The Coronavirus has been, in many ways, a clarifying moment. One thing that has been made abundantly clear is we are over-reliant on foreign adversaries for critical medicines and technologies. This needs to change. Onshoring these important industries is both an economic and national security, but in order to accomplish this task, the United States will have to grapple with how to accelerate innovation and investment and how to build a 21st century workforce to maintain our competitiveness.

On this episode, Rep. Gallagher is joined by Dr. Michael McQuade, a member of the Defense Innovation Board and the Vice President of Research at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. McQuade, a physicist turned innovator turned academic, is at the forefront of developing talent in fields from 5G to AI, and helps analyze why we need to bring high-tech industries back to the United States, particularly in the Midwest. And while the conversation covers everything from physics to the Endless Frontier Act, given Dr. McQuade’s Pittsburgh roots, Rep. Gallagher makes sure the conversation isn’t without references to Super Bowl XLV as well.