SSTI Digest

Prior to leaving for the August recess, the House of Representatives completed work on the 13 appropriations bills funding discretionary programs for FY 97, including all federal support for R&D. The Senate must still pass five bills. Of the eight bills that provide support for science and technology, only the Agriculture bill has been cleared by both houses and signed by the President. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) calculates that the House bills would provide $73.9 billion for total R&D in the coming fiscal year. That amount is $2.6 billion or 3.7 percent more than the current FY 96 level. The overall increase, however, is due to large increases for just two agencies: the Department of Defense, which would have $2.4 billion more for its R&D activities, for a total of $38.3 billion (up 6.7 percent); and the National Institutes of Health, which would receive a $785 million (or 6.8 percent increase) to $12.8 billion for its support of R&D. Most other agencies' R&D budgets would either increase by a few million dollars at best, or fall sharply. …

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through its Laboratory Operations Board has begun a comprehensive review of the Department's research and development activities. The first phase of the activity has resulted in a report with descriptive material about DOE's activities. The Strategic Laboratory Missions Plan - Phase I, a two-volume report, provides information on the department's missions and describes how the missions are carried out through its laboratories, academic partners, and industry. Strategic Laboratory Missions Plan - Phase 1 Volume I: an overview of how DOE uses its laboratories, plus mission profiles for each laboratory. Volume II: an outline of the department's R&D programs by more than 166 budget functions. Phase Two of the plan will consist of a series of reviews of the DOE national laboratories. The reviews will assess how DOE research and development is conducted, the roles of its laboratories, and ways in which administrative costs can be reduced. DOE's initial focus will be on how program managers…

The materials research and development programs of nine federal departments and agencies are available in a new report, The Federal Research and Development Program in Materials Science and Technology 1995. The report was developed as a guide for materials researchers in industry, government, and universities. The emphasis in the report is on R&D directly linked to industrial applications, particularly in the areas of aeronautics, automotive technology, electronics, environmental technology, and infrastructure. The organizations listed are: the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Interior, and Transportation; and NASA and the National Science Foundation. The report is available on the NIST Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory's homepage at http://www.msel.nist.gov. Click on the report's title in the "Technology Policy and Assessment Reports" section. The report is also available in printed form and on CD-ROM. For additional information, contact Samuel Schneider, B309 Materials Building, NIST, Gaithersburg MD 20899-0001 or phone 301/975-5655.

The New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NJMEP) seeks qualified applicants for the position of Executive Director. A successful candidate will have a established record of entrepreneurship demonstrated through a history of leadership in firm or division status, new product launches, development of new marketing strategies, or similar endeavors. Applicants must have senior-level management experience in an industrial manufacturing firm with full profit and loss responsibility. The job requires experience with public sector or non-profit organizations, and a knowledge of economic development practices and agencies. A degree in engineering or science, and an MBA or equivalent is expected. The Executive Director reports to a private board of directors, and has full budgetary and staffing authority for the organization. The Executive Director will lead strategic planning for, and the implementation of NJMEP programs serving target sectors in the rubber and plastics, metalworking and machinery, electronics and instrumentation, and food and beverage industries. For more information…

The State of Rhode Island has selected two Research Centers of Excellence designed to expand research initiatives and encourage investment and job opportunities. The Rhode Island Center for Cellular Medicine and the Ocean Technology Center are the state's first technology centers. The Rhode Island Center for Cellular Medicine, which will receive a $500,000 grant, will support activity in the field of cell-based medical therapy. The Center is designed to initiate, test and manufacture cell-based technologies as well as provide specialized treatment facilities. Partners include Brown University Medical School, the Lifespan Hospitals, Cyto Therapeutics and three Rhode Island biotechnology start-up firms (BCR, Multi-Cell, and Cell Kinetics). In addition, matching funds totaling nearly $300,000 will be contributed by Lifespan, Brown University, and Cyto Therapeutics. The Ocean Technology Center of Excellence (OTCE), based at the University of Rhode Island, hopes to help revitalize Rhode Island's marine economy, which has been suffering from the effects of defense downsizing and the depletion of…

The State of Delaware has selected its first three Advanced Technology Centers (ATCs), public/private partnerships designed to bolster the state's technology base and to create and retain quality high-tech jobs. The centers will receive $2.31 million from the state's 21st Century Fund for their first year of operation and are eligible for two more years of state funding given satisfactory performance. The centers selected are: Advanced Technology Center for Medical Devices will catalyze partnerships between companies and universities, resulting in the development and commercialization of medical diagnostic screening tools based on analytical instruments coupled with sophisticated software. The center will receive $560,000 in state funding. Fraunhofer Resource Center-Delaware will create an advanced materials and near-net-shape manufacturing technology development and deployment capability, based on the Fraunhofer model from Germany. The center will assist manufacturing companies with the solution to technical challenges in the area of near-net-shape manufacturing by performing confidential…

In partnership with the Ohio Department of Development, BP America, and the Great Lakes Industrial Technology Center, NASA Lewis Research Center has opened a technology based incubator. The Lewis Incubator for Technology (LIFT) will enable companies to gain comprehensive business, financial, and marketing assistance as they work to commercialize NASA-developed technologies. LIFT is located in 31,000 square feet of space at the BP America Research and Development Facility in Warrensville Heights, Ohio. Services available to the tenants include access to analytical laboratories, a reference library, and video conferencing facilities. As with other NASA supported incubators (SSTI Weekly Digest, May 3, 1996) LIFT has two major goals. First, the facility will give entrepreneurs, start-up companies and early stage companies access to NASA's expertise. Second, the NASA Lewis Research Center will work with the Great Lakes Industrial Technology Center, one of six NASA Regional Technology Transfer Centers, to commercialize NASA-developed technologies…

The South Florida Manufacturing Technology Center (SFMTC), a regional office of the Florida Manufacturing Extension Partnership, is currently seeking a Director. SFMTC is located in Pompano Beach, Florida and serves seven counties along Florida's southeast coast: Broward, Dade, Martin, Monroe, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie. The Director will manage contracts, develop operational procedures, evaluate Center progress and monitor economic impacts on its clients and the manufacturing community, and communicate the Center's mission to government, industry and the community. The Director must interact with the SFMTC board, ensure accountability for project funding and administer the Center's budget. The Director is the contact point with the Florida Manufacturing Extension Partnership and is responsible to the FMEP director for program quality and performance. The ideal candidate will have a master's degree in management or engineering with 10 years experience in the following areas: leadership of a large staff; responsibility for budget…

President Clinton announced his intention to nominate three members to the National Science Board (NSB), an advisory body to the National Science Foundation. The three are: Mary K. Gaillard of Berkeley, California, a professor of Physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and a faculty senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Eamon M. Kelly of New Orleans, Louisiana, president of Tulane University. Dr. Kelly is an economist and the former chairman of the Association of American Universities. Richard A. Tapia of Houston, Texas, is the Noah Harding Professor of Computational and Applied Mathematics at Rice University. He formerly served on the National Board of Directors of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Sciences. The National Science Board recommends overall national policies for promoting basic research and education in the sciences to the National Science Foundation. The Board was established by the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 and has 24 members appointed by the President with the advice and…

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking candidates to fill the position of Associate Director for Regional Programs. Responsibilities will include the creation, planning, evaluation and maintenance of a national network of state and local technology assistance providers to develop and enhance their capabilities to meet the needs of small and medium sized manufacturers. Responsibilities also include supervising and assessing the staff and operations of the Regional Programs Office; managing, planning, and implementing programmatic policies within the Regional Programs Office; and overseeing and maintaining the Regional Programs budget. The position requires developing and implementing an organizational approach to the national network; formulating plans and strategies for technology assistance programs and resources; assisting in the development of criteria for the award of federal grants to these providers and monitoring existing federal grants; analyzing the effectiveness of manufacturing extension programs and suggesting improvements or best practices to extension…

The House-passed National Institutes of Health (NIH) appropriations for FY 97 included a problematic provision that would have changed the formula for awarding Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) projects at the Institutes. The provision would allow NIH to fund SBIR research only if the average score of the pool of small business proposals met or exceeded the score of basic research proposals submitted by universities and other research centers. Several representatives raised objections to the limitation, noting that the SBIR program deals with applied research which cannot be directly compared with basic research proposals. In addition to the difference in the type of research performed, SBIR supporters pointed out that the vastly different evaluation and scoring processes make it difficult to compare the two types of proposals. They argued the provision would curtail the number of grants NIH could make to small business. Because of concerns about the language, House leadership has agreed to work to eliminate the provision. The agreement comes with the assurance that NIH will have the…

President Clinton announced his intention to nominate five members to the National Science Board (NSB), an advisory body to the National Science Foundation. The five are: John A. Armstrong of Amherst, Massachusetts, the former Vice President of Science and Technology and member of the Corporate Management Board at IBM. M.R.C. Greenwood of Davis, California, Chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz. She served as the Associate Director or Science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from November 1993 to May 1995. Stanley Vincent Jaskolski of Cleveland, Ohio, the Chief Technical Officer and Vice President of Technical Management for the Eaton Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio. He will become president of the Industrial Research Institute in May 1997. Vera C. Rubin of the District of Columbia a research astronomer with the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Bob H. Suzuki of Pomona, California, President of California Polytechnic University, Pomona. The National Science Board recommends overall…