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Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in American men, killing nearly 30,000 per year. In 2004, I attended a conference where one of the nation’s leading researchers in the field declared that the gold-standard test for this disease was not successful at identifying dangerous invasive tumors. That triggered my interest in how to…

Anyone who has used a handheld video camera knows how hard it is to keep steady. A mild cough can turn footage from a kid’s soccer game into an amusement park ride. Now imagine mounting that camera onto a police cruiser or a 20,000-foot-high unmanned aircraft. These scenarios often result in distorted video that is…

Smart phones are everywhere these days, and they’ve certainly made our lives easier in so many ways, from connecting with friends and family to sharing the latest information with colleagues. As the business use of employee-owned smartphones and tablets proliferates, IT departments are struggling to implement secure and cost-effective policies that facilitate productivity while protecting…

From high school basketball games to sophisticated military operations, a strong perimeter is the first line of defense.  The challenge for commercial security is strengthening the perimeter without affecting business. Access control is a high priority for secure infrastructures such as nuclear power plants, corporate offices, universities, and financial buildings. The faster security can accurately…

SRI researchers published a series of studies that examine whether technology is effective and how it helps. Our findings show that technology can increase students’ understanding of math concepts, but only as part of a more comprehensive learning approach—one that also includes curricular content and teacher professional development.

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of speaking at SXSW. My session on “commercialization secrets at SRI” was over-subscribed, with a few hundred attending, and many being turned away. This was a pleasant surprise, given the time of the talk was 9:30am on a Saturday morning! Anthony Ha of TechCrunch was a superb interviewer, and for…

Silicon Valley Robotics (SVR) recently held its first Investor Breakfast at SRI headquarters in Menlo Park, with kudos from attending investors and the 10 participating early-stage companies. Part of SVR’s mission is to help nurture early-stage robotics companies in the greater Silicon Valley area. Both a growing list of start-up robotics companies in the Bay Area…

Discussion Thread 2: How Can We Encourage Greater Engagement of Students in Middle-skill STEM fields? Our research has found that workforce educators face students who are diverse in preparation, background, and goals, and so engaging such a diverse group poses a constant challenge. In our work, we have found: Students crave opportunities to try out…

Discussion Thread 3: What Are Some of the Innovative Directions That Can Support Workforce Training? In our study, we have found a few different types of innovation: Industry offering internships with relevant community college courses right on the factory floor, where students work 3 days and study 2 days and see the relevance of what…

Located in Puerto Rico, the William E. Gordon telescope at the site is the world’s largest, most sensitive single-dish radio telescope.

Discussion Thread 1: How Can We Foster Partnerships between Community Colleges and Industry? Our research has found that the more community colleges collaborate with local industry partners, the more “partnership capital” they develop, which leads to benefits such as: Greater responsiveness to changes in local economy, policy initiatives, and funding opportunities Greater innovation in instructional…

At the Feb. 25 “Engaging Industry and Students in Workforce Education Partnerships” webinar (see video below), we began the conversation about how community colleges and industry can collaboratively transform workforce education in the U.S. We hope to continue the conversation here and invite you to contribute to our research by entering your ideas below about…