SSTI Digest

A panel of external evaluators has concluded that the National Science Foundation's State/Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (S/I/UCRC) Program supports NSF's strategic goals. The panel also found that "the development of cooperative research centers involving states, industries and NSF can be an important contributing element to maintaining and developing a competitive US industry."

U.S. Representative Robert Walker (R-PA), the retiring chairman of the House Science Committee, was recently awarded NASA's Distinguished Service Medal. The Medal was established in 1959 and is awarded to any person in the federal service who, by distinguished service, ability, or courage, has personally made a contribution representing substantial progress to the NASA mission in the interests of the United States. The contribution must be so extraordinary that other forms of recognition by NASA would be inadequate.

The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) has released a report examining the role of the federal government in economic development activities and proposing a new approach to meet economic development needs. NAPA urges the federal government to help states and localities learn through better information, leverage all available resources, and link multiple federal initiatives to assist local communities.

According to a new report released by the Council on Competitiveness, Competitive Index 1996: A Ten-Year Strategic Assessment, the U.S. has sharply boosted its economic competitiveness over the past decade. The Council attributed the gains to a variety of factors including corporate restructuring, reduction in the budget deficit, a weaker dollar and broadened international markets.

The Oklahoma Alliance for Manufacturing Excellence, Inc. will receive $1.5 million from the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). The Alliance, a program of the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, is an MEP affiliate that received its initial federal funding through the Technology Reinvestment Project.

The Alliance for Manufacturing Excellence (AME), a non-profit start-up organization, seeks an Executive Director to build and operate a successful manufacturing services organization. The Executive Director will guide AME in its mission of assisting smaller manufacturers to adopt more advanced manufacturing technologies and management techniques.

The Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) has issued a Program Guide to Federally Funded Environment and Natural Resources R&D. The guide describes the types of environment and natural resources R&D currently supported by federal agencies, potential opportunities for funding, the mechanisms used to award funding, and points of contact.

Applications and nominations are invited for the position of Executive Director of the Vermont Technology Council. The Council is a voluntary association of community leaders from the public and private sectors who are concerned with the economic vitality of Vermont and believe that the state's prosperity depends on the successful commercialization within the state of scientific and technological advances and innovations. The Council promotes cooperation between the R&D resources of Vermont's colleges and universities and its industrial and commercial sectors. The end objectives are new, free-standing commercial businesses evolving from this cooperation.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has developed the Angel Capital Electronic Network (ACE-Net) to link small companies and investors through the Internet. Entrepreneurs will be able to put their prospectus on a secure database that can be searched by approved individual or "angel" investors. The goal of the network is to improve access to equity capital for small companies that need capital in the $250,000 to $5 million range.

All incumbent governors that ran for re-election on Tuesday were re-elected. Only four gubernatorial races were for open seats (Indiana, New Hampshire, Washington, and West Virginia) and those elections resulted in no net gains for either the Democrats or Republicans. In New Hampshire, a Democrat was elected governor succeeding Republican Steve Merrill, while in West Virginia, a Republican will replace Democrat Gaston Caperton.

Governors elected on Tuesday:

As with other races this year, there was little overall change in the control of state legislatures, although the Democrats did make some progress, based on figures compiled by the National Council of State Legislatures.

Prior to the election:

Advanced Technology Program (ATP) officials announced that they have received 309 proposals in the 1996 ATP general competition, which closed in mid-September. Preliminary analysis of the proposals shows strong concentrations in a wide variety of technology areas, including biotechnology, electronics, chemical processing, computer hardware and software, energy and manufacturing.