SSTI Digest

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: The federal partners, led by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Energy, commit to support research, facilitate removal of barriers to new technology, and provide technical assistance; Industry partners commit to fund research, bring advanced products to market, share information, and work with government to demonstrate new technologies; and, State and local government partners commit to streamline approval processes so new technologies are rapidly deployed, and devote resources to local pilot projects. Over the next decade, PATH aims to cut energy…

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. The project will provide baseline data for the US Innovation Partnership SBIR Working Group as it considers and develops a proposal for leveraging state and federal SBIR efforts to bring SBIR-developed…

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: Region Investment Amount % of Total Silicon Valley 821,396,000 22.8% New England 544,042,000 15.1% New York Metro 293,911,489 8.2% Midwest 280,236,000 7.8% Southeast 240,908,000 6.7% LA/Orange County 238,510,000 6.6% Philadelphia Metro 202,356,000 5.6…

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. The award for first runner-up went to Fleischer Manufacturing of Columbus, Nebraska. Fleischer Manufacturing developed and produces tillage equipment that allows farmers to…

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: $13.5 million to the University of Maine System for capital improvements and equipment purchases to support activities in the target areas of biotechnology, advanced technologies for forestry and agriculture, software engineering and development, advanced materials engineering and development, and marine biology; $3 million to the Maine Science and Technology Foundation (MSTF) to invest in a Marine Technology Fund; $1.5 million to MSTF for a Research Challenge Grants program for research institutions in the for-profit, not-for profit or academic sectors; and, $2 million to the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development toward the development and construction of the Gulf of Maine Aquarium Research Facility. "Through a broad coalition of organizations across the state, we were able to obtain bipartisan…

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: Management of the corporation's activities, including the activities of its board of directors Development of the corporation's strategic directions and priorities, short and long-term Support capitalizing the corporation by assisting the board of directors in the development and execution of a fund raising plan to match state resources invested in the corporation Creation and management of a technology investment fund A…

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. Carr has asked each center to designate at least one person as a Year 2000 "champion" to help coordinate center activities and services. A self-…

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.

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.