SSTI Digest

Ken Berlack, formerly communications director for the National Commission on Entrepreneurship, has joined KCCatalyst, a regional organization dedicated to encouraging technological innovation and entrepreneurship in the Greater Kansas City area.

John Dixon, director of the University of Michigan's Life Sciences Institute, a cornerstone in the state's life sciences initiative, has resigned to join the School of Medicine at the University of California at San Diego.

Michael Douglas is the new associate vice chancellor for technology management at the University of Washington. Douglas comes to the position from a St. Louis biotech firm.

SSTI is excited to announce the addition of two new policy analysts to its staff. Rich Healy is an economic geographer formerly with the Columbus-based engineering and architecture firm Burgess & Niple. Heidi Findley served as press secretary to former Ohio Governor Richard Celeste for several years and, prior to that, as assistant deputy director for the Ohio Department of Development's Division of Technological Innovation.

The Greater Flagstaff Economic Council has announced Lewis Humphreys is its new vice president. Humphreys was with the Greater Tucson Economic Council.

Ruth Lange, with the USDA's SBIR Program Office and one of the most helpful federal employees for state and local SBIR outreach efforts, is taking a new position as Peer Review Director for USDA CREES.

Barbara Schilberg and Gary Kurtzman have been named co-managing directors of the Biotechnology Greenhouse Corp. in Philadelphia. The organization is one of three "greenhouses" established as part of Pennsylvania's $100 million biotech initiative.

Jacque Shaia, director of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, is leaving to pursue a doctorate degree at the University of Alabama.

Louis Soares, project manager for workforce development at the Rhode Island Technology Council (RITEC), is leaving to accept a fellowship at the JFK School of Government at Harvard University.

Gary Stark has resigned his position as executive director of the Indiana Information Technology Association Foundation to relocate to Connecticut. Stark raised $1 million during the past year to start an endowment for the foundation, which plans to award grants from the interest earned to combat the Digital Divide in the state.

Plans for a joint five-year $320-$403 million program to accelerate the development of next generation lithography were announced Thursday by International SEMATECH (ISMT) and The University at Albany-SUNY (UAlbany).

ISMT and UAlbany have signed a letter of intent to begin negotiations on the formation of a strategic alliance, to be known as International SEMATECH North (ISMTN), to conduct research and development in the area of advanced lithography infrastructure for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. As currently envisioned, the alliance will initiate a program in EUV infrastructure, to be managed by International SEMATECH and housed in UAlbany's state-of-the-art 300mm wafer cleanroom complex, part of the university's Albany NanoTech center.

This week's Senate Appropriations Committee markup of the FY 2003 appropriations for the Department of Commerce includes $185.4 million is for the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) and $106.6 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). While ATP has taken the heat in past budget cycles, MEP was in the spotlight this year: MEP was slated to receive only $12.9 million in the President's budget request for FY 2003.

Administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), MEP is a nationwide network of not-for-profit centers in over 400 locations nationwide, whose sole purpose is to provide small and medium-sized manufacturers with the technical assistance needed to succeed in a global economy. The program is jointly funded by state, industrial and federal sources.