We present an interview with Ed Herderick, the 2009-2010 Materials Societies Congressional Fellow and occasional contributor to this blog. ACerS, along with The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society and the Materials Research Society announced in March that Herderick has been selected to be the groups’ fellow. The Materials Societies Congressional Fellow program is part of a larger program administered by the AAAS.
As the Materials Society Fellow, Herderick will spend one year working as a special legislative assistant on the staff of a member of Congress or congressional committee. His activities may involve conducting legislative or oversight work, assisting in congressional hearings and debates, and preparing briefs and writing speeches. He will also participate in a yearlong seminar series on science and public policy issues. Preparation for assuming the assignment includes a special orientation program on congressional and executive branch operation.
Herderick promises to blog or use some similar method to provide an online diary about his experiences.
Herderick will receive his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Ohio State University in August. He received his bachelor’s degree in 2005 and master’s (in materials science and engineering) in 2007 from OSU, as well. Herderick’s graduate research, under the advisement of Nitin Padture, is focused on the synthesis, characterization, and property measurement of metal-oxide-metal heterojunction nanowires.
Herderick was an NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship fellow (2005-2008) and won Diamond-level recognition among the Graduate Excellence in Materials Science awards from ACerS (2008).
In addition to his academic work, Ed has been an active member of the campus community, serving on the OSU Council of Graduate Students for two years and also taking part in many outreach activities to bring students and teachers to campus.
His main area of policy interest is in solutions to the 21st century energy challenge; that is improving the way we generate, transmit, and consume energy to provide economic growth and strengthen national security in an environmentally sustainable manner.