Fulbright Forum - Newsletter of the Fulbright Academy - August 2009

I am pleased to share with you this issue of the Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology (FAST) newsletter, with updates about FAST programs, alumni, and FAST member institutions.  

Contents

* Magazine Profiles on Science & San Francisco

* Institutional profile - James Cook University

Some Recent Magazine Articles

Economist Magazine (31 July 2009) published a diary/profile of the host city for FAST's 2010 Conference. "San Francisco may conjure up images of hippies and leftist politicians, but it attracts scientists in equal measure. Our correspondent spends a week among them in the labs of the Bay Area."  To read "Techs and the City" - the Economist correspondent's diary about the Bay Area - click here.

McKinsey Quarterly (August 2009) published a profile on energy efficiency and supply chains. "In an ongoing study of energy efficiency in supply chains, McKinsey looked at numerous opportunities to reduce the amount of oil used to get goods from a manufacturer’s dock to a retailer’s shelf. These opportunities are available not only to manufacturers but to wholesalers, distributors, carriers, and third-party businesses." Some of these opportunities - and Fulbright alumni efforts to implement them - are likely to be discussed at the FAST Sustainability Conference in March. If you would like to read the article, click here.

If you see other articles that may be of interest to FAST members, please forward them to us at info@FulbrightAcademy.org.

Institutional Member Profiles

James Cook University (JCU) is Australia's leading tropical research University. Offering excellence in teaching and research, JCU is a vibrant, multicampus university with its main sites in the tropical Queensland cities of Townsville and Cairns, and modern city campuses in Singapore and Brisbane, with courses also delivered through education partners in Asia and the Pacific. Degrees are offered from undergraduate study through to the Ph.D. level, with key study areas in the Arts and Humanities, Business, the Creative Arts, Education, Engineering, Health Sciences, Information Technology, Law, Medicine, Social Sciences and Science. Total student enrolments are more than 16,000, including over 4,000 international students from 100 countries worldwide.

With a commitment to research excellence, particularly on issues of critical importance to the world’s tropics, JCU is ranked among the top five tropical universities of the world for research in its major fields including ecology and environment, plant and animal science, geosciences, coral reef science and tourism. This tropical focus drives the University’s research mission, aligning research in four major themes: Tropical Ecosystems, Conservation and Climate Change; Industries and Economies in the Tropics; Peoples and Societies in the Tropics; and Tropical Health, Medicine and Biosecurity.

JCU is a member of the national alliance, Innovative Research Universities Australia, and has as its vision to be one of the world’s leading research universities in the tropics. The University is home to more than 20 specialist centres and institutes, maintains island, rainforest and outback research stations, and is an active partner in many national Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) including: the Marine and Tropical Science Research Facility; Sustainable Tourism; Aquaculture; Sugar Industry Innovation; and Predictive Mineral Discovery. www.jcu.edu.au

FAST at Meetings

On a regular basis, FAST staff and FAST members are attending science, business, and other conferences around the world. Earlier this week, when many Fulbrighters met at the American Chemical Society's National Meeting: "Chemistry and Global Security: Challenges and Opportunities." With some coordination from FAST, Dr. Charity Flener (Univ. of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana), Dr. Al Conklin (Wilmington College) and Dr. Robert Wei (Cleveland State University) were on the panel, "Chemistry as a Second Language: Chemical Education in a Globalized Society," and a follow-up publication is being considered.

If you would like to represent FAST at an upcoming professional, research or business conference (anywhere in the world), please contact Eric Howard at ehoward@FulbrightAcademy.org. Your job would be to identify and network with other Fulbrighters at the conference. In exchange you receive a complimentary one-year membership in the Fulbright Academy.

As an example, FAST will be represented at the following meetings this fall:

• Fulbright Alumni "Pow Wow" in Munich, Germany on September 11-13. This event is organized by the German Fulbright Alumni Association, with participants from around Europe and beyond. The "Pow Wow" will analyze the consequences of the current economic crisis from different perspectives: business, economic, geopolitical and sociopolitical.
  
• 40th Anniversary of the Union of Concerned Scientists in Boston on October 30-31. The program includes a "Symposium on Science & Public Policy in the 21st Century." For details, visit www.ucsusa.org or call 617-301-8051.
• Fulbright Association 32nd Annual Conference in Washington, DC on Oct. 30-Nov. 1. The theme for this year's conference is "Mutual Understanding Amid Global Economic Challenges." The main panels on Saturday focus on Social Entrepreneurship, Science & Technology for Economic Development, and Leveraging Resources for Health.
• The Global Symposium of Peaceful Nations, organized by the J.William & Harriet Fulbright Center, is in Washington, DC on Nov. 1-Nov. 3. This inaugural symposium will be an opportunity to recognize eighteen nations for accomplishments in peace and to facilitate high-level dialogue among nations. www.jwhfulbright.org.
  
• The World Science Forum in Budapest, Hungary on Nov. 5-7. The Forum is organized every two years by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in partnership with UNESCO and ICSU, with organizational support this year from AAAS, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the Chinese Academy of Science. About a dozen speakers and participants from prior FAST programs will be attending or speaking at the Forum. Click here for the program.
• Women in Science Training at Northeastern University on November 17. The program will be a panel discussion and networking event for young women professionals (alumni as well as potential applicants for Fulbright grants).  The goal is to explain the relationship between international research activities and one's professional advancement. This afternoon program is organized by FAST with several collaborating institutions in the Boston area. Contact FAST for details.
• Meeting of the Director's Circle and Alumni in Atlanta.  This FAST gathering is on November 9, as part of the FAST Board of Director's Annual Retreat, and it provides an opportunity for FAST's leadership to meet with interesting and influential alumni. Prior retreats were held in Chicago (2008) and Washington, DC (2006 & 2007).
  
• To host a FAST event in your community, simply click reply to this email or call Eric Howard at +1-207-799-3098.

FAST Fifth Annual Conference - March 11-14, 2010

San Francisco, California will be the location for the 5th Annual FAST Conference. Sustainability-Shaping Tomorrow's Future Today" will feature presentations, discussions and working sessions with some 250 Fulbright scholars and scientists worldwide. We will be based at the Hilton in the Financial District (by the Transamerica Tower/Pyramid). The program includes seminars, workshops and tours of science and research facilities in the area.

Some of our expected speakers come from the World Bank, the UN Environment Program, the State of California, and businesses from California to Dubai and India. The conference is still more than six months away, and twenty-percent of the tickets for the 2010 Conference have already been reserved. So reserve your spot today, and hold the dates on your calendar: March 11-14, 2010. (Click here for on-line registrations or to reserve a ticket.)

Several business schools are working with FAST on an Executive Education Program on Entrepreneurism, scheduled for Sunday, March 14, and other special events are under development as well. If you would like to get special updates about the conference or the subsidiary programs, please click here and send your contact information or simply reply to this email message.

A gala opening night and special activities will recognize five years of FAST collaborations with other institutions - government agencies in several countries, foundations, dozens of NGOs, universities and corporations. 

Please consider a personal donation. One California-based Fulbrighter is donating wine for the Gala, and we are approaching others for support as well. Your $75 donation gives a free one-day registration to a young Fulbrighter, or $300 for all four days.  If you have corporate or institutional affiliations, please click here for the sponsorship pack or call FAST at 207-799-3098.

FAST Volunteers

Earlier in this message, we mentioned that FAST is seeking volunteers to represent FAST at various conferences. We also are looking for Fulbright leaders to serve on our board of directors and our international advisory board. By definition, volunteers are not compensated for their time, and most also pay their own way to attend and participate in FAST programs and FAST-related activities.

FAST is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that serves Fulbright scholars and alumni  - executives, educators, and researchers worldwide. Our members and sponsors include individuals and institutions such as universities, corporations, government agencies and foundations.

Membership is open to institutions that support the FAST mission and to individual Fulbright scholars and alumni, hosts of scholars and friends of the Fulbright program.

FAST is an independent organization and is not affiliated with or funded by the Fulbright Exchange Program or the US Fulbright Association. Member contributions are critical to our continued success. Please learn more about the work of the Fulbright Academy by visiting our website: www.FulbrightAcademy.org

If you have questions about institutional or individual membership, please call FAST at 207-799-3098 or respond to this email.

Sincerely,

Eric Howard
Executive Director