SSTI Digest

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch announced he will nominate his deputy chief of staff and policy director, Michael Vlacich, to be the state's next director of economic development.

The University of South Dakota appointed Terry Young as the director of research and development, a newly created position.

Science Foundation Arizona (SFAz) has released its strategic investment plan for fiscal year 2006-07, which includes grants to support university research, new high-tech businesses, and K-12 STEM education. The investment strategy will guide SFAz’s grant award decisions during its first year of operations and represents a starting point for the organization, which hopes to develop the plan into a long-term strategy for economic development.   The state’s 21st Century Fund, an initiative established by the governor and state legislature during the last session, provides public funding for SFAz’s grant programs. An initial allocation of $35 million will support SFAz’s five cornerstone programs, including: $18 million for Strategic Research Groups, which seed partnerships between research institutions and the private sector; $5 million for Competitive Advantage Awards between $100,000 to $400,000 to support in-state R&D; $4 million for Graduate Student Fellowships of up to $50,000 for as many as 80 science, math and engineering graduate students; $3.5 million for K-12 Student and Teacher Discovery research internships; and, $2 million for…

Governor Urges Pension Fund to Invest in Emerging Tech Companies Starting in January, a new advisory council within the Texas Governor’s Office will begin work on a long-term strategy to bolster the state’s economic competitiveness. The Competitiveness Council will be charged with designing an overall framework for cooperation between public and private organizations involved in economic development. Gov. Rick Perry will appoint the group’s members by the end of the year.   The governor made the announcement during his keynote address at the Texas Lyceum’s 2006 Public Conference in San Antonio earlier this month. Gov. Perry told the audience of state economic development leaders that the new state strategy devised by the council would be a logical extension of other recent Texas TBED initiatives, such as the Texas Enterprise Fund and the Emerging Technology Fund.   In another keynote address at the Lyceum Conference, Dr. Michael Porter of Harvard Business School highlighted the need for a comprehensive competitiveness strategy to address the challenges faced by the Texas economy. Despite the high number of…

The number of doctorates awarded in the U.S. within science and engineering (S&E) fields reached an all-time high in 2005, according to a recent National Science Foundation (NSF) issue brief. After the previous high of 27,273 S&E doctorates awarded in 1998, the number decreased for four years until 2002, and has steadily increased the past three years to the 2005 number of 27,974 Ph.D. graduates.   NSF’s Division of Science Resources Statistics reports that several groups, including women and non-U.S. citizens, also received a record number of S&E doctorates in 2005. In fact, from 2001 to 2005, S&E doctorates awarded to non-citizens increased by 25 percent, which accounted for almost all of the recent growth in the number of total doctorates awarded. The issue brief indicates there is little evidence of a decline of non-citizen S&E doctorate attainment since the terrorist attacks in September 2001.   Specific academic disciplines also recorded all-time highs for doctorates awarded in 2005, including the biological sciences, engineering, mathematics and computer science. The percentage of Ph.D.s…

One out of four public, venture-backed companies started since 1990 were founded by entrepreneurs who immigrated to the U.S. before starting their company, according to a recent study commissioned by the National Venture Capital Association. Immigrant-founded companies are even more common within high-tech industries, where 40 percent of all new publicly traded firms in the past 16 years have had immigrant founders, including widely-acclaimed IT success stories like Google, Yahoo! and eBay. The aggregate market capitalization of new immigrant-founded tech companies since 1990 exceeds $500 billion.   The authors of American Made: The Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Professionals on US Competitiveness conclude that immigrant entrepreneurs play a vital role in U.S. economic prosperity and that continued growth may depend on maintaining an open system of immigration that encourages entrepreneurs and skilled professionals to relocate to the U.S.. Few immigrant entrepreneurs came to the U.S. to start company. Most arrived as children, students or workers in their early- to mid-20s hired on H-1B visas for workers with specialized knowledge.…

Describing the impact of universities can be a vexing issue for both the higher education and TBED communities. Two recent reports, one by the Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education (ARCHE) and the other by the Iowa Board of Regents, utilize different approaches to help communicate the importance of higher education institutions to a local economy.   The ARCHE report combines economic development statistics derived from input-output analysis with the personal stories of seven individuals who in some form are heavily influenced by the presence of the 49 degree-granting, accredited higher education institutions located in the Atlanta region. The report emphasizes the economic and social impact that the region’s universities have on hundreds of thousands of individuals and the state of Georgia. Some of the economic impacts of the region’s universities include: $10.8 billion in spending from institutions, employees, students, visitors and capital expenditures, the total of which is equal to 3.2 percent of the annual gross state product of Georgia; 129,000 jobs are created in Georgia each year in a variety of industry sectors, which is…

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s recently released 2005 educational attainment figures, 27.7 percent of adults age 25 years and older had received a bachelor's degree or higher; this is up from 26.7 percent in 2002. Across the states, the District of Columbia had the highest percentage of people 25 years and older with at least a bachelor’s degree (47 percent), followed by Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland and New Jersey.   SSTI has prepared a table presenting the 2002 and 2005 educational attainment percentages and rankings for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. When comparing the 2002 and 2005 reports, Idaho showed the largest percent increase in college graduates (23.9 percent) as well as a significant gain in rank, moving up 20 positions to 26th in 2005. Other states rounding off the top five for rank increases over the four-year period are: North Carolina (nine positions), Oklahoma (eight positions), Alaska (seven positions) and Hawaii (seven positions). Some states saw their ranks drop, even while their percentage of adults aged 25 years and older with a bachelor's degree or higher increased. Maine,…

Complete descriptions of the position openings described below are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. Griffin Analytical Technologies, LLC, a producer of premium chemical detection systems, is seeking a research specialist. Griffin serves U.S. Departments of Defense and Homeland Security applications, environmental health and safety monitoring, and research and teaching laboratories. The research specialist will assist the science team with R&D efforts related to Griffin's products and will be responsible for exploring new applications for Griffin's technology. A Master of Science degree is preferred; however, a Bachelor of Science degree accompanied by five or more years of experience will be considered. Applicants also should have two or more years of applicable experience in mass spectrometer operation and development. The Penn State Industrial Research Office is seeking a senior technical specialist to facilitate long-term relationships with industry and government and enhance the university's potential for contract research and technology transfer. This person must maintain a thorough understanding of…

The U.S. has stimulated export-led growth around the world while continuing to attract the largest share of foreign direct investment, according to a new Council on Competitiveness report, Competitiveness Index: Where America Stands. The total stock of foreign direct investment in the U.S. is now $1.6 trillion, about twice that of the next largest recipient and more than six times as much as China. Between 1986 and 2004, the U.S. received more annual flows of foreign direct investment than any other country in the world. However, this expansion has been funded primarily through rapidly increasing foreign debt, coupled with high consumption and a return to federal budget deficits, the report cautions. Such imbalances should raise warning flags for the future of American competitiveness and global economic stability, which the study discusses in depth. The report benchmarks two decades of U.S. economic data against emerging global economies. It confirms the U.S. has among the highest levels of productivity and standard of living, making it the most globally competitive among the world’s large economies. …

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson recently announced a series of budget requests for the 2007 legislature intended to increase access to public universities and to support research and investment in emerging technologies. Together, the requests call for more than $120 million in state investment in higher education quality and affordability, supercomputing and stem cell research, and new energy initiatives. Higher Education Much of this funding would provide scholarships for students through the state's College Affordability Fund. The fund was created last year to support traditional and nontraditional college students, with up to $1,000 per semester in need-based funding. Gov. Richardson recommends the state invest $50 million, on top of the initial $49 million invested last year, to expand the program. The governor also is proposing a state tax credit equal to 25 percent of the federal Hope and Lifetime Learning Tax Credits to assist with tuition and fees. Earlier this year, New Mexico received an 'F' in college affordability and a 'D' in student completion from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher…

The Economic Development Board of Bahrain and Kuwait Finance House have begun planning a $1 billion (US) Science and Technology Park in Bahrain. The park will be modeled on the Sophia Antipolis Technology Park in France, which is the largest of its kind in Europe and the second-largest technology park in the world, according to the European Commission’s PAXIS innovation program. The Kuwait Finance House has appointed Philippe Mariani, former director of the French park to oversee the new project.   Bahrain Science and Technology Park has already announced several partnerships with Middle Eastern and European universities to attract research in clean technology, renewable energy, environmental technology, IT, and communications. The two million square meter campus will host small, medium and large companies in these and other emerging industries.   The project will be executed in three phases, though a final timeline has not yet been announced. The first phase will concentrate on the initial infrastructure for the park, while the later stages will introduce additional laboratories, university partnerships, and quality of…