PCAST Holds First Meeting, Swears in New Members
On November 18, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) held its first meeting since the council was reconstituted in October. The meeting included discussions of possible work streams for PCAST, opportunities for collaboration with the National Science Board (the advisory body of the National Science Foundation), and updates on White House initiatives. Additionally, Kelvin Droegemeier, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Chair of PCAST, swore in two new PCAST members: Shannan Blunt, professor of electoral engineering and computer science at the University of Kansas, and Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska, Associate Dean at the Ohio State University Colleague of Engineering. Their appointment follows the announcement from Droegemeier that PCAST will include “several scholars from academia” after the first wave of PCAST appointees were nearly all from the private sector. The meeting’s webcast and agenda can be found on the ‘Department of Energy’s website.