Bye bye Keila!

After spending almost 5 weeks with Keila Knoebel, wife of Dr Marcelo Knoebel, I wave a tearful goodbye to her as she makes her way back home to be with her son and family. I got a chance to get to know Keila my first day in Philadelphia when Marcel, Keila and I made our way to St Peters school to interact with the kids there. First days are always tough and we managed to survive through the day by talking about things, trying to get to know each other. The next day, the three of us had a wonderful lunch and I learned the most wonderful things about this very special couple.

Things like Keila made a pitstop to the post office each day to send something out to her son - and how Keila would insist on going back to the same restaurant and ordering the same things because she had liked it so much the first time around..

Bug eyed as I was, I thought the 2-months of the fellowship would last forever. And yet today, at the Phoenix airport as I just hugged Keila, I found myself surprised at how quickly this time had passed by.

Keila? You are a wonderful person and have such a gentle soul inside of you. I wish you all the very best and pray that success finds you and your family wherever you are.

Oi!

The American Competitiveness Initiative, Rising Above the Gathering Storm and other stories from the House

Thanks to the wise decision (yes! It was a conscious choice!) Aaron Sorkin’s West Wing, I know what the State of the Union now means. After meeting with the House Committee on Science and Technology, I heard a few phrases that seemed to raise my curiosity.

The American Competitive Initiative covers all bills and programs that help the US be more competent in the increased competition that America and is facing from skilled workforce from the East. The ACI proposed doubling the budgets of the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Standards and Technology laboratory programs, and then Department of Energy’s Office of Science over the course of 10 years. We are obviously talking of several billion dollars.

It’s no secret that countries like China and India (and soon hopefully Pakistan!) give the American system of Education a run for its money when it comes to technical studies. ‘Rising above the Gathering Storm’ was a report published in 2005 by the National Academy of Sciences recommending increased investment in research and education. It was on the basis of the recommendations of this report that the then chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology hosted a day-long innovation summit at the Department of Commerce that brought together more than 50 chief executives and university presidents to discuss the Nation’s economic challenges with top Administrative officials, including secretaries of Education, Energy, Commerce and Labor.

Rise Above the Gathering Storm.. Sounds like the House plays a somewhat reactive role in policy formulation rather than being more aggressively proactive. The ‘storm’ has already gathered.

Bills can take anywhere from 1 to a few years to make it down to the approval/disapproval process, which seems strange to begin with. But then, working with Government regardless of country, is pretty consistent. The only difference I can make out in this case would be the fact that since most things are virtual, the paperwork has lesser chances of being misplaced. But it is all about the money. Most departments/agencies get readjusted budgets give or take a few million. The nature of working at the federal level just seems to be to stand out so you don’t get lost in the multitude of paperwork that has to come in.

Just wanted to make a note for Marcelo (Brazil) here – Last year, the committee worked with a research regime to help promote the development of nanotechnology, which was estimated by the National Science Foundation to become a $1 trillion industry within a decade. Recognizing the huge economic potential of Nanotechnology, the committee has authored something known as the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act (2003) which authorized increased funding and established a coordinated interagency program to carry out nanotechnology research.

Day 1

I made it to Philadelphia on the evening of March 22 to get some RnR before the first official day of my fellowship with the Eisenhower Fellowships. Not having the benefit of experience in travelling around the US, a lot of my worries were laid to rest after my initial meetings with my coordinator, Jan Campbell and the rest of the team at EF.

The first day already has me off to a raving start with an informal speaking engagement at the St Peters School, closeby to the EF House, with a Fellow colleague, Marcelo Knoebel and his wife, Keila. The Headmaster of the school, Mr Costello was a gracious host who spent a great deal of time taking us around the school premises and demonstrating the hard work that his students have put into their projects.

The tour of the school was a real experience. Atleast the schools that I've interacted with in Karachi, are just so differen than what I saw today - Between 11-12 students per class with an emphasis on the arts, great discipline, students of all ages interacted with Keila, Marcelo and me. The size of the classrooms and the layout of the rooms revolving around the central parlour on every level was an interesting way to pull out the kids from a class and still have space for activities in a central location. During our Cheese Pizza lunch, we got a chance to ask some of the students all sorts of questions and were asked a lot of questions right back.

Not that I have visited a lot of schools in the US (none, to be precise) but I was impressed that the students of St Peters studied French starting in the younger classes. Seeing "Pomme de Terre" scribbled on the blackboard brought back lots of memories from my own French language classes back in school.

After an extensive tour, we were ushered into the theater room where Marcelo and I made brief addresses to the students. While my presentation focused a bit on what I did and what my work was all about and more on life in Karachi itself, Marcelo's presentation talked more about NanoTechnology and his field of work.

The trip to the school allowed me to have an interesting insight into what a school can strive to be - Schools are supposed to make the process of education fun and I think for schools in Karachi who are looking for guidance and 'examples' of how this can be achieved, the St Peters school is definately one that they should be looking at. (www.stpetersonline.org)