SSTI Digest

BILL REINTRODUCED TO DOUBLE CIVILIAN R&D Senators Bill Frist (R- TN) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) introduced legislation to nearly double civilian and pre-competitive research over the next 11 years. S. 296, titled the Federal Research Investment Act , was cosponsored by 18 other Democrats and Republicans. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation for consideration. A similar bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent last session; the House did not act on the bill before adjourning. Civilian R&D made up only 2.1 percent of the overall federal budget in FY 1998, according to the bill. S. 296 calls for a steady 2.5 percent annual increase above the rate of inflation (assumed to be 3% each year) throughout an 11 year period beginning in 2000. The end result could be civilian R&D  representing 2.6% of the total federal budget and nearly double FY 1998 expenditures. Text of S. 296 can be found on the Web through http://thomas.loc.gov

U.S. House Science Committee Chairman, James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) has introduced H.R. 760, a bill to make the national research and development tax credit permanent. Ranking Minority Member George Brown (D-CA) has agreed to cosponsor the legislation. Proponents of the bill say making the credit permanent would remove uncertainty and disincentives for companies in pursuing longer-term research projects. The R&D tax credit is slated to expire June 30, 1999.  The President’s FY 2000 budget request extends the credit for one more year until June 30, 2000. Since it was first enacted in 1981, the tax credit has been extended eight times and modified five times.

The National Science Foundation has issued a call for nominations for the 1999 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM). Each award is accompanied by a $10,000 grant. Awards will be made to individuals or institutions. The award recognizes individuals who have "demonstrated outstanding and sustained mentoring and effective guidance to a significant number of students at the K-12, undergraduate or graduate education level." Institutions will be recognized for programming that enables "a substantial number of students underrepresented in science, mathematics and engineering to successfully pursue and complete relevant degree programs." Post-secondary institutions must demonstrate students have been mentored successfully to either the baccalaureate, master’s or doctoral levels. All nominees must have served as mentors for at least five years. The deadline for PAESMEM nominations is March 31, 1999. The program is administered by NSF on behalf of the White House and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Awardees will be…

A review of State of the State speeches, inaugural addresses, and budget messages delivered by 48 governors over the last six weeks indicates a high level of interest in science and technology based economic development. Governors discussed research and development tax incentives, education, and new initiatives to encourage technology-based economic development. As usual on the state level, support for science and technology transcended political parties. Over the coming weeks, the SSTI Weekly Digest will examine a number of the governors’ proposals in more detail. Selected highlights include: Alaska: Governor Knowles said that the Alaska Science and Technology Foundation will "continue to pay dividends, if we protect and grow [its] assets." Knowles made the commitment despite budget difficulties brought on by declining oil prices. Arizona: Governor Hull called on the Legislature to "significantly augment the research and development tax credit. Arizona corporations will initially save $6 million annually. That amount will grow as we…

The Department of Defense's Dual Use Science and Technology (DUS&T) Program, now in its fourth year of operation, is seeking participation from companies that are developing commercial technologies that could be used in military applications. DOD has issued a Broad Agency Announcement and is seeking proposals in eight areas of technology: Affordable Sensors Advanced Propulsion, Power, and Fuel Efficiency Information and Communications Systems Medical and Bioengineering Technologies Weapons Systems Sustainment Distributed Mission Training Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Environmental Technologies Congress established goals for the initiation of dual use projects based on a percentage of the military Services' applied research budgets. In 1999, the goal is seven percent (roughly $115 million) that the Services are striving to commit to commercially relevant…

On Monday, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley announced a series of initiatives to promote technology development for the city, including an information technology incubator, formation of a Mayor’s Council of Technology Advisors, and a Civic Network to support capacity needs for Internet commerce by Chicago businesses. The cornerstone of the Mayor’s technology initiatives, however, is the formation of the Chicago Technology Growth Fund, a $3 million venture capital fund to provide seed-stage financing in conjunction with private investors for high-tech startup firms located within Chicago. The Illinois Coalition was named to manage the fund for the city. The Mayor’s Council of Technology Advisors will work to position Chicago as a leader in information technology (IT) by promoting the growth and retention of IT businesses, helping to meeting the growing capital needs of entrepreneurs, developing a strategy to pool technology talent in the city, and promoting access and understanding of IT throughout the city. The Council will be chaired by the Illinois Coalition…

The President announced his intent to nominate Dr. Joseph Bordogna as Deputy Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Dr. Bordogna has served as Acting Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of the National Science Foundation since 1996. For the four years prior to this service, he was the Assistant Director for Engineering at the National Science Foundation. He has served at the University of Pennsylvania in a variety of teaching and research positions, as a professor of engineering and director of the Moore School of Electrical Engineering and as dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

The Clinton Administration FY2000 budget proposal, submitted to Congress on Monday, calls for a 2.5% increase in civilian R&D spending. Total R&D spending, however, would decline by 1.3% to $78.24 billion, due to a proposed 5.8% drop in defense-related R&D. For comparison, the Consumer Price Index for last year was approximately 1.6%. The 21st Century Research Fund remains the centerpiece of the Administration’s R&D investment strategy, representing $38 billion and nearly half of the federal government’s total FY2000 R&D budget request. The Fund, a packaging of several existing and new R&D initiatives, would grow by 3% over the FY1999 total of $36 billion. While total R&D spending would increase, the news is mixed for technology-based economic development programs. The Manufacturing Extension Partnership would be cut by $8.1 million; the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Technology (EPSCoT) would have no funds available to make awards in FY2000; and, most of the National Science Foundation’s centers programs would increase…

Representative George Brown, Jr. (D-CA), Ranking Minority Member of the House Science Committee, introduced legislation on the opening day of the 106th session of Congress to restore protection of federally-funded research data developed within universities and non-profit organizations.  Brown’s bill would repeal a provision quietly inserted without hearings into the final omnibus appropriations bill (Public Law 105-277) by Senators Richard Shelby (R-AL), Trent Lott (R-MS) Ben Campbell (R-CO) and Lauch Fiarcloth (R-NC). The provision may result in federally-funded researchers — excluding those in for-profit operations — being subject to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for their raw or pre-published data. Under the provision, the Office of Budget and Management is required to amend OMB regulations to require Federal agencies making research awards "to ensure that all data produced under an award will be made available to the public through the procedures established under the Freedom of Information Act." The guidelines, once drafted will be subject to a 60-day…

The accompanying table on the SSTI website http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/NSFfy98_SBIR1.htm presents the results of the 1998 SBIR Phase I competition held by the National Science Foundation in rank order by total dollars awards in each state. The award figures were compiled from the NSF Fast Lane website. (There were no Phase I awards reported within the 13 states omitted from the table. Details on each specific award may be obtained from the NSF FastLane website at https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov

The Engineering Workforce Commission (EWC) of the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) has released its latest survey on engineering degrees, which reveals that the number of students receiving bachelor’s of science degrees in engineering in the United States has fallen to a 17-year low. The 1998 edition of the EWC Engineering and Technology Degrees survey covers data from 340 schools with engineering programs and 284 schools with engineering technology programs in the United States. It is billed as the most comprehensive, accurate, and authoritative source for engineering and technology degree data in the country. The contrast between students receiving bachelor’s degrees overall and those in engineering is striking. According to the EWC, between 1986 and 1998, the number of students receiving bachelor’s of science degrees in engineering declined by 19.8 percent to 63,262 nationwide while the number of students receiving bachelor’s of science degrees overall increased by nearly 20 percent over the same period of time. When…

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: 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. 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. Dakota State University: $80,000 for EPSCoT West, a four state technology business network (SD, ND, MT, and WY), to conduct critical needs assessment and technology business inventory. Eastern Maine Development Corporation: $…