What Will the Stimulus Bill Do for the Engineering and Sciences?

The Stimulus Bill passed the sign off process with several earmarks for science and engineering. According to the Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS) the stimulus bill will provide $18B in funding for federal R&D, $16B for conducting the research, and $2B for R&D facilities and equipment, and another $6B to $7B for biomedical research in the National Institutes of Health.

The focus will be on biomedical research, energy R&D, and climate change. Key institutes receiving the funding include NIST, NASA, NIH, NSF, DOE, NOAA, among others.

While many initiatives were funded there were cuts to achieve compromise including
--$70M for research into technologies with high-growth potential
--$57M for renovation of science facilities
--$1.54B for high energy physics

Clearly the Stimulus Bill will be a great boost to science and engineering. Many companies are rearranging their business plans to pursue the funds. Remember the sales mantra: “Go where the money is.”

Best regards,
Hall T.