's first female Parliamentarian and a fighter for social justice. Edith Cowan also graces the Australian $50 note. (www.ecu.edu.au)

Founded in 1999, EPITECH is a French private school for computer science. It prepares students for the ever-evolving professional environment through unique learning methods, such as corporate internships. EPITECH is part of the IONIS Group, the first private provider of higher education in France.  The IONIS Group includes 28 schools that award 3,000 diplomas each year.  The EPITECH campus is shared with the IONIS Group high technology graduate schools for aerospace and aeronautics, the biotechnology school, and the EPITA Graduate School of Computer Science and Advanced Technologies. (www.epitech.eu)

Oklahoma LSAMP is a consortium of colleges and universities in Oklahoma seeking to improve the quantity and quality of students from underserved populations – especially those in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).  Funded by the US National Science Foundation’s LSAMP program, with matching support from the State of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Alliance Institutions have awarded 7,180 Bachelor of Science degrees in STEM areas to minority and underrepresented students during the past 14 years. Nationwide, approximately 30% of all STEM degrees earned by Native Americans are completed in Oklahoma Institutions. Oklahoma continues to graduate more Native American students than any other state.  (www.ok-lsamp.okstate.edu)

LINKS - FAST PROGRAMS & INFORMATION:

·         List of Upcoming Programs (FAST homepage)

·         Board of Directors – List of all directors

·         FAST Member Books

·         Institutional Members List

·         International Advisory Council – List of members (seeking nominations for more!)

·         Minorities in Science - $180,000 to FAST Press Release

·         Nursing, Health & Environment Workshop in Doha, Qatar

·         Nursing, Health & Environment Workshop Results Press Release

·         Science Diplomacy Initiative: US-Libya Press Release

·         Video: FAST is a Blast !! (filmed at 2007 Conference)

·         Video: Northeastern University President Aoun @ 2008 Conference
 

LINKS - CONTRIBUTION OPTIONS:

·      Mail a check (click here for the address, or look to the bottom of this email)

·      Contribute Online with your credit card

·      Individuals who contribute $1,000 or more become members of the "Director's Circle"

·      Institutional memberships ($1,000 for corporations, $500 for higher education) 

·         Facebook - Fulbright Science & Technology 

·        Linked-In - Invite to join the Fulbright group

·         Xing - Invite to join Fulbright Alumni Around the World