Pramod Khargonekar has been selected to serve as the National Science Foundation's assistant director for the Directorate of Engineering.

Dan Blake will join the Wisconsin Technology Council as the director of its Wisconsin Angel Network in mid-March. Blake succeeds Zach Brandon, who recently became president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce.

President Obama nominated Ernest Moniz as the next secretary of Energy, Gina McCarthy as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Sylvia Mathews Burwell as director of the Office of Management and Budget. The nominations require confirmation by the Senate.

Draper Triangle Ventures is opening a Columbus, OH, office. Will Indest, formerly of TechColumbus, has been named managing director.

Measuring impact is critical to the success and sustainability of any economic development initiative, and as the national debate over fiscal austerity and taxpayer spending continues, TBED organizations can expect increased scrutiny and accountability for their investments.

Bill Kirkland will head the new Office of Economic Engagement that will begin operations July 1 at the University of South Carolina. The new entity will facilitate business development statewide, and work through USC&'s seven regional campuses.

John Carey, a former state representative, was appointed by Gov. John Kasich as the chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents.

With a commitment of $25 million over the next two years to establish a biosciences institute, Indiana lawmakers gave their stamp of approval to a major policy goal touted by Gov. Mike Pence during the campaign. The governor and lawmakers hope to build an endowment of $300 million to $400 million over the next five to seven years drawn from corporate and philanthropic sources.

Sean Greene has joined the Case Foundation as entrepreneur in residence. Greene most recently served as associate administrator for Investment and special advisor for Innovation at the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Governor Mike Pence has released details on Indiana's statewide public-private collaborative life sciences partnership. The estimated $360 million Indiana Biosciences Research Institute will receive $25 million for the biennium from the state of Indiana to cover startup costs, which will be augmented by another $25 million from industry and philanthropic sources (see the May 8 issue).

New efforts to step up technology transfer at the University of New Mexico (UNM) and the University of Tennessee (UT) have resulted in a record number of invention disclosures over the last year. In both cases, much of the achievement is attributed to faulty involvement, including new outreach efforts by the universities and more aggressive and ambitious goals set for the institutions.

On November 6, in addition to the presidential election, eleven state and two territorial gubernatorial contests will be decided. Seven of these races (Delaware, Missouri, North Dakota, Puerto Rico, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia) include a sitting governor running for re-election, while the remaining six (American Samoa, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Washington) are open races.

The Obama administration announced winners of the Advanced Manufacturing Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge on Tuesday. The challenge — publicized earlier this year — is one of the key initiatives of the interagency Taskforce for the Advancement of Regional Innovation Clusters and is sponsored by a partnership between the U.S. Department of Commerce, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Departments of Energy and Labor, and the Small Business Administration.

While Washington remains in political gridlock and the national economy continues sluggish growth, one key trend for political and economic success is apparent: U.S. metro regions experiencing high economic growth have invested federal, state, and private funds in high-speed broadband access.

Jill Kline has been named the State director of the Wyoming Small Business Development Center.

Daniel Hasler has been named the Indiana Secretary of Commerce, effective Sept. 16. He will replace Mitch Roob who is leaving the post to accept a position in the private sector.

The National Governors Association named David Moore as the director of its NGA Center for Best Practices.

As budgets for economic development tighten across all sectors, measuring and reporting impact becomes even more crucial for sustaining support. The Association of University Research Parks points to three impressive impact reports released this year from Indiana's Purdue Research Park, Nebraska Technology Park and North Dakota State University Research and Technology Park.

SSTI continues to review state budget proposals as they are released, combing through them for TBED-related initiatives. This week, education and research and development programs are revealed as we examine the budget proposals from governors in Ohio, Tennessee and Texas.