SSTI Digest

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has posted a preliminary list of the 10 U.S. universities receiving the most patents for inventions during calendar year 2002. The University of California tops the list for the ninth consecutive year. The table below also presents the school's 2001 ranking and total.  Preliminary Rank in 2002* Preliminary #  Patents in 2002* Organization 2001  Rank  2001 # of  Patents 1 431 University of California** 1 402 2 135 Massachusetts Institute of Technology…

Wrapping up its 2003 session earlier this month, the West Virginia State Legislature passed three bills designed to help build a technology-based economy. Senate Bill 646 calls for the creation of university-affiliated centers for economic development and technology advancement to support industry/academic R&D partnerships and technology commercialization. One nonprofit center is to be established in association with each of the state's doctoral institutions. Center activities may include: evaluation of technology; verification and assessment of market applications; grant administration and human resource management for any entity associated with the doctoral institution if the entity is engaged in business-industry collaborations; and, technology advancement, commercialization activities and research into new areas of economic development. The centers have the right to receive, lease and sell real, personal and intellectual property. Senate Bill 651 creates the West Virginia Academy of Science and Technology to support R&D, assist in the transfer of…

Earlier this week, Colorado Chief Technology Officer John Hansen released a statewide plan to develop biotechnology and life sciences industry sectors in Colorado. Colorado's Place in the Sun: A Bioscience Future provides analysis, direction and recommended actions for three key sector areas — workforce development, business development, and research development. After outlining the state's current strengths in biotech and life sciences, the plan identifies several key factors for success: "engaged research organizations with active leadership across research, technology commercialization, and industry partnerships "intensive networking across sectors and with industry "available indigenous capital covering all stages of the business cycle "discretionary federal or other R&D funding support "workforce and talent pool on which to build and sustain efforts "access to specialized facilities and equipment "stable and supportive business, tax, and regulatory policies "patience and a long-term perspective." Some of the plan's primary recommendations include…

Conventional wisdom in the technology-based economic development community is that increased access to risk capital is critical for building competitive economies. Establishing a causal relationship between early-stage capital and employment growth external to the companies receiving the funds has been difficult, however. A new working paper from the University of Vienna presents a model linking venture capital investment and job growth on the national level. Does Venture Capital Investment Spur Employment Growth?, written by Ansgar Belke, Rainer Fehn and Neil Foster, finds "a one unit increase in venture capital will increase employment growth by 1.8 percentage points." Looking at data on a sample of 20 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) over the period of 1986-1999, the authors conclude an increase of one standard deviation in early-stage capital alone is associated with a positive change in employment ranging between 1.1 and 1.4 percent. Five policy recommendations – some of which may have value for U.S. states – suggest ways…

Conventional wisdom in the technology-based economic development community is that increased access to risk capital is critical for building competitive economies. Establishing a causal relationship between early-stage capital and employment growth external to the companies receiving the funds has been difficult, however. A new working paper from the University of Vienna presents a model linking venture capital investment and job growth on the national level. Does Venture Capital Investment Spur Employment Growth?, written by Ansgar Belke, Rainer Fehn and Neil Foster, finds "a one unit increase in venture capital will increase employment growth by 1.8 percentage points." Looking at data on a sample of 20 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) over the period of 1986-1999, the authors conclude an increase of one standard deviation in early-stage capital alone is associated with a positive change in employment ranging between 1.1 and 1.4 percent. Five policy recommendations – some of which may have value for U.S. states – suggest ways…

The Southern Growth Policies Board has released a toolkit to help communities understand the knowledge economy and how new economic forces affect quality of life and economic development. Seeing the Future: The Knowledge Economy seeks to inform people about the knowledge, skills and resources needed to compete in today’s economy. Seeing the Future is designed to stimulate discussion among community groups of any size or background — from economic development councils to public officials and city planners to civic and service clubs — by providing information on how technology and innovation, globalization, the workforce and community affect economic development. The toolkit contains a moderator’s script; a video that introduces the basic principles of the knowledge economy; interactive exercises to stimulate critical thinking and community planning; comprehensive resource materials such as briefing books on globalization, technology and innovation, the workforce and community; ideas for taking action; real-world success stories; and sources for further research. Produced with financial…

Last week, the National Science Foundation (NSF) released the latest edition of Characteristics of Doctoral Scientists and Engineers in the United States, which reports characteristics for 2001. Valuable data is presented in the report on the demographic and employment characteristics of doctoral scientists and engineers in the U.S. NSF has performed this survey every two years since 1973. Current and past reports can be found online at http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/cdse/start.htm SSTI has prepared a table comparing the percent change from 1999 to 2001 by employer location and broad occupation for doctoral scientists and engineers in the U.S. Each state’s percentage increase or decrease in employment in various occupational categories is calculated. The states are ranked from highest to lowest in percentage increase or decrease for overall employed doctoral scientists and engineers. This data presents a unique geographic view of the distribution of U.S. doctoral scientists and engineers. The SSTI employment table is available at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/032103t.htm A…

Tucson gains Community Investment Business Center, New Tech Park building The Tucson Citizen reports the second incarnation of the Tucson Technology Incubator, which closed in January, has opened as the Community Investment Business Center. The new center, under the auspices of the Community Investment Corp. and funded partially by the Pima County Industrial Development  Authority, offers business assistance with the aid of five University of Arizona interns and limited office space for client companies, according to the article. Tucson-area tech companies in need of more space can take advantage of the new 72,000-square-foot building opened at the University of Arizona Science & Technology Park in February. The park, named as the Association of University Research Park's Outstanding Research Park of 2001, is already home to 30 companies and organizations with more than 6,000 employees working in technology fields including optics, life sciences, aerospace and advanced materials. Florida's Orange County Commission commits $2.2 million for TBED initiatives …

The National Institute of Standards and Technology of the U.S. Department of Commerce has announced it is accepting proposals from organizations in Florida, Hawaii and South Dakota to establish Manufacturing Technology Centers under the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program. Approximately $4 million will be available to support these centers. Currently, the MEP national system consists of over 400 centers and field offices located throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The objective of these centers is to enhance productivity, technological performance, and strengthen the global competitiveness of small- and medium-sized U.S.-based manufacturing firms. Services are provided through the coordinated efforts of a regionally-based manufacturing extension center and local technology resources. The funding level for individual MEP awards is not prescribed in the program solicitation. However, applicants will be required to provide roughly two-thirds or more of the operating costs for providing manufacturing extension services. Projects awarded under the program will have a budget and…

Lloyd Chestnut, vice president of research at the University of Montana is leaving to take the position as vice president for research and technology transfer at the University of North Texas. Christopher C. Foster is the new state technology coordinator at the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development. Chris Matthews is the president of the new Chattanooga Technology Council, which held its official kickoff event earlier this month. Katherine O'Dea has been named executive director of the Rhode Island Technology Council. Dr. Leonard Peters is the new director of the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Tom Walker has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Oklahoma Technology Commercialization Center. Congratulations to Steve Zylstra, his staff and the 1,500-plus members of the Pittsburgh Technology Council as they celebrate the organization's 20th anniversary.

Lloyd Chestnut, vice president of research at the University of Montana is leaving to take the position as vice president for research and technology transfer at the University of North Texas.

Christopher C. Foster is the new state technology coordinator at the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.