- Winston-Salem Plans 10-fold Expansion of Biotech Research Park
- Southern Innovation Index Tracks Innovation, Entrepreneurship in South
- Biggest TBED Event Still Growing — Early Deadline Looms
- Computer Science, Engineering Subject of CRA Survey
- Useful Stats: Chronicle Releases Annual Almanac of Higher Education
- People
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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Winston-Salem Plans 10-fold Expansion of Biotech Research Park
North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley was recently joined by Congressional, university, and local and business representatives last week in announcing a 180-acre expansion of Piedmont Triad Research Park in downtown Winston-Salem. The biotech park will include a new research campus for Wake Forest University School of Medicine.Richard H. Dean, M.D., president and CEO of Wake Forest University Health Sciences (WFUHS), described the multimillion-dollar initiative as "a major commitment to transform our economy from one driven by manufacturing to one led by technology."
The park currently covers a five-block area and includes four multi-story buildings, more than 20 tenants, approximately 600 employees, and a total payroll approaching $25 million. The acreage of the proposed expansion is more than 10 times the size of the current park and would be in close proximity to both Winston-Salem State University and Salem College.
The expanded research park will be available for a variety of uses, including additional research centers — both academic and privately operated — technology start-up companies and small businesses, laboratory operations, retail businesses and restaurants.
Dean said that the medical school's new research campus will be used for fundamental and clinical research and eventually educational purposes. The school's Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and Physician Assistant Program already are located in the research park. Dean said the new research campus will serve as a magnet to draw other interests to the park.
A key piece of the real estate acquisition was a donation of 10 acres by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Research park master planners are studying the best possible use for the land and facilities. The initial site plan and usage assessment for the land is scheduled to be completed by Spring 2003.
More information is available at: http://www.ptrp.org/
Southern Innovation Index Tracks Innovation, Entrepreneurship in South
The Southern Innovation Index, a strategic plan created with the governments of 13 Southern states and Puerto Rico to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth in the South, has been released by the Southern Growth Policies Board, a bipartisan public policy group based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.The index identifies 56 benchmarks and 10-year targets for each of the Southern Growth member states — Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico — to track the progress of technology and innovation initiatives in the region. It includes state-by-state data and summaries relative to the publication's primary goals:
- Creating a culture of learning throughout the South, in which the acquisition, creation and application of knowledge is viewed as central to health, happiness and prosperity; and,
- Encouraging and supporting innovation and entrepreneurship.
Several benchmarks and targets included in The Southern Innovation Index track the region's progress in performing research and development (R&D) in the industrial, university and government sectors. The index also contains an analysis of the region's R&D share in the last four decades, drawing on data from the National Science Foundation.
While the South's share of both federal and university R&D steadily increased in 30 years, the index shows, the region experienced a decline in industrially-performed R&D share during the same time period. Industry-performed R&D is the largest of the three R&D categories, accounting for more than 75 percent of the nation's total R&D.
A long-term initiative of the Southern Growth Policies Board and the Southern Technology Council (STC), The Southern Innovation Index is the third installment in a series of Invented Here reports. Invented Here: Transforming the Southern Economy, released in 2001, provided the groundwork for setting state goals and benchmarks. Subsequent to the release of the report, The Southern Innovation Index will become an on-line database that can be updated regularly.
For a full copy of the report, contact Leigh Ann Wilder, at lwilder@southern.org.
Biggest TBED Event Still Growing — Early Deadline Looms
The amount of time a technology-based economic development (TBED) professional can spend out of the office for professional development is limited. So are travel funds. That's why SSTI packs so much into its annual conference — already the largest event in the country dedicated to improving state, local and regional TBED efforts.And the premier conference for the field keeps growing. Since the agenda was printed, one session and additional speakers have been added to the October 2-3 event in Dearborn, Michigan (see below). Building Tech-based Economies: From Policy to Practice is two full days with more than 30 breakout and plenary sessions specifically tailored to meet the professional development needs of those interested in TBED. The updated conference agenda and speaker bios are available on SSTI's website: http://www.ssti.org/conference02.htm [expired]
How Did They Do It?
Few new TBED initiatives have generated as much discussion and surprise across the country as New York's July announcement regarding the $400-million Sematech North (see the July 19 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest). Kelly Lovell, President of Albany's Center for Economic Growth, will provide an inside look on how New York pulled off the field's biggest coup of the year.Tick, Tick, Tick,
Time is running out to save money on your registration for SSTI's annual conference. The early registration deadline is September 6. While Building Tech-based Economies: From Policy to Practice is still the field's best educational bargain at full price, why not save a little cash by getting your registration in before the deadline?More information on the updated schedule and the secure-site registration form are available at: http://www.ssti.org/conference02.htm [expired]
Computer Science, Engineering Subject of CRA Survey
Enrollment in graduate-level computer science and computer engineering (CS&CE) programs continued to grow in 2000-01 as the number of new undergraduates majoring in CS&CE declined, according to a survey released earlier this year by the Computing Research Association (CRA).The annual CRA Taulbee Survey of Ph.D.-granting CS&CE departments in the U.S. and Canada discusses trends in enrollment, production, and employment of Ph.D. degrees in CS&CE and provides salary and demographic data for faculty in CS&CE. Except for faculty salary information, which is presented for the current year, data are given for the preceding academic year.
The 31st Taulbee Survey reveals the number who entered Ph.D. programs in Fall 2001 increased from 2,062 to 2,702 (31 percent). Meanwhile, those who passed qualifiers increased from 1,119 to 1,244 (11 percent), and those who passed their thesis proposal exams increased from 788 to 917 (16 percent). Total Ph.D. enrollments increased from 7,857 to 8,810 (12 percent) in 2001.
Newly declared CS&CE undergraduate majors experienced a decline, however. Taulbee Survey data show the number of new undergraduates decreased by nearly 1 percent, from 23,416 to 23,090.
"Perhaps the decline in the technology industry is making computer science and engineering less alluring to new undergraduates," the authors say. "In addition, some programs may be operating in 'saturation' mode, where they simply cannot accept more undergraduate majors given their teaching resources."
Other survey highlights include:
- Slightly more Ph.D. degrees were granted in 2001 than in the previous academic year. The 912 Ph.D. degrees awarded in 2001 by the 173 responding departments reflects a 4 percent increase over the previous year's total, 881, which was the lowest number in more than 10 years.
- Master's degrees were awarded to 8,266 students, an increase of 26 percent. Bachelor’s degrees numbered 17,048, an increase of 15 percent. And,
- Average salaries increased by 5 percent to 7 percent for different categories of faculty, similar to the previous year.
CRA is comprised of more than 200 North American organizations active in computing research. The Taulbee Survey is named after the late Orrin E. Taulbee of the University of Pittsburgh, who conducted the survey from 1974 to 1984 for the Computer Science Board, which was the predecessor organization to CRA. Final survey results are provided in each March issue of Computing Research News, a newsletter published five times a year by CRA.
The 31st Taulbee Survey is available at: http://www.cra.org/statistics/
Useful Stats: Chronicle Releases Annual Almanac of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education has released online the 2002-3 Almanac of Higher Education, an annual collection of facts and figures about U.S. colleges and universities. Published annually at the end of August, the Almanac includes data on students, professors, administrators, institutions, and their resources, as well as state-by-state profiles of higher education in the U.S.Included in the Almanac's overview is a look at college enrollment trends, demographics, faculty pay, tuition and fees. The Almanac uses several tables to illustrate such statistical indicators as average tuition and fees, expenditures, state appropriations, state spending on student aid, research spending by universities, and federal funds for research at colleges and universities.
The Almanac's faculty and staff section provides a search engine for researching average faculty salaries arranged by academic rank at more than 1,400 colleges, universities, and multicampus systems in 2001-2. Users may narrow their search by choosing a state and selecting the type of institution — doctoral, comprehensive, baccalaureate, or two-year colleges with ranks. Results can then be sorted alphabetically or by salary type (professor, associate professor, assistant professor or instructor). Links to previous years' data and related articles published in 2002 in the Chronicle, such as "Faculty Salaries Rise, For Now," accompany the section.
Online access to much of the Almanac of Higher Education is restricted to registered Chronicle subscribers. The Almanac is available at: http://chronicle.com/free/almanac/2002/nation/nation_index.htm#resources
- Jerald Coughter, industry director for biotechnology and medical applications for Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), has been named executive director of Governor Mark R. Warner’s Advisory Board for the Virginia Biotechnology Initiative.
- Ray Gilley, president of Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, has been appointed chairman of Workforce Florida.
- Caroline Young has been named executive director of the Tennessee Biotechnology Association and director of the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation's life science initiative.
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