SSTI Digest

Teri Ooms is the first director of the new Joint Urban Studies Center in Wilkes Barre, Penn.

BioFlorida named Diana Robinson as its new president.

Brian Vogt has been appointed director of Colorado's Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

With Congressional approval, the Department of Homeland Security's principal research unit could receive a substantial increase in its fiscal year 2005 budget. The Administration's FY05 request for the Science and Technology Directorate is $1.039 billion -- 13.8 percent higher than the FY04 appropriation level of $913 million. The agency's Budget in Brief, released on Monday, only highlights $77 million of the $119 million increase requested for the directorate's Research, Development, Acquisition and Operations line item. The most significant item is the additional $65 million requested for the Bio-Surveillance Program Initiative. Currently, the program receives $53 million, much of which provides support for BioWatch, a bio-aerosol warning for most of the nation’s metropolitan areas. The new funds would support research and development (R&D) for an integrated, real-time, human-animal-plant surveillance system. A portion of the directorate's increase also would support an acceleration of R&D on next-generation environmental monitoring systems. The Budget in Brief reports…

Venture capital (VC) investments in the U.S. continued to surge in the fourth quarter of 2003, two independent reports show. Among highlights, investment in life sciences companies outpaced other industry sectors. The sector's $4.89 billion total for the full year 2003 is the highest proportion directed to the life sciences in the last 12 years, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers/Thomson Venture Economics/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree™ Survey. As a convenience to Digest subscribers, SSTI has compiled a state-by-state listing of the MoneyTree™ Survey results for all of 2003. Data is presented for each state's number of deals, total amount invested and ranking, as reported in past editions of the Digest. The table is available at: <http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/021304t.htm> [Note: The table includes the latest data available for Q4 2003, but not for previous quarters. Only those states securing investment are listed. Because the data are continuously updated, Q4 2003 figures also differ from the data currently available at pwcmoneytree.com. Thanks to Joshua Radler of Thomas…

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced the top 10 U.S. universities receiving the most patents during calendar year 2003. The University of California tops the list for the tenth consecutive year. While the first seven places went to the same research institutions as 2002, with some rearrangement of order, the 8-10 places were improvements. Cornell rose 11 places from its 2002 finish to join the 2003 list tied for the 10th spot with the University of Florida. The top 10 and the number of patents were: 1. University of California (439) 2. California Institute of Technology (139) 3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (127) 4. University of Texas (96) 5. Stanford University (85) 6. University of Wisconsin (84) 7. Johns Hopkins University (70) 8. University of Michigan (63) 9. Columbia University (61) 10. Cornell University (59) 10. University of Florida (59) The USPTO reports the primary counts are preliminary and…

As the nation's economy shifts to knowledge- and technology-based industries, Mississippi's colleges and universities must provide expertise and leadership to attract new jobs and build a stable state economy, members of a special committee told the state House of Representatives last week. The state must quickly commit substantial resources to higher education to achieve the goal of making Mississippi competitive in the New Economy, the chairs of the McCoy Working Group said. The group – organized by state Reps. Billy McCoy, Steve Holland and Charles Young – was created by the Mississippi Legislature last spring to develop a 20-year strategy for investment in higher education. The group is co-chaired by University of Mississippi Chancellor Robert Khayat, Commissioner of Agriculture Lester Spell and Hinds Community College President Clyde Muse. To spur economic development, the group outlines 17 recommendations across three broad areas ­ individuals, ideas and infrastructure. Technology-based industries rely on a dependable, flexible infrastructure for support, the group argues. Moreover, the…

In SSTI's final look at the 2004 State of the State and Budget addresses, the importance of building tech-based economies continues to be emphasized by governors across the country. Below are excerpts from speeches given in Alabama, Maryland, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, State of the State Address, Feb. 3, 2004 "Recently President Bush announced his plan to send Americans back to the moon and then on to Mars. We must unite as a state to ensure that Alabama is the first stop on that journey. Tonight I am proud to announce the Alabama Space Exploration Initiative which will create a partnership between state government, Marshall Space Center, our colleges and research universities, and industry to strengthen our capabilities in support of our nation’s new space policy. By working together we will continue to expand the economic potential of the space industry in Alabama." Maryland Gov. Robert Erlich, State of the State Address, Jan. 29, 2004 [not available online] "...we must help our State achieve…

National Science Foundation (NSF) Director Rita Colwell has announced her retirement from the foundation, effective Feb. 21, 2004. Dr. Colwell took office at NSF in August of 1998. With five-and-a-half years as NSF's leader, Dr. Colwell is the third longest-serving director in the Foundation's 54-year history. Dr. Colwell will assume the position of Chairman of Canon U.S. Life Sciences, Inc., a newly created, Washington-based subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc. that serves to identify and develop life science solutions with potential applications in diagnostics and medical instrumentation. A microbiologist and internationally recognized expert on cholera and other infectious diseases, Dr. Colwell also will serve as Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, and on the faculty of The John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. At Johns Hopkins, she will help develop a new international center for the study of infectious diseases, water and health in conjunction with scientific colleagues from Sweden, Norway, Japan and Bangladesh. The White House has…

Ohio State University has appointed Vicki Butland to serve as interim president and chief executive officer for the Science and Technology Campus Corp. Eric Cromwell has been appointed to serve as Director of Technology for the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development. After 11 years as president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), Carl Feldman has announced he will resign at the end of the year. Robert Geolas, director of the Centennial Campus at North Carolina State, is resigning to become director of the new International Center for Automotive Research at the Clemson University. Victor Hwang has been promoted to the position of president at Larta. With Randall Olson's resignation, Pat Dillon has become the executive director for Minnesota Project Innovation. BioCrossroads, the Central Indiana life sciences network, announced Chuck Schalliol is the organization's new chief executive officer and president. William Tew has resigned as director of the Office of Licensing and Technology Development…

Ohio State University has appointed Vicki Butland to serve as interim president and chief executive officer for the Science and Technology Campus Corp.

Eric Cromwell has been appointed to serve as Director of Technology for the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development.