SSTI Digest

Legislation to be reconciled by a conference committee of the Minnesota State Legislature next week includes language creating a $15 million fund to support industry-university research collaborations. The North Star Research Coalition, a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation, would be established by the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota to administer the one-time appropriation.  The Education Omnibus Bill, SF 3801, defines the duties ofthe Coalition to include:  identifying technology-based research projects that have the potential to create significant opportunities for economic development and industrial growth in the state;  strengthening the university's research capabilities in subject areas associated with emerging technology-based industries;  expanding the research capacity of the university through the creation of opportunities for the university to assist private enterprises in emerging technology-based industries;  promoting the transfer of technology from the research laboratory to commercial application by…

“[I]f this nation is to succeed in the new century, the covenant between our insitutions and the public they serve must be renewed and again made binding.” So begins Renewing the Covenant: Learning, Discovery, and Engagement in a New Age and Different World, the sixth and final report of the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities. Released last week, the 30-page report outlines several significant challenges facing higher education in the New Economy:  increasing diversity in the student population  growing financial inequality in society affecting access to higher education  blurring of lines distinguishing disciplines of study  blending of secondary and undergraduate education, and  “privatizing” public instutions of higher education, particularly in the area of research, reduces education to another commodity.  In what may be viewed as an indictment of the efforts of many state and federal science and technology programs, the report states “Research, if thought of at all, is prized far more for its…

The South Atlantic region leads the nation in doctoral scientist and engineer employment rates, according to Characteristics of Doctoral Scientists and Engineers in the United States: 1997 (NSF 00-308), prepared by the National Science Foundation (NSF). NSF completed an in-depth demographic and employment study of doctoral scientists and engineers taken from the 1997 Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR). It includes a ranking of doctoral scientists’ and engineers’ employment and salary levels by region and by state.  Of the 10 regions, the study found the South Atlantic region (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, and WV) employs 18.4 percent of the nation’s 518,440 doctoral scientists and engineers. Following closely behind is the Pacific region (AK, CA, HI, OR, and WA), with employment rates of 18.1 percent. The East South Central region (AL, KY, MS, and TN) employs the fewest, accounting for just 4.3 percent of the total.  Tables 24 and 58 of the report provide state-by-state breakouts of employment and salaries by broad field. These statistics can be useful measures of the progress and…

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has several solicitations open currently. Four opportunities of particular interest to the S&T community are highlighted below. These and additional funding opportunities from NSF can be found on a web page that conveniently lists the solicitations by deadline: http://www.nsf.gov/home/deadline/deadline.htm  New Technologies for the Environment (NSF 00-49)  The Directorate for Engineering is soliciting proposals from U.S. academic institutions and nonproft research institutions to support individual investigators or small groups toward high risk/high return exploratory research feasibility studies on new technologies applied to environmental sensing, remediation, and environmentally benign manufacturing. Approximately 20 awards will be made from the pool of $3.0 million available in FY 2000. Successful Phase I projects may compete in FY 2001 for Phase II funding of up to $500,000 per project. The deadline for proposals under the current solicitation is May 15, 2000.  Biophotonics Partnership Initiative (NSF 00-54)…

The Washington Technology Center has released its first annual Index of Innovation and Technology. The report examines 34 performance indicators in six broad areas: Innovation, Competitiveness, Growth, Financial Capacity, Human Potential, Quality of Life, and Internet Infrastructure. For each indicator, Washington is compared to several other states or to national averages.  Six summary findings or recommendations are made in major areas that government, education, and industry must focus upon to ensure the state's continued economic success. They include:  continuation of support for Washington's young and growing companies to ensure that the state's economy continues to grow  expansion of the technology workforce and more equal distribution of technology workers throughout the state  increased capital investment to meet companies' needs  increased total capital investment to maintain Washington's impact on the national technology economy  expansion of technology programs in the state's higher education system to supply an adequate number of…

Reliably measuring performance in federal programs, particularly programs involving state-federal partnership is difficult, according to the U. S. General Accounting Office (GAO). Managing for Results: Challenges Agencies Face in Producing Credible Performance Information (GAO/GGD-00-52) and the two supporting written testimonies, Challenges in Producing Credible Performance Information (T-GGD/RCED-00-134) and Using GPRA to Help Congressional Decision making and Strengthen Oversight (T-GGD-00-95), identify several of the same issues state technology-based economic development programs have encountered for years as they attempt to define their own success for state legislatures and constituencies.  On March 31, federal agencies will submit their first annual progress reports as required by the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). GPRA is intended to shift the focus of federal management and decision making from the number of tasks completed or services provided to a more direct consideration of the results or impacts of the programs. GPRA required agencies to create strategic plans with multi-year goals and annual performance…

article prepared by Kay Etzler, SBIR Specialist for the North Carolina Small Business Technology Development Center The North Carolina Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC) is hosting its second National Institute for Technology Development and Commercialization on May 3-6 at Wake Forest University. The institute is a national project of the Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC) held in cooperation with the Society of Research Administrators (SRA). The four-day program is specifically designed to build the capacity of SBDCs in technology development and commercialization. Targeted participants include SBDC state and regional directors, staff with technology responsibility, and SBDC host representatives (typically high-level university administrators or state economic development agency officials).  The institute provides training and support for SBDCs interested in establishing technology specialty programs to serve the small and growing business community and foster technology-based economic development. Participants learn about the university technology transfer process,…

Arizona  The Ways & Means Committee of the Arizona House of Representatives has passed a bill to eliminate $250 million in sales tax exemptions for a number of products and services, including telecommunications equipment and solar devices. If the bill passes, proceeds would be used to raise teachers' salaries.  Also in Arizona, the Arizona Telecommunications and Information Council, a subpart of the Governor's Strategic Partnership for Economic Development (GSPED) issued The Multitenant Building Telecommunications Assessment Study, which makes recommendations to the Arizona government to deal with telecommunications issues in multitenant buildings. Actions suggested include: regulations to prohibit exclusive multitenant facility access agreements by building managers and owners with single or selected telecommunication providers; regulations to better define the Point-of-Demarcation (POD) and ownership of internal wiring to help avoid disputes and litigation among stakeholders; and act to incorporate wireless telecommunications providers into the Arizona Universal Service Fund (USF) program to encourage wireless…

President Clinton has nominated Arthur C. Campbell as Assistant Secretary for Economic Development at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Mr. Campbell, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, currently serves as the Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development at the United States Department of Agriculture.  Lura Powell, former Director of the Advanced Technology Program within the Department of Commerce, has accepted the position as Director of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington.  Steven Zylstra, chair of the Technology Transfer Committee of the Arizona Governor's Strategic Partnership for Economic Development, has accepted the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of the Pittsburgh Technology Council and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center. 

President Clinton has nominated Arthur C. Campbell as Assistant Secretary for Economic Development at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Mr. Campbell, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, currently serves as the Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development at the United States Department of Agriculture. 

Lura Powell, former Director of the Advanced Technology Program within the Department of Commerce, has accepted the position as Director of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington. 

Steven Zylstra, chair of the Technology Transfer Committee of the Arizona Governor's Strategic Partnership for Economic Development, has accepted the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of the Pittsburgh Technology Council and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center.