Former congressman brings politics to Engineering School

The School of Engineering and Applied Science will get political next Thursday when former U.S. Rep. Robert Walker (R-Pa.) shares his views on the increasing role of technology in the government. Walker is currently president of the Wexler Group, a Washington-based bipartisan government affairs firm, Engineering Graduate Dean Dwight Jaggard said. Before retiring from the House of Representatives this year, Walker represented Pennsylvania's 16th District, which consists of parts of Lancaster and Chester counties. He also served as chairperson of the House's Science and Technology committee and vice chairperson of its Budget committee. During Walker's term, he developed a deep interest in science and technology and supported research in these fields, focusing on technological research conducted by students. His December 4 visit will begin with a tour of three Engineering School laboratories. Although Jaggard said the choice of labs has not yet been finalized, the Center for Human Modeling and Simulation will be one of the three. The center's goals include discovering the relationship between human movement, natural language and communication. Following the tour, Walker will speak about "Intersections of Technology, Government and Education" from 4:30-5:30 p.m. in the Towne Building's Alumni Hall. He will discuss the conflicting interests of policy makers, technology innovators and entrepreneurs in developing national technology policy. Jaggard said the visit will provide students with the "Washington perspective," while Walker will get a glimpse of the technological strides being made at Penn. Walker's visit is the second in the Engineering School's "Technology, Science and Business Series" that began last year with the visit of Richard Messmer, a physicist working in General Electric's financial department. By inviting guests who do not work in technical fields, Jaggard hopes students will see how technology can be applied to other careers. "We want to help students see the linkage between work here and the outside world," he said. Jaggard added that the analytical and critical thinking skills Engineering students acquire gives them an edge in non-engineering fields, pointing to the many masters students end up working on Wall Street. He attributes this move towards non-technology careers to the interdisciplinary programs offered by the Engineering School. "They foster Penn's culture of crossing boundaries," Jaggard said.