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The first recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers were announced earlier this week. The 60 winners will receive up to $500,000 over a five year period to further their research.

Criteria used by one of the largest funders of basic research to evaluate research proposals is slated to change in 1997. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is revising the criteria used to evaluate approximately 30,000 proposals per year and is seeking comments on the proposed criteria.

A panel of external evaluators has concluded that the National Science Foundation's State/Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (S/I/UCRC) Program supports NSF's strategic goals. The panel also found that "the development of cooperative research centers involving states, industries and NSF can be an important contributing element to maintaining and developing a competitive US industry."

U.S. Representative Robert Walker (R-PA), the retiring chairman of the House Science Committee, was recently awarded NASA's Distinguished Service Medal. The Medal was established in 1959 and is awarded to any person in the federal service who, by distinguished service, ability, or courage, has personally made a contribution representing substantial progress to the NASA mission in the interests of the United States.

The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) has released a report examining the role of the federal government in economic development activities and proposing a new approach to meet economic development needs. NAPA urges the federal government to help states and localities learn through better information, leverage all available resources, and link multiple federal initiatives to assist local communities.

According to a new report released by the Council on Competitiveness, Competitive Index 1996: A Ten-Year Strategic Assessment, the U.S. has sharply boosted its economic competitiveness over the past decade. The Council attributed the gains to a variety of factors including corporate restructuring, reduction in the budget deficit, a weaker dollar and broadened international markets.

The Oklahoma Alliance for Manufacturing Excellence, Inc. will receive $1.5 million from the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). The Alliance, a program of the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, is an MEP affiliate that received its initial federal funding through the Technology Reinvestment Project.

The Alliance for Manufacturing Excellence (AME), a non-profit start-up organization, seeks an Executive Director to build and operate a successful manufacturing services organization. The Executive Director will guide AME in its mission of assisting smaller manufacturers to adopt more advanced manufacturing technologies and management techniques.

The Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) has issued a Program Guide to Federally Funded Environment and Natural Resources R&D. The guide describes the types of environment and natural resources R&D currently supported by federal agencies, potential opportunities for funding, the mechanisms used to award funding, and points of contact.

Applications and nominations are invited for the position of Executive Director of the Vermont Technology Council. The Council is a voluntary association of community leaders from the public and private sectors who are concerned with the economic vitality of Vermont and believe that the state's prosperity depends on the successful commercialization within the state of scientific and technological advances and innovations.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has developed the Angel Capital Electronic Network (ACE-Net) to link small companies and investors through the Internet. Entrepreneurs will be able to put their prospectus on a secure database that can be searched by approved individual or "angel" investors. The goal of the network is to improve access to equity capital for small companies that need capital in the $250,000 to $5 million range.

All incumbent governors that ran for re-election on Tuesday were re-elected. Only four gubernatorial races were for open seats (Indiana, New Hampshire, Washington, and West Virginia) and those elections resulted in no net gains for either the Democrats or Republicans. In New Hampshire, a Democrat was elected governor succeeding Republican Steve Merrill, while in West Virginia, a Republican will replace Democrat Gaston Caperton.

Governors elected on Tuesday:

As with other races this year, there was little overall change in the control of state legislatures, although the Democrats did make some progress, based on figures compiled by the National Council of State Legislatures.

Prior to the election:

Advanced Technology Program (ATP) officials announced that they have received 309 proposals in the 1996 ATP general competition, which closed in mid-September. Preliminary analysis of the proposals shows strong concentrations in a wide variety of technology areas, including biotechnology, electronics, chemical processing, computer hardware and software, energy and manufacturing.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is seeking nominees for Small Business Person of the Year. The deadline for nominations is November 15.

A Small Business Person of the Year is selected from every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. From this pool, one individual is selected as the national Small Business Person of the Year.

President Clinton recently announced his intention to nominate Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Distinguished Professor of Zoology at Oregon State University, to the National Science Board, an advisory body to the National Science Foundation. The National Science Board recommends overall national policies for promoting basic research and education in the sciences.

President Clinton recently announced his intention to nominate Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Distinguished Professor of Zoology at Oregon State University, to the National Science Board, an advisory body to the National Science Foundation. The National Science Board recommends overall national policies for promoting basic research and education in the sciences.

Lionel "Skip" Johns, associate director for technology at the White House's Office of Science and Technology (OSTP), announced he would be leaving his position in October.

Sigfried Hecker, the director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, announced that he is stepping aside in order to participate more closely in scientific collaboration between US and Russian researchers. Hecker has headed Los Alamos since 1986.

Jay F. Honeycutt, the director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), has announced his plans to retire from NASA in early 1997. He became director in 1995.

Dr. Robert Schrieffer (Physics, Florida State University and University of Florida), Dr. Kenneth J. Arrow (Economics, Stanford University), Dr. Elsa Garmire (Engineering, Dartmouth College) and Dr. Joan Argetsinger Steitz (Life Sciences, Yale University) were chosen by President Clinton to serve on the President's Committee on the National Medal of Science.

Please take a few minutes to complete this form and return it to SSTI. We would like to have responses faxed back to us by November 8, 1996 Fax: 614-421-9123

A Memorandum of Understanding has been entered into between the U.S. Department of Commerce's Technology Administration (TA) and the National Governors' Association (NGA) to develop the U.S. Innovation Partnership (USIP). USIP will be developed to help combine and coordinate state and federal efforts in science and technology and manufacturing extension programs.

While most of the attention has been focused on the presidential election and the fight for control of the Congress, eleven states will also be electing governors on November 5. Four of those races are for open seats where the governor has either decided not to seek reelection or is prohibited from running again.

The states with gubernatorial elections are:

SSTI has entered into a cooperative agreement with the Economic Development Administration to examine how state investments in science and technology can support development in distressed areas. The project includes: