In the August 23, 1996 Issue:

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Rhode Island Announces State's First Centers of Excellence
The State of Rhode Island has selected two Research Centers of Excellence designed to expand research initiatives and encourage investment and job opportunities. The Rhode Island Center for Cellular Medicine and the Ocean Technology Center are the state's first technology centers.

The Rhode Island Center for Cellular Medicine, which will receive a $500,000 grant, will support activity in the field of cell-based medical therapy. The Center is designed to initiate, test and manufacture cell-based technologies as well as provide specialized treatment facilities. Partners include Brown University Medical School, the Lifespan Hospitals, Cyto Therapeutics and three Rhode Island biotechnology start-up firms (BCR, Multi-Cell, and Cell Kinetics). In addition, matching funds totaling nearly $300,000 will be contributed by Lifespan, Brown University, and Cyto Therapeutics.

The Ocean Technology Center of Excellence (OTCE), based at the University of Rhode Island, hopes to help revitalize Rhode Island's marine economy, which has been suffering from the effects of defense downsizing and the depletion of traditional fish stock.

The Center will target market-driven research and technology development in areas where Rhode Island has strong research and industrial capabilities: marine electronics -- underwater acoustics, navigation, and communications; and marine environmental monitoring system--pollution tracing, ocean modeling and prediction, and associated sensors.

The Ocean Technology Center, which will receive a $250,000 grant, is comprised of a team of Rhode Island-based firms, the University of Rhode Island, and federal agencies.

NIST Announces Funding For MEPs
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced that it will provide funding for three centers affiliated with the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). NIST will provide $1.4 million to the Connecticut State Technology Extension Program (CONN/STEP), $2 million to Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center (MAMTC), and $3.5 million to the Chicago Manufacturing Center (CMC).

CONN/STEP is managed by Connecticut Technology Associates, a non-profit organization with additional sponsorship by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development. It has been a MEP affiliate since 1994. Federal funding for the center originally came from the Technology Reinvestment Project (TRP).

An affiliate of the MEP since 1991, MAMTC provides services to smaller manufacturers in Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, and Wyoming. It is a subsidiary of the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC).

CMC is a non-profit, public-private partnership that has been a MEP affiliate since 1994. Like CONN/STEP, federal funding for the center originally came from the Defense Department's Technology Reinvestment Project.

Seventeen Firms Receive NICE Grants
The Department of Energy recently announced it will award nearly $7 million in NICE grants to seventeen companies in fourteen states. The companies were selected through the 1996 National Competitiveness through Energy, Environment, and Economics (NICE) program which is funded by DOE's Office of Industrial Technologies to support and encourage energy efficiency, clean production, and economic competitiveness in U.S. industry (SSTI Weekly Digest, May 17, 1996).

The NICE initiative is a strategic partnership among state energy departments, companies and DOE.

The 1996 NICE grantees are:

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