Valerie Thomas and Robert Knotts attended the 2012 Congressional Visits Day, organized by the American Physical Society, held in Washington, D.C. on April 24-25, 2012. Thomas met with Representative John Lewis, as well as with staff for Representative Hank Johnson and Senator Saxby Chambliss. She advocated for federal funding support for STEM and energy research. Thomas is jointly appointed in Public Policy and ISYE. Knotts is GT Director of Federal Relations.
Provost Rafael Bras represented President Peterson at the final Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Steering Committee (AMP) meeting on March 7th at the White House. In addition to the industry CEOs and university presidents who make up the steering committee, senior Obama administration officials joining the meeting included White House science advisor John Holdren, secretary of commerce John Bryson, director of the National Economic Council Gene Sperling, NIST director Patrick Gallagher and SBA administrator Karen Mills (among others). The AMP Steering Committee is finalizing its report which is scheduled to be presented to PCAST in April.
Dr. Philip Shapira, Professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Public Policy, chaired the first workshop of a National Academies Committee charged with examining "21st Century Manufacturing: The Role of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology." More information on this project can be found at: http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/projectview.aspx?key=49395.
