SSTI Digest

The Chicago based Committee of 200, an organization of leading women in business, has named Diane Graham as its new chair.

The University of Minnesota Duluth Center for Economic Development has named Elaine Hansen as its new permanent director.

The winners of the Siemens Westinghouse/AAAS Competition for the Best Teen Scientists and Mathematicians of the Year were announced this week: 17-year-old Yin Li of New York City was the individual grand prize winner for his project "Characterizing the Prion Properties of a Translational Regulator Expressed in Mouse Brain." Brothers Mark and Jeffrey Scheider, 18 and 16, respectively, of South Windsor, Conn., won the grand prize in the team category for the "Simulation of the West Nile Virus using STELLA 7.02." Each award comes with a $100,000 prize. More information, including a list of all national winners, is available at: http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2003/1208siemensIntro.shtml

Ken Olsen will become the new executive director of the Palouse Economic Development Council in Washington State.

Tom Wallace has stepped down as president of the Tampa Bay Technology Forum.

Two months into the fiscal year and several federal offices of importance to the state and local tech-based economic development community are finally learning how much money they will have available in fiscal year 2004 — once the consolidated appropriations bill is signed by the President in January.

Economic Development Administration (down $2 million from 2003)

Legislation that would authorize $3.7 billion over the next four years for the National Nanotechnology Initiative awaits the President's signature, having cleared Congress before the Thanksgiving Holiday recess. The 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act (S. 189) was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 20, following passage in the Senate two days earlier.

S. 189 provides for the creation of a National Nanotechnology Coordinating Office, research centers, education and training efforts, and research into the societal and ethical consequences of nanotech. It also supports efforts to spur technology transfer and includes a series of coordination offices, advisory committees and regular program reviews.

The University of Southern California (USC) will serve as the first Homeland Security Center of Excellence, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced last week. DHS anticipates providing USC with $12 million over the course of the next three years for studying risk analysis related to the economic consequences of terrorist threats and events.

The first HS-Center is designed to address both the targets and means of terrorism, with emphasis on protecting critical infrastructure systems such as electrical power, transportation and telecommunications. As part of the agreement, USC will offer its expertise in natural disasters, system safety and nuclear threats. Two centers within USC's School of Engineering, the Integrated Media Systems Center and the Information Sciences Institute, also will contribute research in advanced computer modeling and cybersecurity.

The risks of identity theft, e-mail viruses, denial-of-service attacks, system glitches and other online hazards can make the average person's reliance on computer systems more of a leap of faith than a bond of trust. To promote research into more dependable, accountable and secure computer and network systems, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has issued a solicitation for the Cyber Trust program, which expects to fund up to $30 million in awards.

The Cyber Trust program will support up to three research center-level efforts as well as single-investigator and team awards, subject to NSF's merit-review process and the availability of funds. NSF expects that Cyber Trust research centers will involve collaborations among academic, industry and other partners.

Pennsylvania's Tobacco Settlement Investment Board (TSIB) recently approved a commitment of up to $20 million to Birchmere Ventures III LP to invest in life sciences companies based in Pennsylvania. Birchmere Ventures III, a new fund jointly formed by Pittsburgh-based Birchmere Ventures and San Francisco-based Bay City Capital, will raise up to $150 million.

The commitment to Birchmere Ventures/Bay City Capital will leverage the Tobacco Settlement money three-to-one by raising $30 million from other sources to match an initial $10 million made available by the TSIB. The TSIB stipulated that the total $40 million must close by March 31, 2004.

Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) announced on Monday a new investment initiative to help close the capital gap for the state's early-stage technology businesses. CIT, a state-chartered nonprofit corporation, will launch the Growth Acceleration Program (GAP) on Dec. 15, 2003, to address the funding void created by a recent shortfall of angel capital.

CIT's GAP will invest up to $100,000 in early-stage technology companies that successfully complete a seven-step investment process. All GAP investments will take the form of convertible notes with outstanding principal and interest converting to a CIT equity position in the firm at the time of a qualifying financing event. CIT may attach warrants to GAP investments as a function of loan term, interest rate and payment schedule.

To expand on the state's Centers of Innovation strategy, Gov. Sonny Perdue announced in November the creation of the Middle Georgia Aerospace Innovation Center (MAIC). The center is comprised of numerous partners, including the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade & Tourism's Office of Science and Technology, the University System of Georgia, private institutions and companies, and the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (ALC).

Researchers from Georgia Tech, Mercer University and Macon State College will work directly with the ALC and industry partners to develop new technologies to transform lifecycle support for aircraft. All technologies developed in MAIC will be evaluated and potentially implemented by its partner organizations. These technologies eventually will be commercialized and licensed by the state Board of Regents to corporate partners including Boeing and Lockheed-Martin.