The Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology (FAST) is an international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging Fulbright scholars and other leaders in partnerships that advance science and society. Membership is open to Fulbright scholars, hosts and friends and to institutions having an interest in our work.

Please note the second article about MOLE DAY !!

The chief scientist for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will be the opening speaker at the FAST 2008 Conference in Boston on February 14. Dr. Dan McCleese was a Fulbright Scholar at Jesus College, Oxford University in the United Kingdom, where he earned his doctorate in atmospheric physics. Since coming to the JPL in Pasadena, CA, he has worked on NASA missions to study Earth's atmosphere, Venus and Mars. Between 1994 and 2006, McCleese served as JPL's chief scientist for Mars exploration, working with the international science community to establish the present and future strategy for exploring Mars.

Dr. McCleese is responsible for leadership of the scientific and research community at the laboratory, and serves as the focal point for interactions with universities and the external research community.

This summer NASA launched the Mars Phoenix Lander, which will give important information on where water exists on the Red Planet. In the meantime, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been returning exceptionally detailed photos of the Red Planet's surface, while the rovers Spirit and Opportunity keep going far beyond the mission they were originally designed for. Closer to home, the JPL manages a contingent of Earth-orbiting satellites to monitor the lands, oceans and atmosphere of our own planet. In total, JPL has 18 spacecraft and six instruments arrayed across the solar system. In 2005, JPL has a workforce of about 5,425 employees and on-site contractors, and an annual budget of approximately $1.6 billion.

Mole Day is celebrated annually on October 23 from 6:02 a.m. to 6:02 p.m. It commemorates Avogadro's Number (6.02 x 10^23), which is a basic measuring unit in chemistry.

Mole Day was created as a way to foster interest in chemistry. Schools throughout the United States and around the world celebrate Mole Day with various activities related to chemistry and/or moles.

Here's the science behind the celebration: For a given molecule, one mole is a mass (in grams) whose number is equal to the atomic mass of the molecule. For example, the water molecule has an atomic mass of 18, therefore one mole of water weighs 18 grams. An atom of neon has an atomic mass of 20, therefore one mole of neon weighs 20 grams. In general, one mole of any substance contains Avogadro's Number of molecules or atoms of that substance. This relationship was first discovered by Amadeo Avogadro (1776-1858) and he received credit for this after his death.

The following panels and programs have been proposed for our third annual conference on February 14-17, 2008. Biotechnology & Bacteria, Business & economic development, Advances in social science research, Urban planning, Women in science, Nursing & public health, and Environmental policy. If you would like to participate in one of these programs or propose an additional panel, please do so as soon as possible.

Expected participants in the above programs include Dr. David Lightfoot, Head of the NSF Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences; Dr. Vladimir Novotny, Director of the Center for Urban Environmental Studies at Northeastern University; Dr. Bruce Logan, Head of the Hydrogen Energy Center at Penn State, Dr. Stanley Bull, Associate Director at the National Renewable Energy Lab; Dr. Gabriela Burgos, R&D Engineer with Dupont in Mexico; and Ms. Suzanne Metzger, Researcher in the Department of Building Physics and Building Ecology at the TU-Vienna, Austria.

We also are organizing tours and special programs relating to Origami, Forensics, Astrophysics, Viral research, and Nanotechnology. The schedule also includes opportunities for you to meet internationally acclaimed Fulbright scholars in the Boston area.

Registration is $250-$425, depending on your professional status and home country. Please contact FAST if you need a letter of invitation in order to secure a visa or funding.

The 2008 Health Institute addresses the future needs for nursing and medical education in the Middle East’s Gulf Region. The program for approximately sixty people will be held in Doha, Qatar on March 23-25, with support from the Qatar Foundation, with additional assistance from US universities and other institutions. The three-day program grew out of discussions held at our 2007 Conference in Panama, which focused on the Millennium Development Goals. Several MGDs specifically address public health and health-care needs.

Many attendees will come from the fields of nursing and education, but because health is influenced by environmental factors, experts from the fields of public health and environment will also be invited. The final planning meeting for the Health Institute will be held in Washington, DC, on Monday, November 5. After that meeting, we will select the participants. To nominate yourself to attend this invitation-only program, please send an email to the FAST office: info @ FulbrightAcademy.org. A small number of stipends to cover travel and accommodations are available.

The FAST Institutes are based on a model first tested in January of this year, when FAST was co-host of a three-day program on Digital Libraries for North Africa. Our partner was the Moroccan Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, with key support from the US National Science Foundation, UNESCO, and Thomson Scientific. FAST will be organizing additional institutes, and we welcome suggestions for topics.

Please help us reach our goal of 50 states, 50 countries, 50 institutional members. If you have a Fulbright friend – your host or a Fulbrighter – in one of the five missing US states or in a country not listed below, consider a gift membership in FAST as a way to help them maintain ties with you and other Fulbright scholars. Student or retired memberships are $25/year, and a regular membership is $60/year.

FAST currently has members in 45 of the 50 US states. The five missing states are Alabama, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma or Tennessee. If you are a Fulbrighter or Fulbright host in AL, MT, ND, OK, or TN, please call us at 207-799-3098 so that we can talk about the benefits of membership. Membership forms are available at our website, or just reply to this email message and we can email the form to you.

FAST currently has members in forth-eight (48) countries: Australia, Austria, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Gaza, Guatemala, India, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, St. Lucia, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, & Yemen. We are looking for two more countries.

FAST currently has 44 institutional members – 32 in the US and 12 in other countries. They are 28 are academic institutions, and the other 15 are foundations, corporations, non-profit organizations or research centers. If your institution employs, hosts or produces Fulbright scholars and is interested in building ties with scientific institutions in other countries, please send an email to ehoward@FulbrightAcademy.org so that we can discuss the benefits of institutional membership. The dues for institutional members is $250 - $1,000, depending on the location and type.

We like to hear from you - give us your ideas about how we can support your work in the local or international arena. During the next three months, we will be holding "listening sessions" with alumni in Washington, DC; Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Quito, Ecuador; San Salvador, El Salvador and London, UK. For information on these sessions, send a note to ehoward @ Fulbrightacademy.org.

FAST is a non-profit 501-c-3 membership-based organization that serves scientists, executives, and scholars worldwide. The Fulbright Academy is not affiliated with the US State Department, the Fulbright Association or the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Our sponsors and supporters include individual and institutional members such as universities, corporations, government agencies and foundations.