In the June 7, 2002 Issue:

Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2003. 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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More Undergraduates Fit "Nontraditional" Profile, NCES Report Shows
The U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has released its annual progress report on education, The Condition of Education 2002, presenting 44 indicators on the conditions and trends in elementary, secondary and postsecondary education. In one of two special analyses, the report focuses on the experience of nontraditional college students, who comprise the majority of college students today.

Analysis of NCES's National Postsecondary Student Aid Study shows that almost 75 percent of undergraduate students are in some way nontraditional. Only 27 percent of college students fit the "traditional" profile of a college student: a high school graduate who has gone directly from high school to college, who attends school full-time and does not hold a full-time job, who is financially dependent on his or her family and who has no spouse or other dependents.

Nontraditional students seeking bachelor's and associate's degrees are also less likely to attain their degree goal within five years and more likely to leave postsecondary education than traditional students, the report suggests. Nearly two-thirds of the most highly nontraditional students — those having four or more nontraditional characteristics — were found in public 2-year institutions.

The Condition of Education 2002 also highlights findings such as the mixed results in student performance on state, national and international assessments over the past decade; the significant disparity in student performance between schools with low and high poverty populations; and the changing racial and ethnic composition of public school students as the percentage of minority students continues to grow.

Drawing together data from NCES's education surveys and other governmental surveys, the congressionally mandated report shows student mathematics performance outpaces performance in science.

According to data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), eighth-graders' performance in mathematics increased over the past decade, but in science it has remained the same since 1996. Section Two of the NCES report reveals that among the 36 states and other jurisdictions whose students took the state NAEP (a component of NAEP that allows between-state comparisons to be made for participating states' student scores), significant improvement in mathematics occurred in 27 states and jurisdictions, and none experienced declines in average scores (Table 10-3). In contrast, Table 12-3 present scores in science, for which only three states demonstrated improvement. The Condition of Education 2002 is available at: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/wnew.asp?1

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New Hampshire Lays Out Local Potential for Biotech
Besides supporting life science research in universities, one of the other key areas states and communities are using to encourage the growth of a local biotech industry is by supporting an increase in the availability of wet lab and other biotech facilities. Biotech space, however, is extremely expensive compared to other traditional tech incubator facilities for a variety of reasons (design, HVAC, environmental, security, regulatory, etc.)

New Hampshire Biotechnology Business Incubator Feasibility Study, a very detailed report released by the State of New Hampshire, presents a critical assessment of New Hampshire's ability to support technology-related business incubators, with emphasis on biotechnology facilities connected to universities such as Dartmouth College and the University of New Hampshire (UNH).

While the plan was funded by the state's Department of Resources and Economic Development, the effort was designed to search for, and outline in detail, a strategy to develop a stronger local biotech industry with minimal state funding support or involvement.

The study outlines how sustainable technology business incubation may work toward commercialization of S&T-based innovations in biotech, biomedical, environmental and life sciences in the state. By leveraging significant intellectual capital already available in New Hampshire, the study observes, the state could adopt a development strategy that would create jobs and clean industries. Programs focused on biotechnology and biomedical entrepreneurship could then spur improved healthcare products and services, boost the relevance of New Hampshire's academic institutions, and "better leverage the state's significant R&D resources and existing infrastructure."

Using eight main categories, or criteria, the study ranks the New Hampshire communities of the Upper Valley and Seacoast Region as the state's best potential locations for high-tech business incubation programs. Dartmouth supports the Upper Valley, while UNH and the New Hampshire Community Technical College support the Seacoast Region. These communities were determined to be most suitable for starting biosciences oriented facilities, as they met the criteria:

The authors recommend the State of New Hampshire implement the above criteria as "guidelines for assessing communities seeking future funding for high technology incubator development." And, to better provide manufacturing infrastructure for graduating companies, the authors recommend that proposed incubators be connected with the state's manufacturing oriented regions.

The report also includes a real estate report assessing existing buildings and raw land for viability to support strategic placement of biotech facilities, technology parks, and other ancillary facilities to foster a stronger biotech industry. Even proposed development budgets, financial projections, projected timelines for the selected regions are provided to assess the cost-benefit of undertaking the strategy.

New Hampshire Biotechnology Business Incubator Feasibility Study is available as an HTML document <http://NHBiotech.com/Incubator/index.php> and a PDF <http://www.dartmouth.edu/~denet/pdfs/feasibility_study_8b.pdf>.

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SBIR/STTR Rural Outreach Awards Made
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has selected 10 states to receive continuation awards of up to $47,000 for the SBIR/STTR Rural Outreach Program. The three-year-old program provides matching grants to states to establish or expand programs to assist small high technology businesses to increase their participation and success in SBIR and STTR programs through training, counseling and outreach.

Of the 25 eligible states, the recipients — Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming — were found by an outside peer review panel to be the top performers based on FY 2001 performance reports.

The narrow award pool and more rigorous review process resulted from the 67 percent cut in the FY 2002 Congressional appropriations for the Rural Outreach Program. The FY 2001 budget for the program was $1.5 million, while the FY 2002 budget was $500,000.

Maurice Swinton, SBA Assistant Administrator of the Office of Technology, reports the period of performance for the FY 2002 Rural Outreach Program awards will run from January, 2002, through December, 2002. A new competition for FY 2003 awards, open to all 25 eligible states, will be conducted in late September or early October 2002, pending Congressional appropriation of FY 2003 funding.

SBA requested continuation funding of $500,000 for the program in FY 2003. For the Administration to provide larger awards to more of the eligible states, Congress would have to appropriate more than the $500,000 requested.

More information on the Rural Outreach Program is available on the SBA website: http://www.sba.gov/sbir/ or from Cherina Hunter at: Cherina.Hunter@sba.gov

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State Fiscal Crisis Gets Uglier
Christmas or Hanukkah for state coffers usually comes in April as taxpayers rush to meet the deadline for filing personal tax returns. Unfortunately, according to the latest survey released by the National Conference of State Legislatures this week, State Fiscal Update-June 2002, states collected $8.6 billion less in individual tax collections this April than a year ago. Much of the drop — 21 percent overall — came in final income tax payments, which fell nearly 29 percent compared to last year.

Data collected by the survey reveals that immediate relief is not forthcoming. Estimated tax payments, considered to be a harbinger of expected receipts in the year ahead, are running nearly 27 percent behind the first four months of 2001.

Only three states, Arizona, Vermont and West Virginia, reported increases in estimated payments.

A state-by-state breakdown of individual income tax receipts was compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Federation of Tax Administrators, the National Association of State Budget Officers and the Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York at Albany.

The full report, State Fiscal Update-June 2002, is available at: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/fiscal/sfo2002.pdf

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Study Finds Increasing Women Engineers Depends on School, Peer Support
Comprising a majority of the U.S. workforce, women make up only 8.5 percent of the nation's engineers. A number of programs have been launched over the past decade to recruit more women into the field, and while women now represent 20 percent of all engineering students, women remain more likely than men to switch out of the field, particularly in the first two years of college, concludes a recently released study.

The Women's Experiences in College Engineering (WECE) Project reveals female engineering students are most encouraged by a support network of peers, faculty and advisors, when it comes to pursuing a degree in their field. Funded by the National Science Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the study results suggest efforts to improve female students' self-confidence and to strengthen the school's support climate positively affect whether women persist in obtaining engineering degrees and entering the workforce as engineers.

A three-year study, the WECE Project surveyed as many as 25,000 women across 53 colleges and universities to better understand the experiences of women engineering students, their persistence in the field, and participation in formal Women In Engineering (WIE) support activities. The project is the first cross-institutional, longitudinal examination of undergraduate women's experiences and retention or persistence in engineering majors programs. WECE participants completed a 220-question online survey as part of the project.

Among the findings, almost 75 percent of women who identified themselves as stayers during the first year of the study said their peers encouraged them to pursue engineering. Nearly 60 percent of stayers said they were encouraged by faculty, and more than 57 percent named advisors. At 64.2 percent, stayers also said environmental factors such as challenge encouraged them to pursue their field.

A majority of female engineering students who self-identified as leavers said time (57 percent) and disappointment with the school's program discouraged them from pursuing engineering. Less than a combined 35 percent of responding leavers said they were discouraged by such people groups as peers, faculty and advisors.

Disappointment with grades, despite two-thirds of leavers having A or B averages in their engineering-related courses in the previous year, was cited as one of the most significant reasons for leaving. Low self-confidence appears again in that female "students compared themselves more negatively to male peers than to female peers in understanding engineering concepts, solving engineering problems, commitment to engineering and confidence in their engineering abilities."

The WECE study offers these conclusions:

The WECE project was conducted by the Goodman Research Group, Inc., a research firm based in Cambridge, MA. A downloadable PDF of the WECE project is available at: http://www.grginc.com/reportsandpubs.html. Color copies of the full project report and the executive summary are separately available for purchase, also.

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Useful Stats: S&E Grad Students
The National Science Foundation has released Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering: Fall 2000, a collection of 54 detailed statistical tables present the distribution of graduate students in science and engineering (S&E) across population segments, fields of science or engineering and by college and state.

Nationally, there were 414,570 graduate S&E students in 2000, up less than one percent from the previous year. The tables report California, New York, Texas and Illinois had the most graduate S&E students in science and engineering in 2000.

To standardize the data for comparison across states, SSTI has prepared the accompanying table <http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/060702t.htm> presenting the amount of academic R&D spending in each state per graduate S&E student. The results show Alaska, at $179,928, has the most R&D expenditures per student, followed closely by Maryland at $167,599, before dropping sharply to Hawaii at $114,235. The national average academic spending per graduate S&E student in 2000 was $72,506.60. New Hampshire, Washington, Georgia, North Carolina, Vermont, Missouri, and Maine round off the top 10.

While presenting the data in a different light than typical standardizations, the student figures exclude 80,000 students in health fields; the academic R&D does not omit health related R&D. Unfortunately, none of the tables in Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering: Fall 2000 present figures for graduate students in the health field by state or institution.

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TBED Programs Changing with the Times
Economic downturns have a way of encouraging states, universities and communities to assess, refine and re-invigorate their strategies to promote growth and prosperity. The current recession is no exception. With the widely recognized roles played by science and technology in economic success, the news of changes and additions to tech-based economic development strategies from across the country is not too surprising. Here are some recent highlights:

Alabama
The Alabama Dept. of Economic & Community Affairs (ADECA), in partnership with BizTech, Huntsville's technology-based business incubator, has launched an e-mentoring program for SBIR applicants. The program, funded in part through the state's FAST award, is a web-based coaching program to help SBIR and STTR applicants increase their competitiveness and create better proposals with help from previous SBIR winners called E-Mentors. Experienced entrepreneurs and SBIR veterans, the E-Mentors provide strategic guidance, advising, and counseling but not consultation-type services like writing proposals or work plans.

Arizona
The Arizona Republic reported the Arizona Department of Commerce has established the Office of Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship as part of its most recent reorganization. The paper adds Sandra Watson, named to direct the office, is meeting with the state tech-based economic development community to assess their needs and define the new office's activities.

Arkansas
The University of Arkansas' new Innovation Incubator Program signed its first two companies, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Funded through a three-year, $840,000 grant from the National Science Foundation's Partnerships for Innovation program, the incubator program will perform proof-of-concept research for private individuals, state and regional companies interested in expanding or starting a small business. Each start-up receives a $30,000 grant, which includes the cost of a graduate student to work for the company on research evaluation, and a $10,000 credit for the company's use for on-campus research.

California
EC2, the six-year-old non-profit internet/tech business incubator and media research center focusing on digital technology at the University of Southern California, is closing effective June 30, reports the June 6 Los Angeles Times. The $1.5 million operating cost for the facility was born by the Annenberg Center for Communication and declining investment yields for the Center's foundation forced the re-evaluation of the strategy, the article asserts. The Los Angeles Regional Technology Alliance located at the facility will be relocating with EC2's closure.

Michigan
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced the 18 projects to share this year's portion of the state's $1 billion, 20-year life sciences commitment. Totaling $45 million, the projects include $14.7 million in additional funding for the Core Technology Alliance (CTA), a consortium of five Michigan universities and research facility laboratories that provide cutting edge technology services to the state's life sciences community. This year's award represents the continuation of an approximately $67 million, five-year commitment from the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor Fund. Other awards target applied research, demonstration and commercialization projects, including funding to organizations that provide seed capital for start-up life science companies.

Mississippi
The Biloxi Sun Herald reports the Mississippi Technology Alliance is launching a quarterly magazine in July to help tell the state's story in science and technology. The magazine, titled Point Innovation, will have an initial circulation of approximately 30,000.

Ohio
Ohio University is one of several key investors in Adena Ventures, a $34 million venture capital enterprise created to provide equity investments and operational assistance to small businesses operating in central Appalachia. The fund, the first created through the SBA's New Markets Venture Capital program, will focus on 29 Appalachian counties of southern and eastern Ohio, the state of West Virginia, the three Appalachian counties of western Maryland, and the quadrant of Kentucky lying to the east of I-75 and north of I-64.

Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Capital Investment Board has approved an investment of $1.5 million into Emergent Technologies Oklahoma, LP to provide seed capital to start-up biomedical companies created as spin-offs from university-generated research. The fund, which will cap out at $5 million, is the 11th supported by the $100 million state authority since its establishment in 1991.

Tennessee
The Technology Leadership Center, a two-year-old pilot partnership between the Tennessee Technology Development Corp and the University of Tennessee, has ended with the graduation of 26 students — at least temporarily, according to the Knoxville News-Sentinel. The entrepreneurship course allowed students to study and experience all aspects of starting a technology business through becoming an actual owner/operator. The article reports students in the class, which met once a week for two years, launched 13 companies, negotiated eight licenses from Oak Ridge National Laboratory for technology commercialization, and secured $470,000 in federal grants and contracts. Despite the success, the article states, the program is not being continued, because the two-year track does not fit the new, abbreviated 18-month MBA program offered by the university.

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