SSTI Digest

To help the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) prepares its next five-year research strategic plan, FTA invites stakeholders from across the country to participate in the crafting of the plan by providing ideas and other comments to establish a framework to guide how the federal entity prioritizes and invests in research activities over the next several years. Stakeholders are encouraged to visit FTA’s online dialogue to post an idea; review, comment, and vote on others’ input; and, provide specific feedback to FTA’s questions.  

On July 25, the Small Business Administration (SBA) released a framework that allows qualifying small and disadvantaged businesses to obtain developmental assistance from mentor companies (both large and small businesses) and form joint ventures with those mentors to pursue government contracts. The new small business mentor-protégé program allows mentors to provide technical/management assistance, financial assistance, trade education and/or assistance in performing prime contracts with federal agencies through joint venture arrangements for up to three years. Under the rules of the program, mentors may own up to 40 percent of the protégé. Mentors may have up to three protégés under the new program. Read the final rules…

A recent National Institutes of Health-funded study by the National Academy of Sciences identifies how “science literacy” has been defined in research and the role this construct plays in attitudes about scientific research and funding. The 138-page report finds that science literacy has been measured many different ways but that the concept does not seem to directly affect attitudes toward science generally or in specific subjects.

Startup failure is the rule, not the exception. However, much startup ”failure” includes businesses that made a workable product and grew — just not fast enough to attract venture capital. A hybrid venture capital-private equity approach is trying to identify these slower-growing businesses as part of an investment model that may provide an exit strategy for spurned startups throughout the country.

National business R&D intensity, as measured by business R&D expenditures as a share of gross product, increased by 6.6 percent from 2010 to 2013, according to SSTI’s analysis of recently released National Science Foundation (NSF) data. In total, business R&D intensity was nearly 1.9 percent in 2013, up from less than 1.8 percent in 2010. The states where business R&D expenditures were the largest share of gross state product were California, Massachusetts, and Delaware, while business R&D intensity grew the most from 2010 to 2013 in Washington, D.C., Maine, and Kentucky.

U.S. companies continue to emphasize innovation, as private performance of R&D increased for the fourth consecutive year, according to recently released data from the National Science Foundation. In total, U.S. businesses performed 6.7 percent more R&D in 2013 than in 2012, according to the data, and nearly 19 percent more R&D from 2010 to 2013. Combined, the top 10 states performed approximately two-thirds (65.3 percent) of all private research and development in the United States, led by California, whose $89.4 billion in corporate R&D performance accounted for 27.7 percent of the national total.

Despite global headwinds, advanced industries expanded in the United States from 2013 to 2015, according to a recent report from the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. Nearly two-thirds of this growth came from only seven sectors, led by tech services and automobile manufacturing, according to the report. Tennessee, Georgia, and Michigan saw advanced industry employment rise the most from 2013 to 2015.

Over the last few weeks, Indiana and Michigan have announced the launch of manufacturing-focused innovation centers to help transform manufacturing sectors that are long-standing drivers of economic prosperity in their respective state into 21st century global hubs for manufacturing innovation. In partnership with key local industry partners, these centers are intended to help spur job creation while reimaging the role of manufacturing in their state through innovation. Purdue University in Indiana and its public/private-sector partners want to capitalize on the strength of the state’s composites manufacturing sector by launching a new manufacturing innovation institute focused on the advanced manufacturing of composite materials. In Michigan, automakers have partnered with the state and other groups to support the future of transportation through two automotive-focused innovation centers.

On August 10, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed an extensive economic development bill (HB 4569) into law. The new economic development law, An Act Relative to Job Creation and Workforce Development, will provide up to $1 billion with the intent of “building a skilled workforce, connecting residents to economic opportunities, strengthening community and housing development efforts, and investing in the emerging technologies that will drive Massachusetts’ economic prosperity in the future.” Among the items included in the bill are $71 million for the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative, $15 million for the Scientific and Technology Research Development Matching Grant Fund, $15 million for the Community Innovation Infrastructure Fund, and an angel investor tax credit.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Economic Council (NEC) published a call to action concerning the upcoming National Manufacturing Day (October 7, 2016) – an annual celebration of the strength of American manufacturing and an opportunity to educate and motivate the next generation of manufacturers. To celebrate this year’s theme – “the vitality and reality of American manufacturing to youth and workers across the country” – the administration is launching an effort to inspire the next generation of manufacturers and support entrepreneurs manufacturing their first product in the United States. The effort invites U.S.

The European Union (EU) will commit €240 million (approximately 265 million USD) to create a nonprofit Research and Innovation Institute in Greece that will fund research and innovation to support the country’s efforts to pull it out of prolonged recession and create new high-paying jobs, according to the University World News. In addition to broadly supporting research and innovation, the Research and Innovation Institute is intended to spur private sector investment in participating academic institutions, research centers, companies, and scientists by reducing the risk that currently exist due to the Greek debt crisis. Through the European Investment Bank, the EU will make an investment of €180 million (approximately 201.2 million USD) at an interest rate which could be 0.7 percent to 0.8 percent. The Greek government will be responsible for contributing the remaining 25 percent (€60 million, approximately $67.1 million USD). Read the article…

The Department of Defense’s Army Contracting Command released a new federal funding opportunity (FFO) to establish and sustain a Robots in Manufacturing Environments Manufacturing Innovation Institute (RIME-MII) to increase U.S. competitiveness in robotics applied primarily in manufacturing environments. The intent of the new $80 million RIME-MII is to: