This year’s conference “Meeting Global Challenges: Discovery and Innovation,” was opened by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Eric Isaacs, director of Argonne National Laboratory, Morton Schapiro, president of Northwestern University, and Robert J. Zimmer, president of the University of Chicago also offered opening remarks.
The Embassy of the Republic of Poland, the Foundation for Polish Science, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) co-organized a workshop titled Science and Engineering Diaspora Engagement, which preceded the 180th annual AAAS meeting in Chicago.
By inviting the Foundation for Polish Science to help organize this workshop, AAAS recognized the ongoing FNP efforts to promote Polish-American scientific collaboration and connect with the Polish scientific and engineering diaspora. FNP activities align well with the mission of NODES, the Network of Diaspora in Engineering and Science, a venture shared by the US State Department, AAAS, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Engineering. The objective of this initiative is to strengthen science and engineering diaspora active within the United States by acting as a “diaspora knowledge network” which joins scientists, students, innovators, and science policy experts to spur scientific collaboration and economic growth.
The workshop was an excellent opportunity to share Polish best practices and exchange ideas between representatives from countries such as Ukraine, Cuba, Mexico, Tunisia, Iraq, Japan, and Brazil. Discussions were held in four parallel breakout sessions; the guests of honor were Dr. E. William Colglazier, Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State and Professor Maciej Żylicz, President of the Foundation for Polish Science.
