Longtime federal auditor Earl Devaney plans to submit his resignation to the White House on Dec. 1 and retire by year’s end, following 41 years of service at federal agencies, according to a Dec. 1 report in the Washington Post’s Federal Eye.
Devaney told The Federal Eye that his plans include retirement in Florida with his wife and possible part-time employment as a consultant or corporate board member.
Since February 2009, Devaney has been serving as the chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which is a nonpartisan federal oversight board tracking and publishing information on spending under the $840 billion economic stimulus law. The panel also operates the Recovery.gov website, a searchable platform with maps providing the stimulus spending data to the public.
Previously, he was inspector general at the Interior Department, where he investigated ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff as well as allegations of wrongdoing at the U.S. Minerals Management Service.
He started his career in law enforcement as a Massachusetts police officer, and worked for the U.S. Secret Service for two decades. He was special agent in charge of the Fraud Division when he retired from the Secret Service in 1991. Following that, he became director of criminal enforcement for the Environmental Protection Agency.
At the Recovery board, Devaney was in charge of a team of investigators and inspectors general. In his recent comments on the board's activities, he announced an updated design for Recovery.gov that highlights its mapping features, and also recommended that the federal government adopt a universal identifier system for consistent identification of federal grants.
Posted by Alice Lipowicz on Dec 01, 2011 at 9:04 AM0 comments
Cornell University Professor Mason Peck is the new NASA chief technologist, NASA announced in a Nov. 8 news release.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden picked Peck to be the agency’s principal adviser and advocate on technology policy and programs. Peck, who starts in January, is charged with coordinating, tracking and integrating technology investments across the agency
"Mason's lifelong commitment to learning and expertise in aerospace engineering makes him ideally suited to advise and help guide the agency toward the technologies and innovations that will enable our future missions," Bolden said.
Peck will serve at NASA under an intergovernmental personnel agreement with Cornell, where he is an associate professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
He succeeds Robert Braun, who returned to Georgia Institute of Technology.
Peck has worked at NASA before, as an engineer on the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites. His academic research has been supported by the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts and the International Space Station.
He also has worked for Boeing, Honeywell, Northrop Grumman, Goodrich, Lockheed Martin and Bell Helicopter. He has authored 82 academic articles and holds 17 patents in the U.S. and European Union.
Peck earned a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles and a master's degree in English literature from the University of Chicago.
Posted by Alice Lipowicz on Nov 09, 2011 at 9:21 AM0 comments
With a little bit of planning and the free “Light Bulb Finder” mobile application, most people could be more effective in selecting and buying energy-efficient light bulbs.
On Nov. 8 the Environmental Protection Agency honored the Eco Hatchery LLC light bulb application as “Overall Best App” in its Apps for the Environment Challenge. The agency named five winners in the competition.
The Light Bulb Finder, developed by Adam Borut and Andrea Nylund of Milwaukee, Wis., was designed to make it easier for users to switch to energy-saving bulbs. It can be used to view bulb images and cost, savings and environmental impacts, and to create shopping lists and buy bulbs online or at stores. It is available for free for Android and iPhone.
In the contest, developers were encouraged to use EPA data to help protect people and the environment, Malcolm Jackson, EPA’s chief information officer, said in a news release. “The winners of the Apps for the Environment challenge demonstrate that it’s possible to transform data from EPA and elsewhere into applications that people can use.”
The other winners are:
- Runner Up, Best Overall App: Hootroot by Matthew Kling of Brighter Planet, Shelburne, Vt.
- Winner, Best Student App: EarthFriend by Ali Hasan and Will Fry of Differential Apps and Fry Development Company, Mount Pleasant High School in Mount Pleasant, N.C. and J.H. Rose High School in Greenville, N.C..
- Runner Up, Best Student App: Environmental Justice Participatory Mapping by Robert Sabie, Jr. of Western Washington University, Bellingham, Wash.
- Popular Choice Award: CG Search by Suresh Ganesan of Cognizant Technology Solutions, South Plainfield, N.J.
Posted by Alice Lipowicz on Nov 08, 2011 at 11:45 AM0 comments