SSTI Digest

The McKnight Foundation has committed $44.5 million over ten years to support scientific research in neuroscience/memory and brain disorders. The McKnight Endowment Fund will support three national fellowship programs: 1) Scholar Awards, which link basic researchers and clinical scientists or physicians who are in the early stages of their careers; awardees receive $75,000 per year for up to three years; 2) Memory and Brain Disorders Awards, which encourage novel applications of neuroscience research to clinical problems related to memory and brain disorders; and 3) Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Awards of up to $100,000 per year for two years to encourage multidisciplinary research and technical innovations. The Endowment Fund is also the sponsor of the annual McKnight Conference on Neuroscience in Aspen, Colorado, organized to share research developments and foster interaction among all the awardees.  More information is available at: http://www.mcknight.org/neuroscience/index.htm 

On Tuesday, WorldCom and Brown University announced grants for 20 programs in 19 states to link public schools or community organizations with local colleges or universities to develop educational technology projects for youth in underserved areas. The grants were awarded through Making a Civic Investment, a $5-million, five-year program funded by WorldCom and administered by Campus Compact, a national coalition of nearly 700 college and university presidents based at Brown.  The programs range widely from urban schools to Native American tribal communities, from online community newspapers to urban gardens to Web sites that gather neighborhood history. Many programs are intergenerational. Each program will receive annual funding for two years and will be eligible for continued funding for a total of five years. Leaders of the 20 programs qualify for annual professional development programs at Brown. WorldCom and its UUNET subsidiary will ensure that each project has high-speed Internet service for the term of the grant.  Although the size of individual projects varies, most grants…

Forbes magazine, in conjunction with the Milken Institute, released on Monday its second annual "Best Places for Business and Careers" - a ranking of the top 200 metropolitan areas in the United States. The Forbes-Milken Institute list looks at two critical factors to determine which metro areas are the most dynamic: jobs and earnings, and high-technology growth and output. All of the numbers were provided by the Institute's Regional and Demographic Studies group as part of its ongoing research into how high-tech impacts regional economies.  The top ten metro areas were:  1. Austin-San Marcos, Texas  2. Atlanta, Georgia  3. Santa Rosa, California  4. Boulder-Longmont, Colorado  5. Boise City, Idaho  6. San Diego, California  7. Orange County, California  8. San Antonio, Texas  9. West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Florida  10. Colorado Springs, Colorado  To view all 200…

Minnesota Technology, Inc. seeks candidates to fill the position of Technology Transfer Specialist. The incumbent will help bring Federal Technology Transfer activities to Minnesota companies by developing partnerships with federal labs, identifying opportunities for tech transfer activities in Minnesota companies, and assisting companies with the development of proposals, agreements and licenses.  An Executive Director is sought to manage the Ohio Environmental Technology Incubator located at Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio.  This Incubator is in the initial stages of development, and the Executive Director will be responsible for initiating, planning, organizing, and directing all activities of the Incubator under the supervision of an Advisory Board.  The Research and Development Statistics Program of the National Science Foundation's Division of Science Resources Studies (SRS) is recruiting for an Economist 110, Social Scientist 101, or Statistician 1530 at the GS-13/14 ($60,890-$93,537) or AD-III level ($60,890-95,923) under vacancy announcements 00-94 and…

A number of bills to strengthen Hawaii's science and technology standing were passed during the final days of the legislative session. The High Technology Development Corporation has been empowered to issue $100 million in special purpose revenue bonds for the development of high-technology facilities and office space under an act Governor Ben Cayetano signed during the last week of April. Effective immediately, the act allows bond monies to be used as incentive or inducement financing to attract technology companies to the state as the interest rates on the bonds are lower than current bank loan rates. A copy of the act is available at: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessioncurrent/bills/hb2443_hd2_.htm Last Tuesday, the last day of the regular session for the Hawaii legislature, several additional technology bills passed. According to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Governor Cayetano is expected to sign these bills as well.  Among the bills are: The New Economy Technology Scholarship Act (S.B. 2420 CD 1), a five-year pilot scholarship program for Hawaii students to pursue…

President Clinton announced the award of $44 million in grants to establish 214 more Community Technology Centers in economically distressed, high-poverty communities. The centers -- to be housed in libraries, schools, community centers, community colleges, public housing facilities, & other organizations -- will make computers & the Internet available to low-income residents in urban & rural communities. Business & community partners will provide matching funds. For more information, including a list of recipients by state, see: http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/04-2000/0418.html The work of the Community Technology Centers will soon be strengthened by the creation of a new America Connects Consortium. The Consortium shall bring together stakeholders whose services are critical to the success of projects funded under the Community Technology Centers. The effort will launch a focused, coordinated, and comprehensive national effort to promote, support, and sustain Community Technology Centers. The Consortium will consider the needs of the field in terms of technical assistance and…

The Department of Education Office of Educational Technology (OET) is reviewing and revising the national educational technology plan. The revision will be completed by Fall 2000 and will include new national goals for the effective use of technology in education. The public is invited to offer opinions and recommendations through the office's web site: http://www.ed.gov/Technology From May 8-19, the discussion topic is research & development and e-learning and education. Comments on other topics related to educational technology are invited any time through May 19. The website also offers white papers on the future of technology in K-12 education and other relevant information.

Several papers and report have been released recently on the Advanced Technology Program (ATP); five were published on line last week alone. Below are descriptions of selected papers and links to download full copies. Additional titles are available on the ATP web site: http://www.atp.nist.gov/atp/pubs.htm Capital Formation and Investment in Venture Markets: Implications for the Advanced Technology Program The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) of the National Institutes of Standards and Technology commissioned a report by Paul Gompers and Josh Lerner of the Harvard Business School to look at the special problems of entrepreneurial firms that are highly dependent on external sources of funding R&D. The authors focused on venture capital, an important source of equity financing for small technology firms. Utilizing two large-sample research studies, they identified strengths and weakness of venture capital as a financing mechanism. Gompers and Lerner found that while regulatory changes by the government affect the overall supply of venture capital, government’s real impact was more…

Technology-based businesses and investors in Alabama may be eligible for several new tax credits if legislation recently introduced passes the state legislature. The Incentives for Targeted Growth Act of 2000, Senate Bill 571, was introduced April 19 to encourage the growth and expansion of Alabama’s technology community. The bill was developed after the Alabama Commerce Commission, while developing a new economic development strategy for Alabama, found the state’s current capital investment tax credit program was not particularly attractive for research firms, start-ups, and technology-based businesses. If passed, S.B. 571 would: Create a jobs tax credit equal to $5,000 for each new employee hired. Credits can be used annually for up to 20 years. Minimum job creation figures and base wage requirements would apply. The program is similar to the state’s existing capital credit program but not tied to minimum capital investment requirements. The capital credit would not be available to new projects after December 31, 2002, and would provide that persons claiming the jobs tax credit…

The National Governors' Association has released the second paper in the New Economy Series. Growing New Businesses with Seed and Venture Capital: State Experiences and Options identifies four basic strategies states pursue to increase venture investing and makes eight observations regarding best practices among state seed and venture capital financing efforts. The paper also includes several benchmarks in program design, management practices, and program results to use in analyzing a public program’s effectiveness. Three appendices complete the paper. The first appendix presents PricewaterhouseCoopers capital investment statistics by state and industry sector and the second describes four case studies of successful capital access programs. The final appendix is a matrix of the types and ranges of capital access programs offered in each state. The paper was prepared by Robert Heard, president of the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds, and John Sibert, CEO of the Global Finance Group, LLC. For more information, see: http://www.nga.gov/center/

During the National SBIR Conference this past weekend, it was announced Jon Baron will be leaving his position as SBIR/STTR Program Manager for the Department of Defense on June 1. Washington Governor Gary Locke has named Fred Morris as his new advisor for science and technology. Mr. Morris has been working for Battelle Memorial Institute's Northwest Research Center where he has worked at the Science and Government Center Rosalie Ruegg has retired from her position as the Director of the Economic Assessment Office for the Advanced Technology Program in the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

During the National SBIR Conference this past weekend, it was announced Jon Baron will be leaving his position as SBIR/STTR Program Manager for the Department of Defense on June 1.