In the December 18, 1998 Issue:
- Recipients of Nationals Highest Science & Tech Honors Announced
- NASA Microgravity Biotechnology Awards Announced
- Aircraft, Turbine and Label Manufacturers Announced as 1998 Baldrige Quality Award Winners
- NASA Micrgravity Materials Science Research Opportunity Released
- Siemens Creates High School Math & Science Program
- SSTI Releases 3rd Program Brief: California RTAs Highlighted
- Economic Development Director Sought
- SSTI is Moving!
Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2002. Information in this issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest was prepared under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration. Redistribution to all others interested in tech-based economic development is strongly encouraged — please cite the State Science & Technology Institute whenever portions are reproduced or redirected. Any opinions expressed in the Digest do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
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Recipients of Nation's Highest Science and Honors Announced
The 1998 recipients of the nation's highest science and technology honors, the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology, were announced last week.
The National Medal of Science, established by Congress in 1959 and administered by the National Science Foundation, honors individuals for contributions to the present state of knowledge in a variety of science frontiers.
The National Medal of Technology, established by Congress in 1980 and administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce, recognizes technological innovation and advancement of the nation's global competitive-ness, as well as ground-breaking contributions that commercialize a technology, create jobs, improve productivity, or stimulate the nation's growth and development in other ways.
The nine winners of the Medal of Science and the five winners of the Medal of Technology are:
1998 National Medal of Science Recipients
Bruce N. Ames, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley
Don L. Anderson, Professor of Geophysics at the California Institute of Technology Seismological Laboratory
John N. Bahcall, Professor of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University, New Jersey
John W. Cahn, Fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland
Cathleen S. Morawetz, Professor Emerita at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of New York University
Janet D. Rowley, Professor at the University of Chicago, Illinois
Eli Ruckenstein, Professor of Chemical Engineering, State University of New York, Buffalo
George M. Whitesides, Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University, Massachusetts
William Julius Wilson, Professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Massachusetts
1998 National Medal of Technology Recipients
Denton A. Cooley, MD, Founder, President and Surgeon- in-Chief, Texas Heart Institute
Team Award jointly to Kenneth L. Thompson and Dennis M. Ritchie, (Lucent Technologies' Bell Laboratories) in New Jersey
Team Award jointly to Robert T. Fraley, Robert B. Horsch, Ernest G. Jaworski and Stephen G. Rogers (Monsanto) in Missouri
Biogen, Inc. of Massachusetts
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company of New York
NASA Microgravity Biotechnology Awards Announced
NASA has announced 48 awards in microgravity biotechnology research. The selections, including 34 new projects and 14 continuation grants, were made from 165 proposals and total approximately $33 million. The total amount of the 48 awards was not available.
The research will permit researchers to Atake advantage of a low-gravity environment to improve understanding of fundamental physical and chemical processes associated with biotechnology,@ according to NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Science and Applications.
The grants include 40 ground-based research projects and eight flight-definition efforts. Awards were made in 20 states and the District of Columbia. The table below presents the number of grants made in each state by academic institutions, businesses, non-profit organizations and federal facilities. A list of winning project titles and organizations can be downloaded from: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/1998/98-217a.txt.
STATE
AWARDS
TOTAL
Academic
Company
Non-Profit
Federal
AL
8
3
2
0
3
CA
5
4
0
0
1
DC
1
0
0
0
1
FL
1
1
0
0
0
GA
1
1
0
0
0
IA
4
4
0
0
0
IN
1
1
0
0
0
MD
3
2
1
0
0
MA
1
1
0
0
0
MI
1
1
0
0
0
MO
1
1
0
0
0
MS
1
1
0
0
0
NC
2
2
0
0
0
NH
1
1
0
0
0
NY
2
1
0
1
0
OH
3
2
1
0
0
PA
1
1
0
0
0
TN
1
1
0
0
0
TX
7
5
0
1
1
VA
2
2
0
0
0
WI
1
1
0
0
0
TOTAL
48
36
4
2
6
Aircraft, Turbine and Label Manufacturers Announced as 1998 Baldrige Quality Award Winners
President Clinton recently announced the winners of the 1998 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Three companies C Boeing Airlift and Tanker Programs, Long Beach, Calif.; Solar Turbines Inc., San Diego, Calif.; and Texas Nameplate Co. Inc., Dallas, Texas C are being honored for their achievements in performance excellence. With 66 employees, Texas Nameplate Co., Inc. is the smallest company to ever received the award.
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was established by Congress in 1987 to enhance U.S. competitiveness by promoting quality awareness, recognizing quality and business achievements of U.S. companies, and publicizing these companies' successful performance. The program is managed by the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in conjunction with private industry. Since 1988, 34 companies have received the Baldrige Award.
Currently, Baldrige Awards are given in manufacturing, service, and small business. Starting in 1999, non-profit educational organizations and health care providers will be eligible to apply for the award.
Further information on the Baldrige National Quality Program is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.quality.nist.gov, or by calling (301) 975-2036.
NASA Microgravity Materials Science Research Opportunity Released
The NASA Office of Life and Microgravity Science and Applications has released a solicitation for proposals to support ground-based research and flight experiments for microgravity research in materials science. Participation is open to investigators in industry, educational institutions, other nonprofit organizations, NASA centers, and other U.S. Government agencies. NASA anticipates funding up to eight flight experiments for an average of $175,000/year and 70 ground-based experiments at an average of $100,000/year for up to 4 years.
The solicitation was released December 16 and is part of NASA's Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) Enterprise, which also supports research in aerospace medicine and life sciences. The last microgravity materials science research support was provided in 1996. NASA anticipates accepting proposals for microgravity research in materials science every two years.
Letters of Intent in response to the materials science research announcement are to be submitted by January 26, 1999; full proposals are due by 4:30 pm EST on March 16, 1999.
Copies of this or other current NASA Research Announcements may be downloaded from: http://peer1.idi.usra.edu/peer_review/nra/nra.html. Requests for programmatic information on the materials science solicitation may be directed to Dr. Michael Wargo at mwargo@hq.nasa.gov or 202/358-0827.
Siemens Creates High School Math & Science Program
Two programs to promote interest and excellence in high school math and science have been announced by the Siemens Corporation. The programs will award more than $1 million annually in scholarships and grants to students, teachers and high schools.
The newly created Siemens Foundation will recognize and support the most promising math and science students in the country and collaborate with major U.S. research universities to host, promote, and judge the regional Siemens Westinghouse Science and Technology Competition and coordinate research internship opportunities for qualified students.
The first-ever Siemens Awards for Advanced Placement were given to:
26 high school students in 14 states
CA, CO, FL, IN, MA, MD, NC, NM, NY, OH, OK, SC, TX, VA
20 teachers in 13 states
AZ, CA, CT, IL, MA, NC, NH, NJ, OH, TN, TX, WA, WI, and
10 high schools in seven states
CA, CT, FL, IL, NC, NY, TX.
For more information, visit the Siemens Foundation web site at www.siemens-foundation.org
SSTI Releases 3rd Program Brief: California RTAs Highlighted
The State Science and Technology Institute (SSTI) has released its most recent publication, California's Regional Technology Alliances. This is the third in a series of Program Briefs designed to highlight states' experiences with various initiatives.
The Regional Technology Alliances (RTA) program was initially designed to provide matching funds for California projects applying for funding from the Technology Reinvestment Project. The RTAs have since developed into organizations that provide technology-based companies with access to technical and business service providers, information on current and upcoming state and federal funding opportunities and technology assistance programs.
The RTAs, which are located in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego, also seek to facilitate technology transfer from government laboratories to and among local companies, link smaller companies with larger firms, and assist emerging companies in finding sources of equity financing.
Other publications in the Program Brief series are Maryland's Investment Financing Programs and Kansas' Commercialization Centers. The series is available for downloading from the SSTI web site at http://www.ssti.org/
Economic Development Director Sought
West Virginia University is seeking candidates to fill the newly created, high-profile position of Economic Development Director and Senior Advisor to the WVU leadership. He/she will be the primary WVU spokesperson for economic development with the mission to maximize the impact of WVU on West Virginia's economy. Review of applications will begin January 15, 1999. Additional information, including application procedures, are available at http//www.wvu.edu/~exten/. The complete job posting is available on the SSTI website at http://www.ssti.org.
As of January 6, 1999, our new address will be:
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