SSTI Digest

The House Small Business Committee approved H.R. 1860 this week, legislation that amends and reauthorizes the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program. STTR funds cooperative research and development projects between small companies and research institutions such as universities or federally funded R&D laboratories. H.R. 1860, as amended, increases the percentage of R&D funds earmarked for this program from 0.15 percent to 0.3 percent beginning in 2004, thus doubling the support for small high-tech firms. The Senate version of the STTR reauthorization would increase the program set-aside to 0.3 percent beginning in 2004 and 0.5 percent for fiscal year 2007 and each fiscal year thereafter. An amendment offered by Representative Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), the ranking minority member of the committee, and approved by the full committee, reopens the design and intent of the Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST), a new program to support state efforts to assist companies in developing and commercializing technologies through federal programs such as STTR and the much larger Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. The Small Business…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has posted its selections for the FY 2001 Phase I solicitation of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. Using information obtained from Ruth Lange of the USDA SBIR Program Office and the USDA website, SSTI has prepared the accompanying table presenting the state-by-state distribution of proposals, awards and total funding provided for the Phase I cycle. Phase II information will be available in September, once awards are finalized. The FY 2002 solicitation for the USDA SBIR Phase I cycle is currently open. The deadline to submit proposals for consideration is August 30, 2001. SBIR Phase I grants are limited to $80,000 and a duration of six months. Proposals must address one of nine broad topic areas, which include Forests and Related Resources; Plant Production and Protection; Animal Production and Protection; Air, Water and Soils; Food Science and Nutrition; Rural and Community Development; Aquaculture; Industrial Applications; and Marketing and Trade.  The Rural and Community Development…

Birmingham, Alabama A $90 million building and as many as 2,000 more jobs are in the works for the University of Alabama at Birmingham, reported The Associated Press July 25. Construction costing up to $125 million would provide more than 1.4 million sq. ft., doubling the university’s research space. The new building is among the university’s plans for an additional three buildings that would add up to 500,000 sq. ft. and 2,000 jobs. The announcement of the building follows Gov. Don Siegelman’s $35 million recent pledge to build the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Institute — an 11-story building and $90 million project expected to create 1,400 jobs. School officials anticipate the project also will create $100 million in new research dollars annually. Franklin, Virginia Local officials in Franklin have announced plans including $2.3 million in renovation costs to develop a business incubator center, according to a July 19 article in the Virginian Pilot. State and federal grants will help fund the renovation of nearly 40,000 sq. ft. on four floors…

The DOEd Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research invites applications for Fiscal Year (FY) 2002 awards under the following programs. More information is available under the July 31 announcements of the Federal Register: http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/ Research Fellowships Program Approximately 10 awards, up to $45,000 each, are available to build research capacity by providing support to perform research on the rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities. Eligibility requirements for each of two fellowships, Merit Fellowships and Distinguished Fellowships, include: (a) Only individuals are eligible to receive fellowships. (b) Any individual who has training and experience that indicate a potential for engaging in scientific research related to the solution of rehabilitation problems of individuals with disabilities is eligible. The deadline for applications is October 9, 2001. Field-Initiated Projects The purpose of this program is to (a)…

One of the few new spending bills to make it through the 2001 session of the Minnesota Legislature provides $10 million in seed money for technology commercialization through a new Biomedical Innovation and Commercialization Initiative (BICI – pronounced beach-ee). The BICI appropriation is contingent upon state economic development officials securing a three-to-one private sector match. BICI is a collaborative economic development initiative involving the State of Minnesota, the University of Minnesota and the state’s medical research institutions, companies and investors. It establishes a commercial enterprise – independent of both the university and state government – to bridge the gap between academic basic research and the commercialization of new technologies. The explicit mission of BICI is to identify and invest in biomedical ventures that have long-term commercial development potential. It targets biomedical research at the University of Minnesota’s Academic Health Center, the area of academic basic research that has the most immediate commercial…

Ohio Governor Bob Taft last week signed legislation creating the Ohio Aerospace and Defense Council to examine state and federal laws, rules, and policies that affect the two industries and associated federal installations in Ohio. Ohio is home to Wright Patterson Air Force Base, the state’s largest single-site employer, and the NASA Glen Research Center in Cleveland. Six objectives are to be addressed by the council: to increase federal funding for research and development conducted at federal installations in the state; to increase, where appropriate, the operational presence of defense and aerospace activities within the state; to create and improve economic opportunities for aerospace and defense companies and their workers; to advise the Governor, the General Assembly and other key state officers of the policies and activities needed to achieve the council’s goals; to encourage collaboration between Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the NASA Glenn Research Center on projects of major strategic importance to the Department of Defense and NASA;…

The Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania has issued a Request for Proposals to develop an asset-mapping study of the nanotechnology sector in the four-state Philadelphia Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area. A key objective of the engagement is to facilitate comparison of the region’s Nanotechnology sector with other regions and benchmark performance in this sector to enable longitudinal comparisons in the future. Another primary objective is to provide data and analysis critical to informing policy decisions for the Nanotechnology Institute. The study would secondarily provide information that could be used to promote Greater Philadelphia’s role as an early leader in Nanotechnology. Proposals are due August 15, 2001. More information is available from Robert E. Gittler, Coordinator, Regional Initiatives, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania at robert@sep.benfranklin.org The RFP can be downloaded at http://www.sep.benfranklin.org/rfp.pdf

The Rhode Island Technology Council (RITEC) is launching a benchmarking survey this week of the state’s information technology (IT) industry to determine how the council and state economic development organizations can be most effective at addressing the sector’s needs in light of the continued restructuring of the national IT industry. The survey includes two components: a company survey to collect demographic and compositional information on the industry; and an IT professional survey for skill and training assessment. Conducted in partnership with the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation and the Economic Policy Council, the survey results will be compiled and released in September. For more information, visit http://www.ritec.org

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? Conclusions drawn from several studies indicate problems on the supply side are likely to continue for some time. A June survey from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) reveals the number of bachelor degrees awarded in engineering peaked at more than 77,000 in the mid-80s. During the past decade, while the demand for technical positions soared, the number of all engineering degrees awarded dropped to 63,000. Things are not bad, however, in all engineering fields; the number of biomedical and chemical engineering degrees granted doubled during the same time period. Romer feels that U.S.…

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.  Balancing the Equation: Where Are Women and Girls in Science, Engineering and Technology? notes several reasons to advance women in the sciences, including the economic imperative to increase the technological and scientific literacy of America's workforce. At a time when U.S. industry cannot fill openings for technically advanced jobs, the talents of women are underutilized, reports NCRW. Equally important, the report says, are the perspectives women bring to the sciences, often leading to different decisions on allocating research dollars, targeting drug-testing protocols, and developing technology to benefit communities.  The report analyzes strategies to attract women and girls to science and retain them…

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?  An increasing library of econometric studies have been prepared looking at the influence of academic spillovers on issues such as corporate patenting and productivity (several have been discussed in the SSTI Weekly Digest: see 6/01/01, 11/17/00 and 8/25/00). A recent discussion paper released by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, using the…

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.  With more than 20 sessions and four concurrent sessions running throughout the conference, this year’s conference will be the largest that SSTI has ever held. Topics to be covered include: organizing angel investor networks; slowing the brain drain; extending economic benefits of the New Economy to all regions; developing and implementing a tech-based economic development strategy;…