SSTI Digest

Summer classes, camps and special programs to stimulate and sustain K-12 students' interests in science and math will be found all across the country during the next few months. A less frequently occurring phenomenon will be taking place in the Great Lakes Region of Iowa, helping a select group of college students to combine entrepreneurship, rural economic development, and recreation. Twenty-four students from three Iowa state universities will participate in a week-long program at the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory on West Lake Okoboji designed to enhance their understanding of rural entrepreneurship opportunities within the state. The facility traditionally offers undergraduate and graduate experiential science courses in a natural setting. In the new program, students will participate in entrepreneurial simulation and seminars with successful entrepreneurs and business and community leaders. Activities include working in teams on a computer-based simulation that incorporates the creation and operation of a new business and a fundraising round where teams present their plans to community volunteer venture capitalists. …

The U.S. automotive industry is one of the nation's oldest modern manufacturing sectors, and, similar to many other older populations, is increasingly making its home in the South. Despite this fact, the sector remains heavily centered in the Midwest, according to a new article from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The Geographic Evolution of the U.S. Auto Industry reveals 47 percent of the nation's motor vehicle employment still resides in three states: Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. The last 25 years have not been easy for the Midwest and Northeast regions, however, as the automotive sector - including assembly plants and suppliers; domestic and foreign automakers; cars; light trucks; and SUVs - continues to restructure to reflect changes in production, cost structure, consumer tastes, and demographics. Michigan, for example, still holds 35 percent of the nation's manufacturing employment in the auto sector, even after losing one-third of the auto-related jobs that were located within the state in 1979. The industry virtually disappeared from New England, while Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and the Carolinas saw employment in the automotive sector…

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has published its online statistical resource center for state-level statistics on various science and engineering (S&E) indicators. Drawing data from the most recent updates to seven annual NSF surveys and U.S. Census statistics, the profiles includes downloadable Excel or PDF versions of state statistics for: Number of doctoral scientists, 2003 Number of doctoral engineers, 2003 S&E doctorates awarded, 2004 S&E and health postdoctorates in doctorate-granting institutions, 2003 S&E and health graduate students in doctorate-granting institutions, 2003 Population, 2004 Civilian labor force, 2004 Personal per capita income, 2004 Total federal expenditures, 2003 Federal R&D obligations, 2003 Total R&D performance, 2003 Industrial R&D, 2003 Academic R&D, 2003 Number of SBIR awards, 1999-2004 Utility patents issued to state residents, 2004 Gross state product, 2004 Science & Engineering State Profiles, 2003-2004, is available at:…

Although technology sector employment is down slightly from previous years, Washington firms received twice the aggregate amount of venture capital (VC) funding compared to last year, and the state remains above the national average in educational attainment, according to the sixth annual Washington State Index of Innovation and Technology. The index, produced by the Washington Technology Center (WTC), is divided into two parts - state measures and regional comparisons. State measures benchmark Washington against all 50 states, while regional comparisons look at how the technology economy is impacting 12 communities across the state. These sections are built around 40 indicators and organized into six key areas: innovation, competitiveness, growth, financial capacity, human potential and quality of life. The index is meant to be both informative and influential. The goal is to "produce a report that serves as both a historical account of our state's performance and a tool to guide our state's leaders in economic planning," according to WTC Executive Director Lee Cheatham. The slight decline in…

Republican members of the House Committee on Science introduced last week three bills designed to strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness by improving math and science education and research. According to the Association of American Universities, the bills respond to several recent competitiveness reports, including the National Academies' Rising Above the Gathering Storm. The bills are: H.R. 5358, the Science and Mathematics Education for Competitiveness Act; H.R. 5356, the Early Career Research Act, and; H.R. 5357, the Research for Competitiveness Act. The Science and Mathematics Education for Competitiveness Act emphasizes the importance of bolstering undergraduate math and science education programs, according to the House Committee on Science. Specifically, the bill would: Strengthen and expand the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program at the National Science Foundation (NSF), which provides scholarships to students majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields who commit to teaching after graduation; Strengthen and focus NSF's Math and Science…

High speed Internet access, global positioning systems and other information and communication technologies have revolutionized urban and regional economic development, both planning and practice. Communities willing and able to make the appropriate investment decisions regarding information improve their abilities to compete. Certain communities and sections of cities, or even smaller neighborhoods, however, miss the first cut for economic development leading to higher wage jobs for area residents because of a lack of easy, regular and current access to basic information. More complete community information systems also improve the effectiveness and efficiency of many community development and quality of life issues, important factors for maintaining or sustaining a knowledge-based local economy driven by innovation and creativity. With a successful information strategy, communities can adjust the distribution of key public service delivery to reflect real-time information of undesired trends. For example, often it is geographic areas of blight or more mature downtown neighborhoods that are targeted for technology-based redevelopment and tax…

Perhaps in no field more than biotechnology are the roles of alliances, mergers and acquisitions, and licensing so influential in determining the future success of a start-up firm. Pharmaceuticals are perhaps the best example of this. There aren't hundreds of big pharma companies around the world; there are perhaps a dozen, and, thanks to television advertising for meds, most are practically household names. To make it as a young biopharma business, most plan to be licensed up or bought out. The implications of this for state and regional technology-based economic development (TBED) were evident in a 2004 presentation by Cardiff University professor Philip Cooke in a presentation titled Path Dependence, given before the 2004 national meeting of Canada's Innovation Systems Research Network. With the increasing concentration of pharmaceutical distribution and the globalization of research capabilities, Cooke studied the evolution of pharma originating in the Basel-Friedburg-Strasburg region of Switzerland. After following the 250-year history of Swiss-related pharma, he concluded globalization is allowing or resulting in a cluster-based division…

[Publisher's note: In last week's Digest, we prepared a table showing what I thought was per capita federal R&D spending by state for 2003. Some readers who are more astute than I questioned the data, and in reviewing how I used the NSF data, I discovered that I had done so incorrectly. My apologies to all for this error. We have removed the incorrect table from our website. The below article uses correct data to look at per capita federal R&D for the last five years and replaces the information from last week's Digest.] Using statistics from the National Science Foundation’s Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development, SSTI has prepared a table ranking all 50 states and the District of Columbia in per capita federal R&D obligations from 1999-2003.   According to the data, California, Maryland, Virginia, Texas and Massachusetts ranked the highest in total federal R&D obligations in 2003. However, when ranking the data per capita, the District of Columbia led the nation in federal R&D obligations at $5,261, followed by New Mexico ($1,616), Maryland ($1,435), Virginia ($861) and Massachusetts ($839…

John Cronin was named state director of the new Rhode Island Small Business Development Center at Johnson and Wales University in Providence. Cronin is CEO of the Rhode Island Manufacturing Extension Partnership. The Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) named Dr. Steven Hillenius to replace Dr. Ralph Cavin as vice president. Cavin is retiring from the SRC leadership team at the end of the year. Yolanda Hunter is the new manager of the New River Valley Competitiveness Center in Radford, Va. Wayne Carpenter, former manager of the incubator, left to pursue private consulting work. The Virginia Piedmont Technology Council (VPTC) selected Jerry MacLean as its new executive director. MacLean replaces Gail Milligan, who will remain with VPTC through June to assist with the transition. The Purdue Center for Regional Development has appointed Ed Morrison to the position of economic policy advisor. Yuka Nagashima was named executive director of Hawaii's High Technology Development Corporation. …

John Cronin was named state director of the new Rhode Island Small Business Development Center at Johnson and Wales University in Providence. Cronin is CEO of the Rhode Island Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

The Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) named Dr. Steven Hillenius to replace Dr. Ralph Cavin as vice president. Cavin is retiring from the SRC leadership team at the end of the year

Yolanda Hunter is the new manager of the New River Valley Competitiveness Center in Radford, Va. Wayne Carpenter, former manager of the incubator, left to pursue private consulting work.