SSTI Digest

Twenty researchers supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) received the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers award late last month. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers who are in the early stages of building their independent research careers. To receive the award, nominees must be NSF CAREER (Faculty Early Career Development) awards recipients. The CAREER award supports exceptionally promising college and university junior faculty who are committed to the integration of research and education. This year’s 20 recipients bring the total to 120 that have received the honor since it was established in 1996.



The recipients are:

The commercialization of academic research in 1999 resulted in more than $40 billion in economic activity that supported more than 270,000 jobs, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM). The 1999 AUTM Licensing Survey reports that business activity associated with sales of products from academic research last year is estimated to have generated $5 billion in tax revenues in the U.S. at the federal, state, and local levels.

Venture-based investments in the third quarter of 2000 reached $17.6 billion, a decrease of 12.5 percent drop from the record $19.8 billion reported in the second quarter of 2000, according to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers MoneyTreeTM Survey results. Investments, however, are still nearly double the $8.9 billion reported in the third quarter of 1999. The MoneytreeTM figures correspond with declines reported by other quarterly venture capital surveys compiled by the Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association.

The SSTI Weekly Digest has a new sponsor, making the publication free to any and all parties interested in tech-based economic development. The Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, selected SSTI as one of three awardees in a competitive solicitation for national information dissemination projects. SSTI proposed dramatically expanding the content and distribution of the Digest and establishing a web-based resource center.

Downtown office vacancy rates are at all-time lows, leasing rates are rising, and your city is increasingly a hub for business activity. Even the old, historic structures have been rehabbed and are at capacity. Sounds like dreams for most urban economic developers, right? For a growing number of communities, however, meeting these goals is leading to “New Economy ghost towns” devoid of the foot traffic, night life, and other human activity necessary for a thriving community. Retail, service and even private parking garages are complaining that the New Economy is killing their businesses.

The recipients of the 2000 National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology, the nation's highest science and technology honors, were announced this week. The National Medal of Science, established by Congress in 1959 and administered by the National Science Foundation, honors individuals for contributions to the present state of knowledge across a variety of science frontiers. Ten of the twelve researchers received NSF support for portions of their academic careers or research and two of the medalists are Nobel Prize winners. The recipients of the 2000 National Medal of Science are:

During the past few weeks, the Department of the Navy, National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Commerce have announced the availability of 22 inventions for license. Descriptions and contact information for each invention/patent are presented on the accompanying SSTI webpage

While the Presidential election remains up in the air, the eleven state gubernatorial and 5,918 state legislative races produced more definitive results. Here is a brief summary.



Governors

Overall, Democratic candidates won eight governorships, a net gain of one. Republicans took three. Incumbents held their positions in Indiana (Frank O’Bannon - D), New Hampshire (Jeanne Shaheen - D), Utah (Michael Leavitt -R), Vermont (Howard Dean - D), and Washington (Gary Locke - D).

Several ballot initiatives that affect technology-based economic development were approved by voters around the country on Tuesday, including:

The National Science Foundation has released the final version of State Science and Engineering Profiles and R&D Patterns: 1997-98 (Early Release Tables were made available in May). The special report includes several statistical tables of value to states developing Innovation Indices, S&T Report Cards, or other comparative studies.

The majority of an anonymous gift of $26.5 million to the University of Southern California (USC) will be used to increase the representation of women in the hard sciences and engineering faculty and encourage middle school girls to choose a science pathway in education. Money also will be used to create new faculty positions in the sciences, upgrade laboratories, increase scholarship aid for undergraduates, create new fellowships for graduates and fund child care.

Dr. Angeline Dvorak has been named as the first full-time president of Mississippi Technology, Inc. She will also serve as chief executive office of the Institute for Technology Development.