SSTI Digest

Dr. Phillips Bradford the Executive Director of the Colorado Advanced Technology Institute has resigned his position. Lenie Roos-Gabridge has been appointed Interim Chief Operating Officer. Bradford’s resignation is the latest in an unprecedented turnover of state technology-based economic development officials. In the last year alone, the leaders of 14 states’ technology efforts have left their positions.

NASA announced the selection of 125 Phase II awards, totaling approximately $73 million, for its FY 1997 SBIR Program. The agency funded 40 percent of the 312 Phase II proposals received from small businesses completing Phase I NASA research.

The Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC) has released the Kansas Innovation Index 1999. The major finding of the report is that "Kansas has a realistic opportunity to create a competitive advantage for economic growth and high wage industries by supporting its emerging innovation economy."

Connecticut Innovations, Inc. (CII) is seeking a manager for its Renewable Energy Investment Fund. Responsibilities of the position include providing strategic planning and program direction for the Renewable Energy Investment Fund program. The full position description can be found on the SSTI website at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm

The National Institutes of Health also released state award statistics for the FY 1998 Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR). The accompanying table presents the SBIR Phase I and Phase II results in rank order by total dollars awarded for each state in which awards were made: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/NIHfy98_SBIR.htm

State governments are reaping the benefits of the strong economy and sound fiscal leadership, according to the December, 1998 edition of Fiscal Survey of States. The semi-annual report, released last week by the National Governors’ Association (NGA) and the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), indicates states are maintaining healthy reserves to help manage economic uncertainties.

Most of the press coverage on the ascension of the new Speaker of the House, Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL), has focused on his skills at building bridges among Republicans and with Democrats. Rep. Hastert’s ties to science and technology communities have not been as widely reported.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released award statistics for the FY 1998 Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR).  No awards were made in FY 1998 to companies in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina or South Dakota. NIH reports awards by the location of the principal investigator’s company. Subsequently, there may be some universities or small businesses from these states that are involved in a FY 1998 NIH STTR project but are not reflected in the award statistics.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) have selected two of potentially six microelectronics research centers. The centers will focus on core chip technologies with long term technological payback.

The President’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has issued the fourth in a series of inquiries into the state of critical technologies in the United States. New Forces at Work: Industry Views Critical Technologies presents an analysis of information gained from interviews with business and industry leaders.

The 1998 annual report of the Indiana Business Modernization and Technology Corporation (BMT) addresses various changes encountered by the organization this year.

The 1998 recipients of the nation's highest science and technology honors, the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology, were announced last week.