Re: [Phys-L] article about Steve Chu and ARPA-E

["LaMontagne, Bob" <RLAMONT@providence.edu>]

It will be interesting to look back in a few years to see if these "investments"  end up being of more benefit to the country than if these researchers stayed at their "top research laboratories".

Bob at PC

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Phys-l [mailto:phys-l-bounces@phys-l.org] On Behalf Of John Denker
> Sent: Monday, September 10, 2012 10:41 AM
> To: Phys-L@Phys-L.org
> Subject: [Phys-L] article about Steve Chu and ARPA-E
>
> In case you ever want examples of interesting things that physicists do when
> they are not in the classroom:  The Atlantic has an article on what Steve Chu
> has been up to at the Department of Energy.
>
> > After receiving an unprecedented surge in funding for renewable energy
> > courtesy of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Chu set to
> > work hiring big names from the nation's top research laboratories, in
> > order to staff a new agency called ARPA-E, modeled after DARPA, the
> > R&D wing of the Pentagon. In just three years, ARPA-E has made more
> > than 180 investments in basic research projects in renewable energy,
> > and that's in addition to grants issued by the Department of Energy
> > proper,
>
> The whole article is at:
>   http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/09/amid-partisan-
> bickering-everyone-agrees-arpa-e-is-a-fascinating-experiment/261905/
>
> Background info:
>   http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1997/chu-
> autobio.html
>   http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=1079
>
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