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Last week President Clinton called on the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) to develop recommendations for achieving greater diversity in the United States’ scientific and technical work force.  By 2010, approximately half of America's school-age population will be from minority groups. As stated by the White House, minority participation in science and engineering careers should keep pace with this growing diversity.

Innovative manufacturing, plasma and photon processing, and Internet technology will be the focus of three new Centers of Excellence in Virginia. The Commonwealth of Virginia and Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) recently announced the selection of these three new Centers as the second-generation of CIT’s Technology Development Centers program.

Sue Rhoades, formerly of Delaware, has taken a new position with Pennsylvania's Ben Franklin Partnership as State Coordinator. She will be working with the four regional Ben Franklin Technology Centers on a variety of statewide collaborative and strategic initiatives. The Delaware Economic Development Office (DEDO) is seeking a Manager of Technology Programs to fill Sue’s position. The DEDO is the state agency responsible for economic development in Delaware.

Sue Rhoades, formerly of Delaware, has taken a new position with Pennsylvania's Ben Franklin Partnership as State Coordinator. She will be working with the four regional Ben Franklin Technology Centers on a variety of statewide collaborative and strategic initiatives. The Delaware Economic Development Office (DEDO) is seeking a Manager of Technology Programs to fill Sue’s position. The DEDO is the state agency responsible for economic development in Delaware.

Connecticut Innovations, Inc. recently allocated $20 million of new state funds and $10 million of its own funds to develop biotechnology laboratory space in Connecticut. Connecticut Innovations’ new facilities fund can be administered using a variety of investment vehicles. The fund may offer loan or lease guarantees, enhancing the credit of companies that would not otherwise be able to qualify for leases.

Four industries (aerospace, computers and office machinery, electronics and communications equipment, and pharmaceuticals) are growing at a rate more than twice as fast as other manufactured goods,  thereby driving national economic growth around the world, according  to a National Science Foundation (NSF) Issue Brief, High-Tech Industries Drive Global Economic Activity (NSF 98-319).

The first round of applications for the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Technology (EPSCoT) have been submitted. Eighteen of the nineteen eligible states participated, either by submitting single-state applications or by collaborating with others to produce multi-state applications. In all, 25 applications were received, requesting over $9.4 million in funding.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced that 61 individuals representing all fifty states and the District of Columbia will be honored this year as recipients of the Tibbets Award.  The Tibbets Awards recognizes the technological innovation, economic impact and business achievements of those involved in the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.

NGA Leadership --- At its 1998 Annual Meeting in Milwaukee,  the National Governor’s Association (NGA) named its new leadership to steer the initiatives and agenda for the association.Delaware Governor THOMAS R. CARPER was named NGA’s chairman, and Utah Governor MICHAEL O. LEAVITT vice chairman. The positions are for a term of one year.

Significant changes to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program were proposed on July 31, 1998 by Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business, when he introduced Senate Bill S. 2407, the Small Business Programs Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998.

Before leaving for its August recess, the Senate confirmed Neal Lane to be Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Bill Richardson to be Secretary of Energy.

Just a reminder that early registration for SSTI's Second Annual Conference, Science and Technology Programs: Catalysts for Economic Growth, are due August 31. The conference will be held September 24 & 25 in Columbus, Ohio. Full details can be found on SSTI's home page at www.ssti.org or by calling SSTI at 614/421-SSTI (7784).

During the month of August, the SSTI Weekly Digest will be published every other week. The Digest will be published August 14 and August 28. It will resume weekly publication September 4.

The most comprehensive source of statistical information on science and engineering issues has been released by the National Science Board. "Science and Engineering Indicators: 1998" is the 13th report in a biennial series.

The 800-page report contains a wealth of information on a variety of topics, including four cross-cutting themes:

A Washington, D.C.-based think tank has issued a call for the creation of a $250 million fund to be directed to the states for Technology Innovation Challenge Grants. The fund would be used by the states to invest in university- industry and other technology and innovation network programs.

The Research and Experimentation Tax Credit expired on June 30, and there is concern that it may not be renewed this year. Reports indicate that the most likely vehicle for the tax credit would be a general tax bill, but according to the American Institute of Physics, the chances of a tax bill being agreed to by Congress and signed by President Clinton before the end of the session are considered slim.

The State Science and Technology Institute is sponsoring its second annual conference "Science and Technology Programs: Catalysts for Economic Growth" on September 23 and 24.

The conference will explore best practices, trends, and new developments in technology-based economic development programs.

The conference program includes the following sessions:

NASA announced the award of cooperative agreements to establish new technology business incubators at three NASA Centers: the Goddard Space Flight Center (MD), the Langley Research Center (VA), and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), combined with the Dryden Flight Research Center, (CA).

Updates on activities the United States Innovation Partnership (USIP) are now available through an e-mail distribution list. To subscribe, send an e-mail to USIP@asme.org

USIP establishes a new working relationship between the states and the federal government as an integral part of enhancing a National Innovation System to promote economic growth.

Industrial research and development spending totaled approximately $145 billion in 1996, a 10 percent increase for the second year in a row. More than 83 percent of that funding came from industry itself with the federal government providing the remaining funds, according to a new Data Brief prepared by the National Science Foundation. Small businesses, those with 500 or less employees, spent slightly more than $20.2 billion or 14 percent of the total industrial R&D spending in 1996.

On June 25, Senators Bill Frist (R-TN) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) introduced a new bill, the Federal Research Investment Act (S. 2217). The purpose of the bill is to provide for the continuation of federal research investment in a fiscally sustainable way.

The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Science Resources Studies has released three individual data briefs all pertaining to federal research and development funding trends.

Lou Tornatzky has announced that he will be stepping down from his position as Director of the Southern Technology Council (STC), a position he has held since 1993. Tornatzky will be relocating with his family to the West Coast, but will continue to serve as an STC Research Fellow.

The Education Commission of the States has released a report entitled "Transforming Postsecondary Education for the 21st Century." This report is the result of an extensive survey of Governors from the fifty states and Puerto Rico. Their perceptions regarding the need to reshape the higher education system to meet fundamental state needs is the focus of the study.

The environmental technology and services industry, and its contribution to the national economy, have been evaluated in a new report entitled "Survey of Environmental Products and Services." The report is the product of a collaborative effort between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration, and the Department of Commerce's Bureau of the Census.