A Techwise Conversation with NHTSA administrator David Strickland
Just thought I’d circulate this on the 2020 Science network – please feel free to pass on the information to anyone who might be interested. We have finally started the process of looking for two junior faculty to join the Risk Science Center at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. This is an [...]
Dan Sarewitz has a rather provocative commentary in Nature this morning, where he suggests that proposals to increase basic research may be good politics, but questionable policy. The headline alone is probably enough to get some science-advocates’ blood boiling, whether they go on to read the piece or not: “Double trouble? To throw cash at [...]
Next week I am being “installed” here at the University of Michigan. Not in the sense of installing a carpet – as one friend suggested – but in the sense of being installed as an endowed professor. The Charles and Rita Gelman Risk Science Professor to be precise. To mark the occasion, I’m expected to [...]
Friends of the Earth have just released a new report challenging claims that nanotechnology will lead to greener, more energy-efficient technologies, lower-impact technologies. I’ve only had the chance to skim through the report so far, and so don’t have detailed comments on it. But on my initial skim a number of things struck me: The [...]
Here’s something that keeps me awake at night (seriously): why, in this age of super-slick graphics and innovative multimedia resources, is it nearly impossible to give presentation that looks as good as they should? How come I can guarantee that when I give a presentation, the slides will be cropped, the color balance will be [...]
Despite the risk of receiving absolutely no comments (please don’t let me down!), I thought I’d try something new and ask for some feedback on the background blurb for a meeting I’ve been working on. The meeting is a symposium on Risk, Uncertainty and Sustainable Innovation being organized by the Risk Science center next September. [...]
I’m writing this at Detroit airport, en route to Dubai via Heathrow. By rights, I should be writing the usual stuff about how traveling to exotic places isn’t all it’s cracked up to be – the mantra of the seasoned traveler. But as it’s the day after Thanksgiving, I thought I would suck it up [...]
Here’s a bit of trivia: with the 4000 character limit on comments on the National Nanotechnology Initiative Draft Strategic Plan, you might as well ditch the official portal, and tweet your comments to the Office of Science and Technology Policy – 28 tweets would do it! As you can probably guess, I’ve just been compiling [...]
As Director of the University of Michigan Risk Science Center, it’s probably not surprising that I’m constantly being asked “what on earth is risk science?” What is surprising is how hard it is to come up with a clear and concise answer. Which is why I decided to spend a good portion of my “installation” [...]