SSTI Digest

The U.S. Senate Science and Technology Caucus, chaired by Senator Bill Frist (R-TN), held a roundtable discussion last week on the future of American innovation and competitiveness, specifically how to maintain America's science and technology edge in the world marketplace.

The roundtable participants included representatives from MIT, Harvard Business School, and the Council on Competitiveness. The discussion focused on building a workforce with proficiency in science and technology and the government's role in encouraging innovation and research.

The U.S. Air Force has announced that its Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Program topics for FY99 will be released in mid-June. The Air Force is pre-releasing its topics before the Department of Defense's Pre-Solicitation in order to provide small businesses the maximum amount of time to ask technical questions. This early release offers the additional benefit of giving companies enough time to start marketing and networking.

According to the topic authors, technical points of contact, and SBIR awardees, marketing research is extremely important to the success of a proposal. These early marketing discussions have often proven invaluable in preparing the SBIR proposals. Small businesses have also often learned of other types of solicitations against which they can propose.

A recent study found that 90 percent of industry participants benefitted in some way by participating in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Engineering Research Center (ERC) Program. Nearly a quarter of all firms reported having developed a new product or process as a result of their interaction with an ERC, and two-thirds reported that their firm's competitiveness had increased.

Industry participants reported five main benefits: access to new ideas, know-how, or technologies; technical assistance; interaction with other firms participating in the program; access to ERC equipment and facilities; and, hiring ERC students and graduates.

Not all companies received every type of benefit, but of the benefits realized by particular companies, among the highest-valued were the employment of ERC students and graduates, gains in intellectual property, and access to specialized equipment and facilities.

The Clinton Administration has unveiled a new initiative entitled Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) which it believes could save consumers $11 billion a year in energy costs by 2010 and reduce annual carbon emissions by nearly 24 million tons.

PATH joins the federal government, industry, and state and local government in a coordinated strategy to identify promising housing technologies and move them to market. Each group will play a critical role in the partnership:

SSTI has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense and the National Institute for Standards & Technology (NIST) to complete a study of state SBIR/STTR programs. The project is for the SBIR Working Group of the U.S. Innovation Partnership. As part of the study, SSTI will be interviewing state SBIR/STTR assistance providers and federal SBIR program managers over the next several weeks on a range of issues.

The final report, to be completed in August, will include an inventory of the services and assistance provided by the states, a description of how state programs have evolved based on their experience with the federal SBIR/STTR programs, measures for determining the impact of state SBIR initiatives, and recommendations on how states may best interact with the federal programs, with particular emphasis on commercialization of SBIR technologies.

Price Waterhouse recently announced that venture capital investments in the first quarter of 1998 hit $3.6 billion, just slightly below the all-time high of $3.7 billion set in the fourth quarter of 1997. Compared to the first quarter of 1997, investments increased 54%. These findings were released in the Price Waterhouse Venture Capital Survey, a quarterly report of venture capital investments throughout the United States.

The following listing shows the amount of venture capital dollars invested by region in the first quarter of 1998 by Region, Investment Amount, and % of Total:

Ross Youngs, president of Univenture, Inc. of Columbus, Ohio, has been named the National Small Business Person of the Year. Youngs was selected from a field of 53 Small Business Administration (SBA) small business winners representing the fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

The national entrepreneur award is a highlight of SBA's national Small Business Week celebration. Small Business Week, now in its 35th year, honors the contributions of the nation's small business owners. Winners are selected on their record of stability, growth in employment and sales, sound financial reports, innovation, and the company's response to adversity, and community service.

Youngs founded Univenture ten years ago after developing a lighter, cheaper and more environmentally friendly product for displaying and storing compact discs. Today, Univenture is a $15 million dollar business that employs 119 people.

Rita Colwell was confirmed by the Senate on May 22 as the new National Science Foundation (NSF) Director. She is expected to be sworn in within a few weeks. Dr. Colwell was the President of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and former President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has a Ph.D. in marine microbiology from the University of Washington.

Maine lawmakers have passed an R&D investment package to increase the state's research and development capacity. The package includes a $20 million bond issue that must be approved by the voters in November.

The bond initiative would provide:

The State of Tennessee has created a private, not-for-profit corporation--- the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation---to stimulate economic development through Tennessee's science and technology resources.

The corporation's responsibilities include:

• Promoting Tennessee's science and technology resources
• Coordinating the state's assistance to technology-based firms in Tennessee
• Assisting in the creation and financing of new technology-based businesses
• Coordinating the State's participation in major technology-based activities and proposals

The corporation is seeking an Executive Director who will be responsible for:

The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and its nationwide network of centers are stepping up efforts to help smaller manufacturers avoid being bitten by the "millennium bug." The Stamford, Conn.-based GartnerGroup, a leading authority on information technology issues, has reported that as of 1997, 88 percent of all companies with fewer than 2,000 employees had not yet started Year 2000 remediation projects.

"Many companies that are addressing problems with their computer systems may be overlooking potential problems embedded in other systems such as machine controllers and telecommunications," said Kevin Carr, director of the NIST MEP.

MEP centers nationwide will be conducting seminars to raise smaller manufacturers' awareness and understanding of the problem and helping client manufacturers assess their systems to determine if they have problems. If needed, MEP centers also will help smaller companies plan remediation.

Dr. Eugene Wong has been named assistant director for engineering at the National Science Foundation. As the head of NSF's engineering directorate, he will oversee a $320 million annual budget. His most recent position was with a start-up California company.

Durand Smith, the director of the New Mexico Department of Economic Development's Science and Technology Division, has returned to the private sector. Marsha Oldakowski is serving as acting director of the division.

Patrick Neary, executive director of Wyoming's Science, Technology & Energy Authority, has also returned to the private sector. Jeff Suddeth is serving as interim director.

Bill Eads, the Tennessee governor's science and technology advisor, has announced his retirement.