SSTI Digest

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.

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

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.

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 report:

Presents and analyzes interviewees’ responses to what technologies they consider to be critical to their firm or industry

Explores the question of what "critical technology" means

Reports interviewees’ assessments of the status of U.S. efforts and performance in the areas of technology they deemed critical

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

The most significant organizational change was BMT’s decision to operate without annual state appropriations. The program is funded with a combination of reserves from the previous 15 years of state support, federal grants and fee-for-service income. The annual report states that BMT is meeting the challenges that come with this significant programmatic change.

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.

The National Medal of Science, established by Congress in 1959 and administered by the National Science Foundation, honors individuals for contributions to the present state of knowledge in a variety of science frontiers.

The National Medal of Technology, established by Congress in 1980 and administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce, recognizes technological innovation and advancement of the nation's global competitive-ness, as well as ground-breaking contributions that commercialize a technology, create jobs, improve productivity, or stimulate the nation's growth and development in other ways.

The nine winners of the Medal of Science and the five winners of the Medal of Technology are:

NASA has announced 48 awards in microgravity biotechnology research. The selections, including 34 new projects and 14 continuation grants, were made from 165 proposals and total approximately $33 million. The total amount of the 48 awards was not available.

The research will permit researchers to Atake advantage of a low-gravity environment to improve understanding of fundamental physical and chemical processes associated with biotechnology,@ according to NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Science and Applications.

President Clinton recently announced the winners of the 1998 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Three companies C Boeing Airlift and Tanker Programs, Long Beach, Calif.; Solar Turbines Inc., San Diego, Calif.; and Texas Nameplate Co. Inc., Dallas, Texas C are being honored for their achievements in performance excellence. With 66 employees, Texas Nameplate Co., Inc. is the smallest company to ever received the award.

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was established by Congress in 1987 to enhance U.S. competitiveness by promoting quality awareness, recognizing quality and business achievements of U.S. companies, and publicizing these companies' successful performance. The program is managed by the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in conjunction with private industry. Since 1988, 34 companies have received the Baldrige Award.

The State Science and Technology Institute (SSTI) has released its most recent publication, California's Regional Technology Alliances. This is the third in a series of Program Briefs designed to highlight states' experiences with various initiatives.

The Regional Technology Alliances (RTA) program was initially designed to provide matching funds for California projects applying for funding from the Technology Reinvestment Project. The RTAs have since developed into organizations that provide technology-based companies with access to technical and business service providers, information on current and upcoming state and federal funding opportunities and technology assistance programs.

West Virginia University is seeking candidates to fill the newly created, high-profile position of Economic Development Director and Senior Advisor to the WVU leadership. He/she will be the primary WVU spokesperson for economic development with the mission to maximize the impact of WVU on West Virginia's economy. Review of applications will begin January 15, 1999. Additional information, including application procedures, are available at http//www.wvu.edu/~exten/. The complete job posting is available on the SSTI website at http://www.ssti.org.

As of January 6, 1999, our new address will be:

5039 Pine Creek Dr. Westerville OH 43081

Our new phone: 614/901-1690 Our new fax: 614/901-1696

Contact us through January 5, 1999 at: 751 Northwest Blvd, Suite 305 Columbus, OH 43212 phone: 614/421-SSTI (7784) fax: 614/421-9123

The Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC) has initiated a program to help technology-based start-up companies locate and obtain equipment needed for their operations.

KTEC's three Innovation and Commercialization Corporations (ICCs) may now purchase equipment used for scientific, analytical, manufacturing or other business purposes and lease it to client companies. Each of the three corporations received $55,000 for the program. Lease payments from the client companies will be used to purchase additional equipment.

The ICCs provide business development and pre-seed financing to start-up, technology-based businesses. They offer a variety of business incubation services at no cost or reduced cost. These services include management services, office space, administrative support, and business plan writing.