The Maryland Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO) has hired Lara Vande Walle to serve as director of membership and business development.

SSTI Affiliate, the Pittsburgh Technology Council (PTC) seeks candidates to become the organization's Vice President for Workforce Education and Development. The senior-level position is responsible for the management of all Catalyst Connection and Pittsburgh Technology Council education programs and services and IT workforce development and recruitment strategies.

Forty-four research universities in 28 states and the District of Columbia will receive $80 million from Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to help address the challenges of the rapidly changing and increasingly interdisciplinary nature of undergraduate biology education. The grants will support programs that encourage graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to hone their teaching skills in undergraduate courses.

Gov.-elect Robert Ehrlich has officially put forth his first economic development initiative for Maryland, according to recent press reports. His initiative, the creation of the Commission on Development of High Technology Business, is designed to encourage more technology business in the state.

A strategy to make Maryland's Harford County a competitive jurisdiction for attracting and expanding technology ventures has been unveiled by the Northeastern Maryland Technology Council (NMTC). Offering an analysis of the county's technology resources and assets, the Harford County Strategic Plan is expected to serve as a "road map" to help guide policy efforts for the next 5-15 years.

Kevin Harter is leaving his position as president of the Central Pennsylvania Technology Council to become senior vice president of the new Life Sciences Greenhouse of Central Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker has been named President and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. The Governor will assume his new position on Feb. 1.

Fritz Bittenbender will become president of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Association in December.

Innovation Philadelphia, the public-private partnership dedicated to enhancing the global innovation economy of Philadelphia, has unveiled the first Innovation and Entrepreneurial Index, a comprehensive study examining where Philadelphia stands in relation to key competitors in the Innovation Economy.

Dennis Yablonsky, who has been serving as CEO for both the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse and the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse for most of the past year, has decided to focus exclusively on the biotech initiative. His replacement as president and CEO at the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse is David Ruppersberger.

The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) has announced 40 awards potentially totaling $101.6 million in ATP funding matched by an industry cost-share of $92 million if carried through to completion. These awards were selected from proposals submitted to 2002 competition.

Because knowledge-based services can be supplied anywhere across the world due to increased international investment in IT infrastructure, future U.S. competitiveness hinges on diversification and broadening of the technology-based manufacturing sector, according to NIST Senior Economist George Tassey.

To shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of the region's biotechnology cluster, Carnegie Mellon University's Center for Economic Development (CED) has published A Biotechnology Action Plan for Southwestern Pennsylvania. The CED report says the Pittsburgh biotechnology cluster largely depends on the amount of available venture capital and the development of new technologies and that total funding levels must be increased to continue biotech development.

President Bush has nominated Elias Zerhouni, executive vice dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as the new director of the National Institutes of Health.