Larry Bock
lbock | June 14, 2010Nobel Laureate Richard Smalley said, "By the year 2010, 90 percent of the world's scientists and engineers will live in Asia."
Right now, 85 percent of people being trained in the advanced physical sciences in the U.S. are here on temporary education visas from abroad. Many of them end up going home and taking all that scientific knowledge with them.
It used to be that the "American Dream," American lifestyles, and American opportunities would seduce these brilliant minds from all over the world to stay and contribute their genius to America's growth and advancement. But now these scientific…
lbock | March 8, 2010
I remember, all too painfully, in many of my high tech and life science start-ups, a common refrain from the scientists would be, "We got the device to work....it's just engineering from here." Then, invariably - millions of dollars later - I would learn (as the CEO): that's when the hard work really begins. It's one thing to get one device to work; it's another big thing to get the next hundred devices to all work.
When I set out to start the "USA Science Festival" and received a phone call from Chuck Vest, the President of the National Academy of Engineering, suggesting that I should…
lbock | March 4, 2010
Tip 1: Capture the High Ground (Convene the best and brightest in the field)
As the Science Festival movement grows, I am often asked about "best practices" in setting up a local Science Festival. So I decided to write a series of short blog posts about the know-how I have accumulated. Please take all of this advice with the knowledge that I have an experience base of only one and a quarter festivals. I invite comments and additional wisdom from others. Please post your best practices here if you are a fellow festival organizer.
The typical first question I am asked is "How do we get…