Office of Science and Technology Policy Blog

From Mohawks to Making, New Steps to Mobilize the Science Talent in Federal Agencies

Bobak Ferdowsi--or NASA's "Mohawk Guy". (Photo courtesy NASA)

President Obama strongly believes that inspiring boys and girls to excel in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education is critical to our Nation’s future. Just last week, the President called the Mars Science Lab Team and a “special Mohawk guy” and pointed out how their work on Curiosity was inspiring the next generation.

As the President said, “My Administration has put a big focus on improving science and technology, engineering and math education. And this is the kind of thing that inspires kids across the country.  They’re telling their moms and dads they want to be part of a Mars mission -- maybe even the first person to walk on Mars.  And that kind of inspiration is the byproduct of work of the sort that you guys have done.”

The Curiosity team is emblematic of the powerful asset that the Federal science and technology workforce can be in the all-hands-on-deck challenge to improve STEM education.

That’s why President Obama has called upon the 200,000 Federal employees working in STEM fields to bring their passion and expertise to their communities and schools in support of STEM education, and help “stoke that same curiosity in students which had perhaps led them to pursue a career in science.”  As the President has said, there are so many creative ways to engage young people in STEM fields – everything from science festivals, robotics competitions, Maker Faires, mentoring opportunities and more.  

NSF Innovation Corps: From Science Lab to Startup

Dr. Sophie Lebrecht participates in a panel at the one-year anniversary of the National Science Foundation's Innovation Corps. [Photo: Christy Bowe/Image Catcher News]

In 2011, Dr. Lebrecht published her research, supported by the National Science Foundation’s Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center, on how the brain uses visual information to create signals that inform decision making. In short, Lebrecht studied how what we see affects what we do. She was quickly aware that her research could be useful to any company vying for consumers’ attention in today’s image-cluttered world. Today, thanks in part to I-Corps’ support, Lebrecht is about to launch Neon Labs, a startup that uses algorithms derived from her research to identify the still frame from a video that is most attractive to the viewer. With this technology, any media or video-hosting platform could apply her research to drive video traffic and attract users. I talked with Lebrecht about I-Corps and her experience as a scientist-turned-entrepreneur.

What inspired you to make the transition from research in a lab to creating a startup?

I was the lead on this project—it was my PhD work—and Michael Tarr, my PhD advisor, was also integrally involved. We looked at the data from our study and thought, “Wow, we’ve actually hit on something that is incredibly useful.” I mean, think of how many people would want to be able to predict what visual information is going to lead to what decision! I just felt like I should get it out of the lab.