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SSTI Digest
Geography: Maryland
ATP Correction & Notice of Proposers' Conferences
The November 20 SSTI Weekly Digest article on the current Advanced Technology Program (ATP) competition should have stated the following information on ATP's indirect cost policy:
- for single proposer projects, ATP will fund only direct costs; the company must cover its indirect costs. Large businesses submitting single-company proposals must support 60 percent or more of total project costs which may include both direct and indirect costs.
- for joint venture projects, industry must pay at least 50 percent of the total project costs. ATP's portion may include both direct and indirect costs.
Two ATP proposers' conferences will answer additional questions on ATP's policy toward indirect costs and many other issues. Those conferences will be held:
COMMENTS SOUGHT ON PROPOSED CHANGES TO ATP SELECTION CRITERIA
The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Advanced Technology Program (ATP) has issued a request for public comment on several changes to ATP rules.
The most important change would simplify the project selection criteria. Although the new selection criteria will retain the major elements required under the old system, the five project selection criteria, each with different "weights" and lists of subcriteria, will be replaced by a two-part system:
(1) projects will be evaluated for their scientific and technological merit, and
(2) for their potential for broad-based economic benefits, with both parts weighted equally.
MEP to Help Small Manufacturers with Year 2000 Issues
The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and its nationwide network of centers are stepping up efforts to help smaller manufacturers avoid being bitten by the "millennium bug." The Stamford, Conn.-based GartnerGroup, a leading authority on information technology issues, has reported that as of 1997, 88 percent of all companies with fewer than 2,000 employees had not yet started Year 2000 remediation projects.
"Many companies that are addressing problems with their computer systems may be overlooking potential problems embedded in other systems such as machine controllers and telecommunications," said Kevin Carr, director of the NIST MEP.
MEP centers nationwide will be conducting seminars to raise smaller manufacturers' awareness and understanding of the problem and helping client manufacturers assess their systems to determine if they have problems. If needed, MEP centers also will help smaller companies plan remediation.
ATP Alliance Network Website Launched
The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Advanced Technology Program (ATP) has launched a new Internet website entitled the ATP Alliance Network. The website is designed to aid organizations interested in applying for an ATP Joint Venture award.
Joint R&D ventures are potentially a powerful tool for attacking difficult research tasks. By collaborating, companies can share the costs and risks associated with long-term, high-risk R&D, and so reduce the burden to each individual firm.
Topics on the ATP Alliance Network include:
People
Dr. Rita R. Colwell, the current President of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and former President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a former member of the National Science Board, has been nominated by President Clinton to serve as the next deputy director of the National Science Foundation.
Ray Kammer Confirmed as NIST Director
Raymond Kammer was sworn in as eleventh director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on November 12. Kammer had been NIST's deputy director since 1993. Robert Hebner had been acting director of the agency since the position was vacated by Arati Prabhakar in March.
New Study Finds ATP Speeds Technology Development
The National Institute of Standards and Technology's Advanced Technology Program (ATP) is having a significant impact in accelerating the pace of technology development, according to a new study of 28 early ATP award winners.
Half of the companies surveyed (14 out of 28) estimated that participation in the ATP reduced their technology development cycle by 50 percent, typically reducing a six-year process to three years. The majority (27 out of 28, or 96 percent) estimated that ATP participation reduced the cycle time anywhere from 30 to 66 percent.
Accelerated technology development translates to dollars and cents according to the companies studied, with estimates of the economic impact of reducing cycle time ranging from one million to several billions of dollars for a single year of time saved.
Tenth Baldrige Award Given to Four U.S. Companies
Two manufacturers - one for a second time - and two service firms have received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for their achievements in quality and business performance. The 1997 awards, announced by the Department of Commerce on October 15, went to 3M Dental Products Division, St. Paul, MN (manufacturing); Solectron Corp., Milpitas, CA (manufacturing); Merrill Lynch Credit Corp., Jacksonville, FL (service); and Xerox Business Services, Rochester, NY (service). Solectron Corp. also won the award in the manufacturing category in 1991.
Further information on the 1997 award winners and the award itself is available on the World Wide Web at www.quality.nist.gov.
New Advisory Board to Guide MEP; MEP Successes Highlighted
Eight industry and economic development leaders have been appointed to serve on the newly created Manufacturing Extension Partnership National Advisory Board. Meeting three times a year, the board will provide advice on MEP programs, plans and policies. The board will summarize its findings and recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce in an annual report.
The board members are:
NIST, OSTP Nominations Announced
President Clinton intends to nominate Ray Kammer to become the next director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Duncan Moore as the Associate Director for Technology in the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Both appointments must be confirmed by the Senate.
Kammer has served as the deputy director of NIST from 1980 to 1991 and from 1993 to the present. From 1991 to 1993 he was the Department of Commerce's Deputy Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere. Most recently Kammer has been serving on an acting basis as chief financial officer, assistant secretary for administration and chief information officer for the Department of Commerce.
The post of NIST director has been vacant since Arati Prabhakar resigned in the spring to take a private sector position.
Panel Members Sought
Nominations of individuals to serve on the Sea Grant Review panel are being solicited. The panel advises the National Sea Grant College Program on the operations of the program, including review of applications or proposals for grants and contracts and the designation and operation of sea grant colleges and sea grant regional consortia.
Resumes should be sent to Dr. Ronald Baird, National Sea Grant College Program, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 11716, Silver Spring, MD 20910 by March 26. A copy of the full Federal Register notice describing the panel can be obtained by calling SSTI at 614/421-SSTI (7784).
Prabhakar to Leave NIST
Arati Prabhakar, director of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), announced this week that she will be leaving NIST to become senior vice president and chief technology officer of the Raychem Corporation, Menlo Park, Calif.
Robert Hebner, who has been NIST acting director since late January 1997 when Prabhakar began maternity leave, will continue to serve as acting director. Hebner became acting deputy director of NIST in 1996, where he has been responsible for the day-to-day operation of the agency and for long-range planning and policy development.