SSTI Digest

The South Dakota Board of Regents announced that Scott Meyer will become system vice president of research, effective June 26.

Jeff Nesbit was appointed director of the National Science Foundation's Office of Legislative and Public Affairs.

Complete descriptions of the position openings described below are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. The Delaware Economic Development Office (DEDO) is seeking someone to serve as its capital resource director. The incumbent will provide financial incentives and tools to assist businesses in creating, expanding or retaining employees, among other responsibilities. Toward that effort, the director will work with various other financial sources, external partners and resource centers to provide more opportunities to all clusters, entrepreneurs and various individuals. He or she should have a bachelor's degree, with 3-5 years in specific industry experience. A Master in Business Administration degree is preferred. The Life Sciences Discovery Fund (LSDF) of Washington State is seeking leadership staff to help mold and direct this new organization from the ground up. The LSDF acts as a foundation, managing more than $35 million per year in grants to researchers and organizations across the state. The program is part of the governor's economic development strategy to promote life sciences research that will…

The third installment to Walkin' the Tech Talkin' Gov Walk (see the April 17 and May 8 issues of the Digest) covers the outcomes of the 2006 legislative sessions for two states, Illinois and Wisconsin. Following is a synopsis of bills passed and budget appropriations relevant to tech-based economic development and the priorities outlined in respective gubernatorial addresses at the beginning of 2006. Illinois The General Assembly approved and Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed into law the FY 2007 budget last month. The General Assembly passed most of the governor's initiatives, including funding for new programs within the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), increases in higher education, and approval and funding for the River Edge Redevelopment Initiative. According to news reports, the legislature did not include $15 million requested by the governor for stem cell research. The General Assembly approved funding for all of the programs within DCEO (refer to SB 1520) requested by Gov. Blagojevich, which includes funding for two new programs: $1…

With assets totalling more than $15 billion, the Indiana Public Employees Retirement Fund (PERF) has decided to place $100 million into higher-risk equity placements through its first Indiana Investment Fund. The fund will exclusively target venture capital deals within Indiana, according to the PERF news release. Like pension funds in many states, PERF has a requirement to place a certain percentage of its assets in private equity. The PERF goal is 5 percent and includes real estate deals as well. The new fund will help, as only one-half percent of PERF assets presently are invested in a manner to meet the requirement. The Indiana Investment Fund I will be managed by Credit Suisse, which is chipping in $5 million to raise the total available for placement to $100 million. Indiana business investment opportunities in the $1 million to $15 million range will be targeted. PERF's traditional investment decisions, for comparison, are typically in the $50 million to $100 million range. Indiana Investment Fund's launch more than doubles the amount of investment capital specifically targeted at Indiana ventures. Also, managed by…

The opportunity for innovation and the need for angel capital are not limited to the major metropolitan areas and large research universities, as the board of trustees for Taylor University and leaders of the Grant County Economic Growth Council in rural Indiana will attest. The east-central Indiana county is home to just over 70,500 residents and, soon, two angel funds. Taylor University, a Christian-based liberal arts college with an enrollment of 1,875 students, recently created an angel fund to encourage and support an entrepreneurial climate at the university and the Upland, In., community. In addition, the Grant County Economic Growth Council, based in Marion, In., is in the early stages of establishing a local angel fund to be a part of the Indiana Venture Network. The university's Center for Research and Innovation (CRI) was set up about two years ago to help increase learning and generate research, technology transfer and commercialization, said Mick Bates, director of the innovation and enterprise program for CRI. The fund hopes to build upon its experience of the past two years, Bates said.   …

Maryland General Assembly approval of a $1 million boost for the Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) Program, one of the nation's oldest continually run programs to support university-industry research projects leading to technology commercialization, marks a 74 percent increase above the $1.35 million program budget for 2006. The increase was proposed by Gov. Robert Ehrlich in his fiscal year 2007 supplemental budget. MIPS was authorized by the state in 1987 to promote the development and commercialization of products and processes through industry-university research partnerships. The program provides funds to Maryland companies to pay for university research. Since its inception in 1987 through 2003, 32 rounds of awards were completed. Grants are awarded on a competitive basis for projects submitted by companies and researchers from any of the 13 University System of Maryland (USM) institutions. Types of projects funded include R&D in high-tech fields such as engineering, computer science, and physical and life sciences. MIPS also supports education and training projects designed to help companies plan and…

While the Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) has the recipe for a creative economy - people in creative occupations, industries with a creative workforce, and an environment that supports creativity - it falls short of the national average in more than 75 percent of all creative occupational categories, a new study by the Maricopa Partnership for Arts and Culture (MPAC) finds. Creative Connections: Arts, Ideas, and Economic Progress in Greater Phoenix provides an in-depth examination of the region's strengths and weaknesses in building a creative economy and offers recommendations to attract and retain talent to the area. According to the report, Phoenix boasts a workforce of more than 100,000 people in creative occupations, including arts, design, culture and those rooted in new ideas and methods -- science, engineering and advanced technology, for example. These occupations represent 10 percent of the total wages in the region, with average wages of $56,729, compared to $33,705 for the region overall. The report stresses the importance of building and sustaining creative economies in a global economy.…

If you know any secondary school teachers or, like millions of Americans, you are heavily involved in high school graduation season right now, you know that the Class of `06 is not like the Class of `05 or the upcoming Class of '07. Assemblages of students tend to develop discernable class personalities as they march from kindergarten through grade 12, distinct and possibly very different than most of their individual personalities. Some classes handle the rigors and rituals of fund raising, homecoming, basketball season, prom and senior-itis better  than others.  That may be the case too for academics and test taking, too, but trends across several classes suggest something undesirable happens regarding science and math education as kids proceed through the American education system. The Nation's Report Card 2005, released before Memorial Day weekend, reports twelfth grade student performance in the science portion of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) dropped between 1996 and 2005. Fourth grade performance during the same period rose. Drawing on a sampling of 300,000 students, The Nations…

Complete descriptions of the position openings described below are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. TechSolve Inc., a professional services organization based in Cincinnati, is seeking a machining project engineer to join its team of business experts, engineers and scientists in providing advanced machining/machining-related technologies support to its clients. This position requires the ability to conduct client site-visits, assessments and operations review; investigate, develop and provide solutions; and build/maintain the confidence of client-company decision makers in order to improve manufacturing processes and performance. The ideal candidate will be a highly technical, skilled communicator with expertise in the areas of high performance machining/material removal and tool dynamics. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and posses a Master of Science or Ph.D. degree in engineering. A concentration in manufacturing is preferred. Proficiency in software applications also is required. In addition, the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST) is accepting…

Much of the U.S. policy debate regarding the impact of globalization has focused on workforce preparedness and the need for American industry to sustain innovation. Bills before Congress urge increased spending on R&D, especially in the physical sciences and engineering. Much of the data that has helped fuel the competitiveness discussion has focused on indices and statistical reports presenting the U.S. in comparison to other nations.  A new report, however, sheds new light on the issue by considering the very essence and practice of multinational corporations, which are in large part the fundamental drivers of the global economy. Talk to executives at 186 companies in 19 nations that together account for 20 percent of global corporate R&D expenditures, and you may discover - as Booz Allen Hamilton and INSEAD did - that, between 1975 and 2005, the share of R&D sites located outside the markets of their corporate headquarters rose from 45 percent to 66 percent. Just as manufacturing becomes more distributed across the planet, so too is research and innovation. More…

Marketing tech-based economic development (TBED) programs can be challenging, particularly with the diverse nature of its target audiences of entrepreneurs, existing companies, financial sources, university researchers and, oftentimes, legislators. Sometimes, even the name of the program can cause misconceptions, particularly when a new initiative is outside the traditional services or roles offered by the TBED organization. A recent example of this comes from South Carolina. Striving to change the public's perception of a program designed to invest in and support start-up companies, the South Carolina Research Alliance (SCRA) renamed its Innovation Centers program to SC Launch! last winter. The concept of Innovation Centers give the impression of bricks and mortar, said Jim Stritzinger, executive vice president and general manager of SCRA's Public Interest Research department. "The intent of the program is not to build buildings, but to make companies successful," Stritzinger said. "The buildings will come later." The legislature passed the South Carolina Innovation and Research Centers Act last year…