CCST Newsroom

For the past several years, the California State University system (CSU), the largest teacher preparation system in California, has been focusing on increasing the quantity and quality of K-12 math and science teachers it produces, through its Mathematics and Science Teacher Initiative (MSTI). CSU committed to doubling its math and science teacher production from 750 […]

Teachers of all kinds are a dwindling resource throughout the country, and states need to re-examine their strategies regarding math and science requirements and standards, according to CCST Council Member Alice Huang, Senior Faculty Associate at the California Institute for Technology. “There are many reasons why it’s hard to get and keep good teachers,” said […]

AB 2711 (Portantino, Arambula, Price, and Salas), the California Innovation and Technology Policy Act, would require the Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing to convene a statewide business partnership for innovation and technology no later than March 1, 2009. The partnership would bring together representatives from high technology businesses, developers, and investors to help assess […]

California’s ambitious climate change policies need to take into account not just the need for and impact on energy production and ensuring the water supply, but how the two issues relate to one another. Energy and water related policies are highly complex issues that are inextricably intertwined, and need to be examined in concert, rather […]

The twenty-year history of CCST’s evolution and accomplishments has been outlined in a new report, “A Voice for the Future: The First Two Decades of the California Council on Science and Technology”. “Our organization has changed significantly since its founding 20 years ago, and has in many ways come to fulfill its original mandate,” said […]

CCST and the Royal Society of the United Kingdom will collaborate on the Fall 2008 meeting, focusing on ways to provide appropriate input on science and technology policy in both California and the UK. “We are delighted that CCST is continuing to build relationships with related organizations outside California, and honored to be able to […]

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has identified fourteen priority areas awaiting engineering solutions in the 21st century. The list of “Grand Challenges for Engineering” was selected by a group of 18 experts from academia and private industry. The committee was chaired by former Defense Secretary William Perry, currently an engineering professor at Stanford University. […]

At the request of Resources Agency Secretary Mike Chrisman, CCST has completed an analysis of a draft action plan designed to streamline ocean management policies on the West Coast. In September 2006 the Governors of California, Oregon, and Washington announced the West Coast Governor’s Agreement on Ocean Health. The Agreement launched a new, proactive regional […]

California needs to think ahead to cope with issues raised by new technologies, according to CCST Council Member Jean- Louis Gassée, general partner, Allegis Capital. “Policy does not generally keep up with the rapid pace of progress,” said Gassée. “Advances in computer science and molecular biology are raising serious legal and philosophical questions, and there […]

An innovative website designed to make a wide range of materials available to Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) is nearing completion, and represents a significant resource in an accessible format, according to early reviews. The website WIB toolkit, “Racing for the Future,” is a CCST project developed as part of a workforce development project funded by […]

Congressman Sam Farr and Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi will both address the Council at its February 2008 meeting, when CCST will mark its 20th anniversary. “We are privileged to have two extraordinary speakers join us for this event,” said CCST Board Chair Karl Pister. “It is especially fitting as both Congressman Farr and Lieutenant Governor […]

The state has moved closer to broader adoption of Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) as the University of California, in partnership with a coalition of government agencies, health care providers and others, received a three-year, $22 million award from the Federal Communications Commission in November to help develop a new California Telehealth Network. “The University is […]

The potential effects of climate change have driven numerous efforts to control greenhouse gas emissions. However, while many analyses of these effects focus on issues of energy and water supply, California’s land management agencies also face a myriad of complex issues related to climate change impacts on biodiversity. Biodiversity, the variety of life in a […]

The California Council on Science and Technology has changed significantly from its beginnings in 1988, when the need for an organization like CCST hit home as the state lost bids for both a superconducting supercollider and SEMATECH – a microelectronics research consortium – to Texas. “The state needed a way to more effectively leverage its […]

Bruce Alberts, who has served on the CCST Board of Directors since 2006, has been selected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to serve as editor-in-chief of its journal Science. The appointment takes effect in March 2008. AAAS President and Nobel laureate David Baltimore, a CCST Fellow, praised the selection of Alberts […]

CCST Fellow Arthur Kornberg, MD, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1959, died on October 26 of respiratory failure at Stanford Hospital. He was 89. Dr. Kornberg shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine with Severo Ochoa, MD, for discovery of the mechanisms in the biological synthesis of DNA. He was instrumental in building the […]

CCST Board Chair Karl Pister was presented with the Clark Kerr Award for Distinguished Leadership in Higher Education by the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate, in a campus ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 25. The award recognizes extraordinary and distinguished contributions to the advancement of higher education. The Berkeley Division established the award in 1968 […]

In January 2008, CCST’s first-ever council chair from industry will step down, concluding a period of intense and fulfilling activity for the Council. Lawrence Papay, CEO and Principal of PQR, LLC and former sector vice president for the Integrated Solutions Sector at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), has served as chair since 2005. “This has […]

The perennial struggle to encourage California’s students to pursue and succeed in the sciences is by now well-known. While important efforts are being made to bolster the number of well-prepared science teachers in the classroom, there are also programs in place to connect the university community directly with the K-12 system. One such program at […]

The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) is one of the leading such facilities in the nation. One of the four original sites in the Teragrid project, it is internationally recognized for its contribution to computational biosciences and computational approaches to earth sciences and genomics. SDSC is especially known for its role in creating and maintaining […]

Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) has significant potential to save California money – as much as $8 billion annually from greater efficiency and reduced medical errors, according to one study by the RAND institute – and improve substantially the quality of care. Implementing HIT, however, is expensive, requiring standardized electronic records, the computer equipment to store […]