When President Obama delivered his State of the Union speech in January 2011, he spoke of the importance of science and technology research and education to the U.S. — past, present, and future:

Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik, we had no idea how we would beat them to the moon. The science wasn’t even there yet. NASA didn’t exist. But after investing in better research and education, we didn’t just surpass the Soviets; we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs.

This is our generation’s Sputnik moment. Two years ago, I said that we needed to reach a level of research and development we haven’t seen since the height of the Space Race. emphasis mine

via Top Ed-Tech Trends of 2011: STEM Education’s Sputnik Moment.