SSTI Digest

Many communities around the country have established authorities to oversee the real estate, infrastructure and management issues of their technology parks. Few of those authorities, however, provide direct grants to support industry-university R&D or commercialization projects. This more proactive approach to growing future tenants is the thinking behind a pilot program created last year for the Leon County Research and Development Authority (LCRDA) in Tallahassee. Last month, the Innovation Park Technology Commercialization Grant Program awarded its first two $15,000 grants to be used for product development, business and commercialization services, or to secure matching funds. Grant recipients also will receive marketing support and strategic planning assistance. Designed to promote technology commercialization, the grants are awarded on a competitive basis and are available to entrepreneurs, local business owners, universities and research labs. "We're looking for technology-related products and services in various fields that have the potential to create jobs and stimulate the local…

If the U.S. is to sustain its international competitiveness, national security and the quality of life for its citizens, then it must make significant improvements in the participation of all students in mathematics and science, says a new report from the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF). The report, A Commitment to America's Future: Responding to the Crisis in Mathematics and Science Education, points to the lack of holistic, system-wide solutions in the U.S. as one source of inefficiency in math and science education and recommends cohesive, long-term strategies to alleviate pressing systematic problems. It also challenges business, education and policy leaders to commit to new collaborative roles to advance the development of state education systems extending from pre-kindergarten to higher education and into the workforce. Lagging other countries in science and technology has a direct impact on the economic security of individuals, the international leadership of U.S. companies, and the national security of the country, the report states. According to the most recent data, the…

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently released a report detailing a full range of statistics yielded by its 2001 Survey of Industrial Research and Development. Data show 31 states experienced a 10 percent or greater increase in their industrial R&D performance over a four-year period, 1998 to 2001. Twelve states experienced declines during the same period. Using NSF data, SSTI has prepared a table ranking states by the percent change in their R&D performance for the 1998-2001 period. North Dakota leads all states in the measure, followed by Vermont and South Dakota. The R&D performed by North Dakota industry in 2001 ($347 million) was six-and-a-half times that of its 1998 output ($46 million). Vermont and South Dakota posted increases of 197 percent and 118 percent, respectively. EPSCoR states captured the seven of the top 10 three spots on the table, while the U.S. as a whole saw industry-performed R&D go up 17.3 percent. Beginning with 2001, the NSF report notes, statistics for total and federally funded industrial R&D exclude data for Federally Funded Research…

Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher appointed Denise Bentley to serve as liason to the Louisville Metro and Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government councils under the Governor’s Office for Local Development. The position is newly created. Eric Davis, president of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corp, resigned last week. The Purdue Research Foundation appointed Kathy DeGuilio-Fox to serve as interim executive director of the Purdue Technology Center of Northwest Indiana. Jack Faris is the new president of the Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association. On Friday, President Bush announced his intention to nominate Michael D. Griffin, of Virginia, to be administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Dr. Griffin currently serves as Space Department Head at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Prior to that, he was president and chief operating officer of In-Q-Tel, Inc. George "Mick" Stadler is the new CEO for the incubator at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher appointed Denise Bentley to serve as liason to the Louisville Metro and Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government councils under the Governor’s Office for Local Development. The position is newly created.

Eric Davis, president of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corp, resigned last week.

The Purdue Research Foundation appointed Kathy DeGuilio-Fox to serve as interim executive director of the Purdue Technology Center of Northwest Indiana.

Jack Faris is the new president of the Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association.

On Friday, President Bush announced his intention to nominate Michael D. Griffin, of Virginia, to be administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Dr. Griffin currently serves as Space Department Head at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Prior to that, he was president and chief operating officer of In-Q-Tel, Inc.

George "Mick" Stadler is the new CEO for the incubator at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Last week's Digest reported on three reports that have been issued recently raising concerns about America's standing in the world in encouraging innovation. Each of the reports suggested stronger action on the part of the public and the private sector to ensure the U.S. will remain competitive. Since the beginning of the year, the Digest has reported through its Tech Talkin' Govs series that the states are making investments for the future. This week, we devote this edition of the Digest to a sampling of how the governors are proposing to put money up to match their rhetoric. Even the most cursory review of state budgets shows that once again the states are setting the direction for the U.S. battle for competitiveness. From $10 million in Connecticut for embryonic stem cell research to new tax credits in Hawaii to spur venture capital, from $41 million in Indiana for building the research enterprise to $38 million for biomedical research in Maine, state action defies classification by geography, size, economic composition and political party. Transcending all of those concerns, the one item…

SSTI, like other organizations, found few S&T winners in the Administration's FY 2006 federal budget proposal (download SSTI's special budget issue at http://www.ssti.org/Digest/2005/FY06_Federal_Budget.pdf). Now, two organizations are sounding the alarm that the U.S.'s standing as the world leader in innovation is in danger of slipping, if it has not already begun. AeA, a national trade association for information and communication technologies, says the country is neglecting the factors that sparked the U.S. technology revolution in its study, Losing the Competitive Advantage?: The Challenge for Science and Technology in the United States. The Task Force on the Future of American Innovation, a coalition of high tech industry, scientific societies and higher education associations, asserts the same notion in its similarly titled report, The Knowledge Economy: Is the United States Losing Its Competitive Edge?. Also, in its analysis of the FY 2006 federal budget, the American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS) shows cuts to key R&D programs outnumber spending increases -- a budget in…