Monday, April 30, 2012

Please Sign the Science, Engineering & STEM Ed Funding Petition Today - Join 1,500 Others!


ACTION ALERT - Please Sign the Petition to Support Science, Engineering & STEM Education Research - Join with 1,500 other organizations and individuals!

Dear Friend of ASTRA:

We are sending this message to you because you have supported some of our efforts in the Past or requested information from our www.usinnovation.org Web Site.

Please consider immediately signing the petition contained on the link below: www.usinnovation.org/petition-congress If by chance your hyperlink does not work, just paste this link into your Web browser to visit the Petition Sign-on Site.
WHY SIGN THE PETITION - WHAT HAS HAPPENED?:
Congress is at an impasse in passing the FY 2013 Budget and the dynamics of this election year mean that many decisions will be put off until after November 6 - either in a "Lame Duck" session of the current Congress, or a brand new Congress early in 2013.  
Sustainable funding for most science & engineering R&D and STEM education programs is in imminent jeopardy because the government must curtail spending - and science, engineering and STEM Education programs are easy "targets of opportunity" because our communities are not as effectively organized as other interests.  We need to speak out and let Congress and the Administration know that we do care about choosing the right priorities in these difficult times.
OUR MESSAGE IS NONPARTISAN AND PRACTICAL:
Just about everybody wants the government to live within its means.  One has only to look at the situation abroad to see the predicament our own country could be in within the near future if we do not discipline ourselves.  
We do know how to grow our way out of economic adversity and we have done so in the past.   We are the world's leader in innovation, scientific R&D, STEM talent development, commercialization, and entrepreneurial culture.  As opposed to other nations, our own population is growing, our economy is reviving, and our spirit is strong.  And we have the strategic resources and ideas that will help us to grow and look forward, not stagnate.  But we cannot get out of this negative cycle if we cut the very programs that provide us our strategic strength...
We are in a fiscal crisis. Everybody has to tighten his or her belts.  And across the political spectrum, most of us would agree that there are many positive things that can be done about taxes, protecting our taxpayer-funded Intellectual Property (IP) from cyber-thieves, over-regulation, capital formation, and creating growth incentives.  We may not agree on how to get there, but most of us agree upon the goals.  
That's why Congress needs to remember that funding for scientific & engineering R&D and STEM Education is the SMART WAY to help America grow its way out of our current predicament.
Smart "spending" means supporting sustainable and predictable R&D and STEM Ed programs.  These complex undertakings can't just be turned on and off.  If we can sustain current R&D and STEM Education efforts, they in turn will help create high-paying new jobs in the U.S., foster new industries and services, enhance innovation and competitiveness, and maintain our national defense. 
This is not just our opinion, it is a fact, based upon history and repeated economic analyses.  Scientific R&D and STEM education result in scientific discovery, technology progress and innovation.  See ASTRA's quick chart that describes how technological progress is the primary driver of economic growth at www.usinnovation.org/sites/default/files/ASTRATechnologyFuelsGrowth6222011.pdf
WHAT TO DO:
ASTRA has been asked by a coalition of groups to continue with our nonpartisan Petition drive supporting science R&D and STEM Education. This Petition will remind our elected officials of who we are, what we do, where we live, and why bipartisan support for R&D and STEM Education is essential to America's future.  We already have more than 1,400 organizations and individuals signed up, and we hope to deliver the Petition to Congress and the Administration on or before July 4.
Please consider using our latest 2012 State R&D Sheets (released for the successful Congressional Visits Day 2012 Event in April) and our State STEM Ed Report Cards to get the facts about where the money goes, and the economic and social benefits of such investments at http://www.usinnovation.org/state-research-and-development-sheets
Share these with elected officials if you can.
ACTIONS REQUESTED IMMEDIATELY:
Again, please sign the petition (see link above) immediately.  We hope to deliver this to Congress on or before July 4.  The petition is nonpartisan, in keeping with ASTRA's goal of not politicizing science and technology policy - just emphasizing the facts and discovering the relationships that explain "how science works" to policy makers.
We also want to "put a human face" on our community.  A novel way of reminding our elected officials of who we are - in all of our diversity and walks of life - is to send your photo along with your e-mail Petition signature.  So, if you would like, please send us your photo when you "sign" the petition (you will find instructions on the "sign petition" page on how to send your photo to us - it's really easy).  A provisional list of initial signatories is also provided as an example for you to review.
Please - Check Out STEMConnector as well!
While our www.usinnovation.org and www.aboutastra.org Web Sites keep current on many developments across our community on a daily basis, ASTRA has moved forward to help fill a critical gap in the area of STEM Education policy.   Our newest collaboration, STEMConnector is a first-of-its kind Site that informs and unites the STEM Education community.  Please check out www.stemconnector.org to see the tremendous progress being made in mapping and profiling the STEM community.  ASTRA helps manage STEMConnector and provides its technology platform to this important new movement.  Please consider subscribing to the latest publication, STEMdaily - it will be delivered to you every weekday if you wish. Just click on www.stemconnector.org/STEMdaily
STEM Town Halls are also quarterly webinars on STEM with top-notch speakers from across the spectrum of STEM Education. The objective is to bring together industry, education and thought leaders to learn best practice Others and new ideas. Register for the May 2nd Town Hall: "Workforce Planning to Fill the STEM Jobs Pipeline" by going to
http://www.stemconnector.org/resources-events

PLEASE SEND THIS MESSAGE ON TO OTHERS:

This message has been sent to approximately 58,000 scientists, engineers, researchers, university employees, teachers, students, technology workers, policy makers, small business owners, researchers, individuals, and others on our "Friends" list. An estimated 195,000 people will be contacted by this message, and we urge you to send it on to any friends, associates and family who may share our interest in signing the Petition.
Thank you, and may all of us have an opportunity to support making science, engineering and STEM Education among our highest priorities as we move forward!  
Cordially,

Dr. Mary L. Good
Chairman
ASTRA

Small Business Procurement Summit


Thursday, April 19, 2012

Invitation to VenturePitch Orlando - May 22, 2012


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Join us!
VenturePitch Orlando
Date: May 22, 2012
Time: 6:00PM - 9:30PM
Location:
100 South Eola Drive, Downtown Orlando 32801

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Dear Alex,
Have you heard? VenturePitch is coming to Central Florida! VenturePitch is a seed/early-stage startup pitch and networking event that gathers Central Florida's technology venture community to hear talks from the area's leading startup CEOs and see the region's most promising startups pitch before our panel of top Central Florida technology investor judges. Join us for quality networking with the region's most enterprising and forward thinking founders and investors and enjoy appetizers and drinks before and after the pitch competition in our startup demo area. Seating is limited and this event will sell out. Receive special early-bird rates when you register today.
 
The Details

PITCH
Pitch to the Central Florida technology venture community. Get helpful, actionable feedback from our panel of technology investor judges. Win prizes to accelerate your startup. Get publicity.
 

LEARN
See the newest startups in Central Florida. Learn how investors evaluate pitches from our technology investor judges. Hear our Keynote VC-backed CEO's startup and funding story.  

Introducing Special Guest Keynote Speaker:

PHILIP HOLT
CEO & Chairman, Row Sham Bow 

Meet our Judges:

JASON ROTTENBERG
Managing Director, Arsenal Venture Partners 
RICHARD LICURSI
CEO & Founder, Gazelle Lab Orlando
STEVE MILLER
CEO & Founder, Highwinds Network Group
ALBERT PRAST
CTO, Exchange Solutions at Optum


CONNECT
Connect and network with the Central Florida technology venture community. Find opportunities, clients, and partners. See startup and service providers at our demonstration tables.

Reserve Your Place Today!
  
Save
Today!


Early bird Registration Expires April 27, 2012

Friday, April 13, 2012

TODAY: Seminar: 4.13.12 / CREOL 102 / 11-12pm / “Materials for lasers and medical imaging at the LCMCP Paris”, Bruno Viana


Seminar: “Materials for lasers and medical imaging at the LCMCP Paris”, Bruno Viana

CREOL 102
Friday, April 13, 2012 / 11-12pm

Bruno Viana
Laboratory of Condensed Matter Chemistry of Paris (LCMCP), University of Paris 6, France

Abstract:
The Laboratory of Condensed Matter Chemistry of Paris (LCMCP) is a recognized actor in the field of advanced materials. It covers all important domains of materials chemistry, from molecular (bottom-up) to solid state (top-down) approaches. The researchers from the Photonics group at the LCMCP-ENSCP are specialists of the optical properties of solids. The seminar will present first crystalline materials for applications on near infrared laser with a focus on the Yb:CALGO which recently appears as an interesting host for high power and ultrafast lasers (fs lasers). Second, ceramics are developed for medical imaging and then nanomaterials are investigated for optical imaging. In addition we were able to perform nano-structuration of materials and this can be very important in photon management in the photovoltaic field for instance or in the research of new nano-LED.

For more information:
Dr. Romain Gaume 
gaume @ ucf. edu

Seminar: 4.20.12 / CREOL 102 / 11-12 / "Supercontinuum mid-IR sources", Peter Moselund


Seminar:  "Supercontinuum mid-IR sources", Peter Moselund
CREOL 102
Friday, April 20, 2012 / 11-12pm

Peter M. Moselund
NKT Photonics

Abstract:
This presentation will briefly cover the basics processes involved in supercontinuum generation before going on to focus on mid-IR supercontinuum. The benefits of various soft glasses will be considered and we will present the work done at NKT Photonics where we have developed a mid-infrared supercontinuum source based on modelocked picosecond fiber lasers. The source is pumped by a ≈2 um laser based on a combination of erbium and thulium and use ZBLAN fibers to generate a 1.75-4.4 µm spectrum. We will present results obtained by applying the source for mid-infrared microscopywhere absorption spectra can be used to identify the chemical nature of different parts of a sample. Subsequently, we discuss the possible application of a mid-IR supercontinuum source in other areas including infrared countermeasures.

Biography:
Dr. Peter M. Moselund is a Research Scientist at NKT Photonics, which is the leading manufacturer of visible supercontinuum sources. He received a PhD from The Technical University of Denmark in 2009 for his work on long pulse supercontinuum generation in photonics crystal fibers. He has worked for six years with pulsed fiber lasers for supercontinuum generation and during the last two years he has been leading the mid-IR supercontinuum generation activities at NKT Photonics.

For More Information:
Larry Shah
407-823-2066
lshah @ creol. ucf. edu

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Register today for the 2012 Early Stage Conference


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REGISTER TODAY!
Florida Venture Forum
MAY 10, 2012
Invest and Grow
Early Stage Florida Venture Capital Conference

TODAY: IEEE Student Chapter Seminar / 4.5.12 / CREOL 102 / 2-3:30 / “GaN-based Nanocolumn Emitters and Related Technologies", Katsumi Kishino


IEEE Student Chapter Seminar:  “GaN-based Nanocolumn Emitters
and Related Technologies”, Katsumi Kishino
CREOL 102
Thursday, April 5, 2012 / 2-3:30pm

Dr. Katsumi Kishino
Sophia University

Abstract:
The problem of multi-color emission of
the InGaN-based nanocolumn LEDs was solved by
selective area growth (SAG) technique. Imploying
the GaN nanocolumn arrays, green LED and
near-infrared (1.46µm) LED were demonstrated
The monolithic integration of green and orange
emissions nanocolumn LEDs on the same GaN
template was successfully obtained (Fig.l)

Biography:
Katsumi Kishino is a professor in the Department
ofElectrical and Electronics Engineering, Sophia University,
Tokyo. He is conducting the research on nitride semiconductors
by rf-lv.IBE including GaNbased nanocolumn, nan-devices and
InN related materials, and on novel II-VI compounds on InP
substrates and related yellow-green emitters Dr. Kishino is a
fellow of the Japan Society of Applied Physics, a fellow of the
Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication
Engineers (IEICE) of Japan, and a senior member of IEEE

For More Information:
IEEE Photonics Society Student Chapter
Yifan Liu
liuyf423 @ knightsucf. edu

Chaptor Advisor:
Prof. Shin-Tson Wu

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Seminar: 4.13.12 / CREOL 102 / 11-12pm / “Materials for lasers and medical imaging at the LCMCP Paris”, Bruno Viana


Seminar: “Materials for lasers and medical imaging at the LCMCP Paris”, Bruno Viana

CREOL 102
Friday, April 13, 2012 / 11-12pm

Bruno Viana
Laboratory of Condensed Matter Chemistry of Paris (LCMCP), University of Paris 6, France

Abstract:
The Laboratory of Condensed Matter Chemistry of Paris (LCMCP) is a recognized actor in the field of advanced materials. It covers all important domains of materials chemistry, from molecular (bottom-up) to solid state (top-down) approaches. The researchers from the Photonics group at the LCMCP-ENSCP are specialists of the optical properties of solids. The seminar will present first crystalline materials for applications on near infrared laser with a focus on the Yb:CALGO which recently appears as an interesting host for high power and ultrafast lasers (fs lasers). Second, ceramics are developed for medical imaging and then nanomaterials are investigated for optical imaging. In addition we were able to perform nano-structuration of materials and this can be very important in photon management in the photovoltaic field for instance or in the research of new nano-LED.

For more information:
Dr. Romain Gaume 
gaume @ ucf. edu

1 Day Course - BioBriefing: Biotech for the Non-Scientist (Tuesday April 24 ORLANDO)

1 day course BioBriefing: Biotech for the Non-Scientist


Description: Description: http://stepforwarddev.com/biotechprimer/2012/img/blue-box-btm.png

April 24, 2012 • Orlando, FL


DATE

April 24, 2012

TIME

9:00am - 4:30pm

FEE

$495 for BioFlorida Members
$545 for Non-Members

LOCATION

University of Central Florida
University Tower
Office of Research & Commercialization
12201 Research Parkway • Suite 202
Orlando, FL 32826

DELIVERABLES

A reference manual containing all of the slides used in the class, all labs and activities, a glossary of biotech terms, and a certificate of completion. Lunch will be served.


Description: Description: Learn the Science Driving the Biotech and Pharma Industries