This week with NSF Director Panchanathan
NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan spent the last two weeks reinforcing NSF's strategic partnerships to ensure the United States remains at the vanguard of global research competitiveness.
On Thursday, Nov. 28, Panchanathan met with India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in India to discuss the progress of collaborative investments between the two nations in STEM. The director then met with India's minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Minister Jitendra Singh, to explore opportunities for emerging technologies and agriculture through the Advancing Innovations for Empowering NextGen AGriculturE initiative.
The director began the following week by participating in the first-ever "ROADMAP Summit" cohosted by NSF and the U.S. Economic Development Administration on Tuesday, Dec. 3. Sponsored by Accenture and Microsoft, the summit gathered the teams that are leading the historic place-based innovation investments to bolster U.S. competitiveness in science and technology.
Panchanathan kicked off the event with a media roundtable, followed by a panel discussion with Microsoft's Chief Technology Officer, William Chappell, and Intel Corporation's labs director, Rich Uhlig. The director moderated the panel to discuss how public-private partnerships are advancing the nation's economic edge through research and workforce development.
In between summit events, Panchanathan headed over to the Council on Competitiveness' 2024 National Competitiveness Forum. He highlighted NSF's commitment to advancing technology and explored how the agency's mission aligns with the Council on Competitiveness' vision for the future of research and innovation.
The director then headed back to the summit to join Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) to explore strategies to enhance national security and identify place-based opportunities to lead in cutting-edge research. The summit concluded with a reception hosted by UIDP to commemorate the power of the nation's shared commitment to advancing regional innovation and economic growth.
To cap off the week, Panchanathan participated in the National Science Board's final 2024 meeting on Dec. 4. The director stressed the importance of multi-sectoral partnerships and discussed plans for the agency's future.