SSTI Digest

David Boncosky will become the director of Indiana Economic Development Corporation's life sciences initiative Aug. 6.

Conexus Indiana, a new initiative focused on the state’s advanced manufacturing and logistics industries, will be led by President and CEO Carol D’Amico, former executive vice president and chancellor of Ivy Tech Community College.

Charles Sparks was named business development director of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.

Indiana University announced that William Stephan will be the university's new vice president of engagement, a newly created position that becomes effective in September.

A new initiative to target and promote Indiana's manufacturing and logistics sector will do so in a similar manner to the 2002 BioCrossroads initiative that aided in transforming the region’s life sciences industry, the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) recently announced.   Conexus Indiana, the new initiative launched by CICP, will address three key priorities: developing a highly-skilled manufacturing workforce; creating industry collaborations to explore new business opportunities; and aggressively marketing Indiana’s manufacturing and logistics strengths to the business community, potential workers and the general public.    CICP anticipates a total budget of $6.5 million through 2009 with a $3 million grant by the Lilly Endowment and additional pledges by leading companies and institutions. The funds will be used to support the following planned and ongoing efforts:

Complete descriptions of the position openings described below are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. The Edison Materials Technology Center (EMTEC), a collaborative technology development organization, is seeking an assistant director for the Southwest Central Ohio Procurement Technical Assistance Center (SWCO PTAC). The assistant director is responsible for providing counseling effort to the PTAC office in the Columbus region. Other duties include in-depth, one-to-one client government procurement counseling, conducting training events, preparing reports and budgets for funding agencies, maintaining client counseling records, and networking with various commercial and government agencies, as necessary. A bachelor's degree in science or arts is required.

Indiana's General Assembly adjourned for the year last week, after passing a $29 billion budget that included more than $100 million for TBED-related programs.  

Over the last few months, three states have announced new strategies to encourage regional tech-based economic development. Several states have experimented with how best to support or encourage regional TBED in the past, resulting in both successes and failures. In some cases, state sought partnerships at the local level in the creation of new programs while other states took a more hands off approach, such as providing seed funding to create regional technology councils.  

Complete descriptions of the position openings described below are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

State lottery would be leased to private company to finance fund, scholarships Two initiatives recently proposed by Gov. Mitch Daniels would keep graduating college students in-state and lure world-class researchers to Indiana's public universities. However, a lottery lease plan that would, in part, finance the initiatives may be more the center of attention with Indiana legislators. The initiatives: (1) a forgivable loan of up to $20,000 for students who attend four-year colleges or universities in Indiana and stay in the state for three years, else repay the loans, and (2) a fund that would create endowments to cover salary and start-up costs to draw the aforementioned researchers and scholars from outside of Indiana.

Complete descriptions of the position openings described below are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. Griffin Analytical Technologies, LLC, a producer of premium chemical detection systems, is seeking a research specialist. Griffin serves U.S. Departments of Defense and Homeland Security applications, environmental health and safety monitoring, and research and teaching laboratories. The research specialist will assist the science team with R&D efforts related to Griffin's products and will be responsible for exploring new applications for Griffin's technology. A Master of Science degree is preferred; however, a Bachelor of Science degree accompanied by five or more years of experience will be considered. Applicants also should have two or more years of applicable experience in mass spectrometer operation and development.

The two position opportunities described below were recently posted on the SSTI Job Corner. More information, including complete details on responsibilities, qualifications and application deadlines (when available), is available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. Purdue University seeks an individual with vision and demonstrated leadership skills to serve as the Avrum and Joyce Gray Director of Purdue University's Burton D. Morgan Center of Entrepreneurship (BDMCE). The mission of the BDMCE is to facilitate the commercialization of promising Purdue University and Discovery Park intellectual property and technology, to involve and familiarize Purdue undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students with all aspects of entrepreneurship, and to enhance entrepreneurial activities throughout the state of Indiana. The director should hold a doctorate degree, and/or an MBA or its equivalent, and must have demonstrated success in entrepreneurial activities.