THIS WEEK – American Institute of Physics

NSF Announces First Winners of Major ‘Engine’ Awards

On Monday, the National Science Foundation announced
the 10 inaugural Regional Innovation Engines, each of which will receive up to $160 million over a decade to catalyze regional ecosystems for R&D. Selected from among 16 finalists,
the awardees are:

• The Central Florida Semiconductor Innovation Engine,
• The Colorado – Wyoming Climate Resilience Engine,
• The Great Lakes Water Innovation Engine,
• The Louisiana Energy Transition Engine,
• The North Carolina Textile Innovation and Sustainability Engine,
• The North Dakota Advanced Agriculture Technology Engine,
• The Paso del Norte Defense and Aerospace Innovation Engine,
• The Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine,
• The Southwest Sustainability Innovation Engine, and
• The Upstate New York Energy Storage Engine.

The regenerative medicine and sustainable textiles Engines were announced separately
last Friday at an event with First Lady Jill Biden. Among the finalists that did not make the cut is the only quantum-focused proposal: the University of Chicago’s “Quantum Crossroads.” In announcing the awards, NSF said that some of the remaining finalists and semifinalists will be invited to apply for Engines Development Awards,
grants of up to $1 million that aim to help refine applications for future Engine awards. NSF has already provided 44 such grants. The White House also highlighted how other agencies will support Engine awardees in a press release.

NSF Launches AI Research Infrastructure Pilot

The National Science Foundation launched
the pilot version of the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) on Jan. 24 in response to a requirement from President Biden’s executive order
on AI. A website
set up to manage the NAIRR states the pilot “aims to connect U.S. researchers and educators to computational, data, and training resources needed to advance AI research and research that employs AI.” The pilot program has four focus areas:

• open AI research through NAIRR Open, 
• secured, private research through NAIRR Secure,
• interoperability efforts through NAIRR Software, and
• educational efforts through NAIRR Classroom.

The computing resources currently on offer through the NAIRR include Summit at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Delta GPU at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Lonestar6 and Frontera at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, the AI Testbed at Argonne National Lab, and Neocortex at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center. The pilot program is accepting usage requests
through March 1.

STEM Visa Expansion Efforts Detailed by Biden Officials

The National Institute of Standards and Technology held a webinar on Jan. 23 to highlight recent U.S. policy initiatives that aim to attract international talent to the country by streamlining visa application and renewal processes. Among them, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued new guidance on national interest waivers for EB-2 immigrant visas, clarified eligibility for O-1A nonimmigrant extraordinary ability visas, and is running a pilot program allowing H-1B visa holders to renew their visas without leaving the country – a step that officials participating in the webinar said would reduce wait times and decrease uncertainty for applicants and employers. More details shared during the webinar can be found here
.

Prospective US Ambassador to UNESCO Shares Goals for Rejoining Agency

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing
on Jan. 25 to consider the nomination of Courtney Diesel O’Donnell as U.S. ambassador to UNESCO, a United Nation agency that advances educational, scientific, and cultural initiatives. O’Donnell currently is a senior advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris and acting chief of staff for Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. If confirmed, O’Donnell said her priorities would be to increase transparency at UNESCO, counter the influence of China, Russia, and other competitors within the agency, and fight anti-semitism and anti-Israel bias. The U.S. withdrew from the agency in 2017,
accusing it of anti-Israel bias, but rejoined in 2023. In her opening statement during the nomination hearing, O’Donnell said she is “fully aware that institutions like UNESCO are far from perfect, but issues critical to our national security are being addressed there every day” and the U.S. should be at the table. While UNESCO is best known for its work on World Heritage sites and preserving cultural treasures, O’Donnell emphasized to senators that the agency is also involved in developing norms and standards for emerging technologies such as AI and neurotechnology, leading scientific collaborations across nations, and expanding STEM education opportunities for women and girls.

NASA Retires Overachieving Mars Ingenuity Helicopter

On Jan. 25, NASA ended the mission
of its Ingenuity helicopter, which has been operating on Mars since it arrived there nearly three years ago. Ingenuity cost $80 million to build and accompanied the Perseverance rover as a technology demonstration, with the goal of undertaking five flights over 30 days to test the feasibility of flying in the planet’s extremely thin atmosphere. After Ingenuity surpassed expectations, NASA extended its mission and incorporated it into Perseverance’s science operations. Surveying the terrain around the rover’s path, Ingenuity ultimately performed 72 flights, flying for a total of more than two hours, before it damaged one of its rotors during its last landing. The helicopter’s astonishing success has led NASA to integrate similar vehicles into its design for its Mars Sample Return mission. Ingenuity’s operators at the Jet Propulsion Lab are now performing final tests on its systems and downloading imagery and data from onboard memory before powering it down.