In the September 4, 2006 Issue:

Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2006. 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.

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USDA Pushes Bio-based Products through Federal Purchasing Power
Launching a revolutionary market-defining product like the iPod is one thing, but commercializing consumer products built on revolutionary manufacturing processes or new material composition have a much tougher time breaking into existing markets unless the new product comes with a significant cost-savings for consumers or quality improvement that warrants the expense. This is particularly true for technologies, services and products built on an energy conservation, waste minimization or other renewable/green platform.

An item that either addresses a public good or reduces a social cost (i.e. reducing health costs by reducing air pollution caused in the products manufacture) often has a difficult time remaining on the market because sufficient demand is not in place early enough in the products commercial life to achieve the economies of scale in production and mass distribution.

These situations are times when government intervention in the market can be beneficial through incentives like tax credits or rebates for the purchase of hybrid vehicles. Such regulation as mandatory ethanol content requirements in gasoline can also be an effective tool, although it is typically less well received.

Another positive approach for governments to support market penetration of environmentally friendly products is through the government purchasing or procurement process. The latest example was announced Aug. 17 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Through its Federal Biobased Products Preferred Procurement Program, the agency issued two rules to designate 20 items that must receive special consideration by all federal agencies when making purchases.  

USDA published the first final rule designating six items for preferred procurement in March 2006. Federal agencies must give preference to designated bio-based products in government purchases within one year of publication of the final designation rule.

The two proposed rules published in the Aug. 17, 2006, Federal Register designate 20 items, which are generic groupings of bio-based products. The new items include: adhesive and mastic removers, insulating foam for wall construction, hand cleaners and sanitizers, composite panels, fluid-filled transformers, biodegradable containers, fertilizers, metalworking fluids, sorbents, graffiti and grease removers, two-cycle engine oils, lipcare products, biodegradable films, stationary equipment hydraulic fluids, biodegradable cutlery, glass cleaners, greases, dust suppressants, carpets, and carpet and upholstery cleaners.

The public is invited to react to the proposed rules during a 60-day comment period.

Technical information to support each proposed rule is available at the Federal Biobased Products Preferred Procurement Program website: www.biobased.oce.usda.gov. The website also contains a catalog listing the qualifying bio-based products that manufacturers have posted under each designated grouping of products.

USDA has a goal of providing 1,500 bio-based products preferential status through the two new rules.

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NSF Pumps $75M into New ERCs
Synthetic biology, quality of life technologies, fluid power, mid-infrared technologies, and structured organic composites are the five technology areas supported through the new Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) awards announced by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The centers will share $75.3 million to develop cross-disciplinary research programs advancing technologies that address major societal problems and provide the basis for new industries.

For more than two decades, the ERC program has fostered interdisciplinary research and education collaborations, in close partnership with industry, based on the realities of technological innovation and the development of new products and services. States often incorporate ERCs and state-sponsored university-industry research centers into their tech-based economic development strategies. In each center, scientists and engineers from a variety of disciplines collaborate on broad-based high-risk engineering research, developing fundamental engineering knowledge and test beds for important emerging technologies.

NSF supports ERCs for up to 10 years while the centers develop a strong network of collaborations with industry leaders and a base of financial support that can sustain the centers after graduating from the NSF program. With the new awards, NSF supports a total of 22 ERCs in the fields of bioengineering; earthquake engineering; design, manufacturing and processing systems; microelectronic and optical systems and information technology.

Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center (SynBERC)
SynBERC will focus on synthetic biology, fabricating new biological components and assembling them into integrated, miniature devices and systems such as microbial drug factories or tools for seeking out and destroying cancerous tumors, pollutants or airborne warfare agents.

SynBERC is based at the University of California at Berkeley, in partnership with Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Prairie View A&M University, and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). The ERC will also partner with the University of California Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) and the California Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) at Berkeley and UCSF to increase involvement of underrepresented minority students in the field.

The ERC has industry partners that include 12 firms committed to membership and representing suppliers of genetic tools and custom DNA components, pharmaceutical and chemical firms, and firms interested in developing simulation software and computational tools. Venture capital firms will advise SynBERC on start-up business opportunities.

Quality of Life Technology Engineering Research Center (QoLT)
QoLT will develop a range of technologies that will allow people with limited mobility or other physical and mental restrictions to live more independent and productive lives. Working in design partnerships with older adults, people with disabilities and their care providers, the ERC will target new technologies to advance machine perception, intelligent robotics and miniaturization to craft devices ranging from wearable health monitors for older people to novel "intelligent" home systems that allow people with restricting disabilities to operate household appliances or drive a car.

QoLT is based at Carnegie Mellon University with the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) as its core partner. Through this partnership, the center engages faculty from Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute, and the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy & Management, along with the Pitt Center of Assistive Technology in the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, Pitt's Human Engineering Research Laboratories at Highland Drive VA Medical Center, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and several residential and institutional facilities for older adults and people with disabilities. To increase the diversity of engineers and scientists engaged in this field, the ERC will partner with the Florida/Georgia LSAMP, Chatham College, Howard University and Lincoln University.

Industry partners include 18 companies representing various fields, including robotics, medical devices, consumer electronics, information technology and assistive technology.

Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CEFP)
CEFP will develop compact, low cost next-generation, fluid-powered devices -- systems that use pressurized liquids or gases to transmit power. Researchers intend to develop a range of new technologies, such as hybrid vehicles with efficient fluid power components and wearable fluid-power assisted devices that run for extended periods without external energy sources -- ideal mobility aids for people with disabilities or power sources for compact machines such as rescue robots.

CEFP is based at University of Minnesota in partnership with the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Purdue University and Vanderbilt University. Outreach universities include the Milwaukee School of Engineering and North Carolina A&T State University (NCAT). Outreach institutions include the National Fluid Power Association, Project Lead the Way, and the Science Museum of Minnesota. The ERC will form partnerships with the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Partnership (LSAMP) headquartered at NCAT, the Tennessee LSAMP headquartered at Tennessee State University, and the AGEP headquartered at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Industry partners will augment NSF funding with $3 million. With help from the National Fluid Power Association, more than 50 companies have agreed to provide support for the research center.

Mid-Infrared Technologies for Health and the Environment (MIRTHE)
MIRTHE researchers will develop technologies that use mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers as the backbone for a wide range of next-generation air-monitoring sensors. Mid-infrared light reveals the presence of key gas molecules - such as carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane, and benzene - to specialized sensors. Such sensors have the potential to be accurate, extremely compact, affordable and easy for non-specialists to operate.

MIRTHE is based at Princeton University in partnership with Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), Rice University, Texas A&M University and the City College of New York.

The center is collaborating with dozens of industrial partners and several educational outreach partners, including the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, a competitive program at UMBC that challenges gifted, underrepresented minority students to become leading research scientists and engineers, the UMBC and Rice University AGEPs, LSAMPs, Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education and others.

Engineering Research Center for Structured Organic Composites (C-SOC)
C-SOC will study the nature of finely ground granular materials and other substances that form the core of drug tablets, processed foods, agricultural chemicals and other "composite organic" products. In addition to improving the quality and consistency of such materials, the center will develop more consistent and cost-effective manufacturing techniques than methods based largely on trial and error.

C-SOC is based at Rutgers University in partnership with the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Purdue University and the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez. Outreach partners include the City University of New York (CUNY) AGEP; the Midwest Crossroads AGEP; the University of Puerto Rico AGEP; and the Indiana, Puerto Rico, and CUNY/NYC LSAMPs. Pre-college outreach programs include high schools near the partner universities in New Jersey, Indiana, and Puerto Rico and a vocational high school in Puerto Rico.

Industry partners include 28 companies that are providing a total of $2.5 million in research funding in the first year. They include pharmaceutical and food manufacturers along with suppliers of manufacturing and analytical equipment.

More information on the NSF Engineering Research Center program is available at http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5502 or through the ERC Association at http://www.erc-assoc.org.

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Useful Stats
Continuing Free Fall: Industry Share of Academic R&D by State, 2004
In each of the last five years, the percentage of U.S. academic R&D supported by industry has declined. Real dollar expenditures also have declined to only $2.107 billion. NSF wrote in an April 2006 Issue Brief, "The industrial sector is the first source of academic R&D funding to show a multiyear decline since the survey began, in FY 1953... Industry's share of academic R&D support in FY 2004 equaled its share in FY 1983, at 4.9 percent."

Understanding the reasons behind the trend are important before too many conclusions are drawn but one may ask: Should state and local policymakers for TBED be developing approaches to change the direction of the trend?

Probably.

Using the National Science Foundation's Survey of Research and Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges, FY 2004, SSTI has prepared two tables: the Aug. 21 table presented in the Digest that compiles the change for statistic in each state during the five-year period 2000-2004 and a new table presenting industry's share of total academic R&D expenditures in 2004 by state. Rankings are also included. [Editor's Note: The Aug. 21 table has been updated to reflect updated data for previous years. Our thanks to Harry Andrist of the Ohio Board of Regents for bringing the updated data to our attention.]
 
The U.S. as a whole had an average of 4.91 percent of their total 2004 academic R&D expenditures funded by industrial sources. Twenty states showed a percentage greater than the national average, with Alaska leading the nation at 11.56 percent. North Carolina (10.52 percent), Hawaii (8.80 percent), Pennsylvania (7.04 percent), Indiana (6.56 percent), Nebraska (6.45 percent), Massachusetts (6.10 percent), Virginia (6 percent), Arizona (5.98 percent) and Vermont (5.93 percent) complete the top 10.
 
SSTI's table showing all 50 states and the District of Columbia's industry share of 2004 academic R&D expenditures can be found at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/090406t.htm

Updated 2003 data is available at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/091905t.htm
 
For 2000-02 data, please visit: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/083004t.htm

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Transforming Regional Economies: A Peek at the Conference Agenda
SSTI's is very excited to be holding its 10th Annual Conference in Oklahoma City, Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2006. The event has become the premier professional development experience for the tech-based economic development community, the only event to bring together representatives from every aspect of transforming state, regional and local economies through science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.

One of the most respected elements of the conference each year is the series of 20-24 intimate breakout sessions that allow participants to explore the more important issues of tech-based economic development with their peers from around the country. The conversations are educational and advanced, stimulating new approaches and ideas to take home to your local or state TBED efforts. The full agenda will be released soon, but SSTI is pleased to give regular Digest readers the first peek at just some of the topics to be included at this year's conference:

More details on this year's conference are available on SSTI's Conference website:  http://www.ssti.org/conference06.htm

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Job Corner
Griffin Seeks Director of Laboratory Operations and Applications Development
Griffin Analytical Technologies, LLC, a producer of premium chemical detection systems, is seeking a director of laboratory operations and applications development. Griffin serves U.S. Departments of Defense and Homeland Security applications, environmental health and safety monitoring, and research and teaching laboratories. The director will manage the workflow of Griffins labs, manage a staff of five, support research programs, and support sales and marketing efforts. A Ph.D. degree is preferred. Applicants also should have experience in mass spectrometry, seven or more years of related laboratory work, and at least three years of laboratory management experience. More information on this opportunity is available through the SSTI Job Corner at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

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