Kettering University's Dr. Corneliu Rablau, associate professor of Physics, became the chair-elect of the Ohio-Region Section of the American Physical Society (OSAPS) during the spring meeting at Ohio State University in Columbus, April 13-14.

In that capacity, he recently attended the American Physical Society (APS) Unit Convocation in Washington D.C., a three-day program that brought together the executive officers of the various sections, divisions and forums of APS with the major goal of discussing the strategic plan put forward by the APS executive leadership.
 

As part of the program, Dr. Rablau also participated in a Congressional Visit Day, a grass-roots lobby effort sponsored by APS aimed at increasing Congress support for
robust budgets for the federal agencies that fund scientific research and STEM education, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) and the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science.

The visit on Capitol Hill included extensive discussions on scientific research and STEM education issues with the staffers in charge of science in the offices of U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.), U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), U.S. Representative John Dingell (D-Mich.), as well as a meeting with U.S. Congressman Dale Kildee (D-Mich.) and his science staffer.

The message conveyed to the members of the Congress was that robust, sustained and predictable federal support for the science agencies that provide the foundation for discovery, innovation, entrepreneurship and education of the future technical force is critical for the future competitiveness of the United States in the face of increasing global competition, and should be a priority of the federal budget, Rablau said.

He noted that in Congressman Kildee's office on Capitol Hill, "it was refreshing to be greeted in the lobby of the Congressman’s office by a teddy bear wearing a Kettering University T-shirt. I knew I was in friendly territory," he added.