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.
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.
The California Manufacturing Technology Center has begun a search process for qualified applicants to fill a number of economic development-oriented engineering positions. The CMTC seeks applicants with over eight years of hands-on manufacturing experience to: define and develop proposals, present to potential clients, perform and manage projects, and build a network of consultants.
Increased company support of R&D offset reduced Federal funding in 1994 and contributed to an overall increase in U.S. industrial R&D, to $119.6 billion, according to the National Science Foundation's Survey of Industrial Research and Development for 1994.
The U.S. House of Representatives on a vote of 246-179 on Wednesday approved an appropriations bill that includes funding for the U.S. Department of Commerce. Programs affected by the bill include the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and Advanced Technology Program (ATP), and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) Information Infrastructure Grants (IIG).
The General Accounting Office (GAO) has collected and provided information on fiscal year 1993 costs for professional staff, managers and executives at the Department of Defense's (DOD) Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC). FFRDCs were established during World War II to meet the special research needs that the federal and private sector could not provide. Over the years the number of FFRDCs have varied, but in fiscal year 1993 there were 39, with 10 sponsored by DOD.
Science and Engineering Indicators - 1996 is available from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) National Science Board. The report is both a reference document and a policy document that provides an extensive array of data. The 1996 report has expanded to include output as well as input indicators as well as some indicators of the impact and outcome of science and engineering in the U.S.
Director, NASA Far West Regional Technology Transfer Center (FWRTTC), School of Engineering, University of Southern California
The mission of FWRTTC is to play a leading role in the commercialization of NASA technology, with the primary focus on technology developed in the three NASA field centers in its region; Ames Research Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Dryden Flight Research Center.
The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) of the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced a public meeting to bring together all ATP awardees of the ATP Tools for DNA Diagnostics program "to present an overview of the non-proprietary aspects of their research and development activities." The goals of the meeting are to: "inform the DNA diagnostics community about activities at this stage of the focused program, promote cross-fertilization of concepts and efforts, promote strategic partnering across companies a
We welcome our first SSTI-Kauffman Interns: Cathleen McComas and Nakisha Fouch. Cathleen is a graduate student in public policy and management. Nakisha is pursuing her bachelor's degree in economics. Funding for the SSTI-Kauffman Intern Program has been provided by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation's Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.
We are sorry to say goodbye to Ellen Moore, SSTI's Services Coordinator.
Last week, the House and the Senate approved the concurrent (final) budget resolution for FY 1997. The $1.63 trillion spending blueprint establishes broad spending targets for the coming fiscal year. Nondefense R&D is budgeted at $32.2 billion in FY 1997, down from the FY 1996 total of $32.7 billion.
The General Accounting Office (GAO) has released a report, "Tax Policy and Administration: Review of Studies of the Effectiveness of the Research Tax Credit," that concludes that much uncertainty remains about the responsiveness of research spending to tax incentives. There was mixed evidence that the amount of research and development spending stimulated by the federal credit equals or exceeds the cost of the lost revenue.
The International Institute for Management Development has released its annual World Competitiveness Yearbook, and the United States has reclaimed its spot atop the list. The U.S. was followed by Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and Denmark.
Wade Lange, president and CEO of the Indiana Health Industry Forum, announced he will be leaving the organization this summer to return to the private sector.
Greater Baltimore Technology Council executive director Penny Lewandowski is leaving at the end of May to join the Edward Lowe Foundation in Detroit. Assistant director Steve Kovak has been named her successor.
Robert Rosner, chief scientist for the Argonne National Laboratory, will be the lab's new director.
Craig Watters is serving as interim director of the Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship at Syracuse University. Past director Nola Miyasaki has relocated to Hawaii to join a biotech company.
Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher appointed Denise Bentley to serve as liason to the Louisville Metro and Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government councils under the Governor’s Office for Local Development. The position is newly created.
Eric Davis, president of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corp, resigned last week.
Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher appointed Denise Bentley to serve as liason to the Louisville Metro and Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government councils under the Governor’s Office for Local Development. The position is newly created.
Eric Davis, president of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corp, resigned last week.
The Purdue Research Foundation appointed Kathy DeGuilio-Fox to serve as interim executive director of the Purdue Technology Center of Northwest Indiana.
Jack Faris is the new president of the Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association.
On Friday, President Bush announced his intention to nominate Michael D. Griffin, of Virginia, to be administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Dr. Griffin currently serves as Space Department Head at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Prior to that, he was president and chief operating officer of In-Q-Tel, Inc.
George "Mick" Stadler is the new CEO for the incubator at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Galynn Beer succeeds Johnny Roy as the new chairman of the board of the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology.
Jeff Brancato has been named Associate Vice President for Economic Development of University of Massachusetts.