SSTI Digest

Brain drains and a lack of technically skilled workers, both scientists and engineers, are commonly heard complaints of state and local tech-based economic development practitioners across the country. But are federal and state innovation policies part of the problem? Paul M. Romer, of the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, says yes in Should the Government Subsidize Supply or Demand of in the Market for Scientists and Engineers?

Women made significant progress in the sciences over the last two decades, but gains have stalled — and in some cases eroded — in engineering and computer sciences, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Council for Research on Women (NCRW). The downturn comes despite effective new programs to increase women's participation in these fields. 

With federal support for the National Institues of Health increasing substantially each year -- to the point now that NIH supports more than 50 percent of the federal basic research budget -- and some states directing millions of dollars each year into health and biotechnology research, one might stop to ask: is it worth it? If an objective of states' supporting basic research is economic development, and only five to seven percent of federally funded basic research is conducted by private industry according to the National Science Foundation, then the transfer from universities and additional "spillover" of academic research into the local economy must be significant to warrant long-term investment. So is it? 

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge will deliver the keynote address at Creating Opportunity: Tools for Building Tech-Based Economies, SSTI’s Fifth Annual Conference, which will be held September 19-21, 2001 at the Omni William Penn in Pittsburgh. 



Gov. Ridge is recognized nationally as one of the leading governors in technology-based economic development. Under his leadership, the state has implemented a number of technology-based initiatives, including Pennsylvania New Economy Technology Scholarships; the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse; the Pennsylvania BioTech Strategy, which includes the creation of three Life Science Greenhouses; and, Lightning Manufacturing. 

Albany, New York 

The Times Union reports the second coming of the Center for Economic Growth Technology Council, which, after eight years on hiatus, held a kick-off event Wednesday to launch several ambitious goals: establish two business accelerators, develop a technology roadmap of the region’s R&D assets, offer business and technical consulting services, and expand the area’s venture capital networking activities. The paper reports one of the accelerators will be geared toward nanotechnology firms. More information is available at: http://www.ceg.org/

The National Science Foundation has released Federal Funds for Research and Development: Fiscal Years 1999, 2000, and 2001, Vol. 49, presenting 111 detailed statistical tables. 



Tables 56-79 characterize federal R&D and R&D plant obligations at universities & colleges by basic versus applied research, by agency and by field of science for 1999, 2000 and 2001. Tables 82-87 present the 1999 data by geographic distribution (by state). This data can be standardized by population for interpretation. 



To present a different, perhaps more meaningful, perspective on the distribution across states, SSTI has prepared a table which provides the 1999 federal R&D and R&D plant obligations as an average per employed doctoral scientist and engineer in the state. The untested hypothesis is that R&D obligations would be a function more of the availability of an appropriately skilled labor pool to conduct research, rather than the total population. 

George Atkinson is taking a year-long leave of absence from his position as a professor in chemistry and optical sciences at the University of Arizona to serve as the first American Institute of Physics science fellow at the U.S. State Department. 



Margie Emmermann has been named Director of the Arizona Department of Commerce. For the past seven years, Ms. Emmermann has been the state's policy adviser to Mexico and liaison to the Hispanic Community. 



The National Science Foundation has named Judith A. Ramaley as the Foundation's new Assistant Director for Education and Human Resources (EHR). A biologist, Dr. Ramaley served most recently as president of the University of Vermont. 



New Technology Week reports William Schneider, president of International Planning Services, has been picked to chair the Defense Science Board. 

George Atkinson is taking a year-long leave of absence from his position as a professor in chemistry and optical sciences at the University of Arizona to serve as the first American Institute of Physics science fellow at the U.S. State Department.&nbsp