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SSTI Digest
EPSCoT SELECTIONS ANNOUNCED
The Technology Administration of the Department of Commerce has announced the selection of seven awards under the first round of funding for the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Technology (EPSCoT). Matching grants, totaling $1.6 million, will be made to the following seven lead organizations and their partners:
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Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs: $300,000 for developing and implementing technology-based economic development in Alabama, including analysis of the state’s industrial base and private sector technology investments.
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Boise State University: $72,820 for the creation of the Idaho Technology Business Development Network to link and cross-train several economic development and technology service organizations.
SHAVERS NOMINATED FOR COMMERCE UNDER SECRETARY FOR TECHNOLOGY
Last Friday, President Clinton announced his intent to nominate Dr. Cheryl L. Shavers as Under Secretary for Technology at the Department of Commerce. Dr. Shavers is currently a senior manager at Intel Corporation and has more than 20 years of experience within the technology industry, holding various engineering and managerial positions at several Fortune 500 companies such as Motorola, Varian Associates, and Hewlett-Packard. She has a B.S. degree in Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Solid State Chemistry from Arizona State University.
The Under Secretary for Technology serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary of Commerce and as the Department's spokesperson for science and technology matters. The Under Secretary develops and promotes federal technology programs to increase U.S. commercial and industrial innovation, productivity and growth, and to improve the competitiveness of U.S. firms in the global economy.
ASTF SEEKS GROUP PROJECTS ADMINISTRATOR
The Alaska Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF) seeks a Group Projects Administrator to work with industry on R&D projects to benefit the Alaska economy and to track project results. The position requires training and experience in project management with sufficient technical and/or business background to work productively with scientists or engineers to identify economically feasible projects. The position description can be found on the SSTI website at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm
PEOPLE
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.
Other recent departures include those of: Dr. Diana Weigmann, director of the Nevada Governor’s Office of Science, Education and Technology; and, Dr. Carolyn Sales, the long-time president of the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST). Dr. Sales was also a member of the SSTI Board of Trustees; her place on the SSTI Board has been filled by Del Schuh, president of the Indiana Business Modernization and Technology Corp.
NASA SELECTS SBIR PHASE II WINNERS
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.
Each NASA SBIR Phase II award may receive up to $600,000 to cover research costs over a two-year performance period. Contracts for the awards will be negotiated with 113 companies located in 26 states. The accompanying table provides the distribution of awards and firms by state: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/NASAfy97_SBIR.htm
More detailed information on the selections may be found on the NASA SBIR website at http://sbir.nasa.gov
KANSAS INNOVATION INDEX ASSESSES STATE’S COMPETITIVENESS
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."
The report examines 33 performance indicators in four broad categories: Economic Structure, Innovation, Competitiveness, and Human Resources and Infrastructure. For each indicator, Kansas is compared to neighboring states and U.S. averages.
The KTEC report is the latest in a series of states’ reports on innovation indices. Massachusetts and Illinois have previously published reports, and Maryland is expected to release one soon.
Copies of the Kansas Innovation Index are available by contacting KTEC at 785/296-5272.
CII SEEKS DIRECTOR OF RENEWABLE ENERGY INVESTMENT FUND
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
NIH FY 1998 SBIR AWARDS BY STATE
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
No awards were made in states omitted from the table. More detailed information for each award may be obtained at the NIH SBIR/STTR website: http://www.nih.gov/grants/funding/sbir.htm
STATES END 1998 FISCALLY STRONG
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.
Year-end balances in approximately two-thirds of the states are projected to be 5 percent or more of spending in fiscal 1999. Nineteen states anticipate balances in excess of 10 percent of 1998 spending.
According to the survey, states are holding down the rate of increase in general fund spending to 5.7 percent in fiscal 1998 and 6.3 percent in fiscal 1999, compared with a 6.5 percent average annual increase over the past twenty years. Only two states, Hawaii and Alaska, had to enforce budget cuts in 1998.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE HAS S&T TIES
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.
Rep. Hastert’s Illinois district includes Fermilab, a Department of Energy facility. According to the Illinois Coalition, he has been a Coalition director since 1994, received the Coalition’s "Technology Leader of the Year" award in 1996, and a proponent of a research park near Fermilab to spur high-tech growth. The Illinois Coalition is a non-profit organization working to encourage technology-based economic development in Illinois.
NIH FY 1998 STTR AWARDS BY STATE
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.
Follow this link to a table showing the STTR Phase I and Phase II results in rank order by total dollars awarded for each of 34 states in which awards were made. More information for each award may be obtained at the NIH SBIR/STTR website: http://www.nih.gov/grants/funding/sbir.htm
MICROELECTRONICS RESEARCH CENTERS SELECTED
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.
Funding will be provided by SIA (50%), DARPA (25%) and SEMATECH, a consortia of U.S. semiconductor suppliers (25%). Each center, when fully operational, is expected to receive approximately $10 million annually, however, actual funding levels and the number of centers established will depend on the review of these two centers following their first two years of operations. Total funding for the centers could reach $600 million over 10 years.