SSTI Digest

The District of Columbia leads the country in science and engineering (S&E) doctorates awarded per capita, according to the latest data from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Though California awards more S&E doctorates overall, Washington, D.C., has consistently outpaced all states in per capita awards. While 11.47 S&E doctorates were awarded per 100,000 people in the U.S. last year, D.C. institutions awarded 62.54. Other top states include Massachusetts, Delaware, Rhode Island and Maryland.

A recent NSF survey found that 49,562 research doctorates were awarded in the U.S. during 2009, a 1.6 percent increase over the previous year. Of these doctorates, 33,470 were awarded in S&E fields. S&E doctorate awards rose 1.9 percent in 2009, which the NSF InfoBrief attributes to growth in the number of female S&E doctorate recipients. Biological sciences remained the scientific field with the greatest number of doctorate awards in 2009, with mathematics showing the greatest growth over the previous year. Computer science doctorates decreased by almost 10 percent from 2008, however, the field has doubled its awards overall since 1999.

TBED People
Walter Bumphus has been named the next president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges. Bumphus currently serves as a professor in the Community College Leadership Program and chair of the Educational Administration Department at the University of Texas at Austin. Bumphus will begin his tenure with AACC in January.

Deborah Clayton resigned as the commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Commercialization and Innovation. She has accepted a position at the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago. Warren Nash, deputy commissioner of the same department, also has resigned.

Kansas Governor-elect Sam Brownback appointed State Rep. Pat George to his cabinet as secretary of the Department of Commerce. George is expected to start after Brownback is sworn in on Jan. 10 and the Senate confirms his appointment.

Governors in Arkansas, Mississippi and Wyoming recently unveiled spending plans for the upcoming year or biennium. Funding for many tech-based investments would be maintained or increased under the governors' proposals. New proposals range from additional funds for energy research at the University of Wyoming to new funding mechanisms for colleges and universities in Mississippi. Funding for S&T efforts in Arkansas would remain level.

Arkansas

It is imperative that the Obama administration create a more coordinated and robust federal energy policy focused on advancing energy innovation, according to a new report by the Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). They argue the U.S. must be at the forefront of energy technology to increase economic competiveness, protect the environment and improve national security. In Accelerating the Pace of Change in Energy Technologies Though an Integrated Federal Energy Policy, PCAST outlines several recommendations that could position the U.S. at the forefront of energy innovation over the next decade.

The administration should establish a national Quadrennial Energy Review (QER) process to coordinate federal agencies, the executive branch and congress. The QER would be developed not only by government entities, but also include representatives from industry, business, state and local governments, non-government organizations and the public. The QER would:

In Growing New Mexico's Clean Tech Economy, the Clean Technology Commercialization Working Group examines steps that must be taken for New Mexico to capitalize on the state's clean technology opportunity by bridging the funding "valley of death." In a report commissioned by the New Mexico Economic Development Department, the advisory group asserts four high-priority recommendations will accelerate New Mexico's clean technology commercialization. New Mexico's strengths mainly revolve around the state's existing intellectual infrastructure (e.g., research universities and two national laboratories). Currently, the state is a national leader in federal R&D spending. However, the state currently faces several weakness related to private and state financing for clean technology ventures including, state budget deficits, lack of investment banks, lack of larger venture capital firms, insufficient technology maturation funding/programs and missing incentives for venture capital and business R&D. They rank last among all states in state R&D spending.

A survey of medical technology companies and venture capital firms with a presence in the life sciences field revealed that the U.S. is at risk of losing its global leadership position in medtech innovation because of unpredictable, inefficient, and expensive regulatory processes within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Further, survey data indicate that innovators and medical device companies are relocating to other countries in greater numbers to take advantage of more streamlined regulatory processes and lower costs.

The study, FDA Impact on U.S. Medical Technology Innovation, was designed to acquire data that could be used to evaluate the impact of U.S. medical device regulation on innovation and patients, identify where the greatest deterrents to innovation exist within U.S. premarket regulatory processes, and assess the costs these issues place on medtech companies. The current regulatory environment is particularly challenging for startup companies because of their limited financial resources, the study finds. As a result, regulatory submissions for innovative new medical devices have declined in the U.S. over the last several years.

Nationwide downturns in durable-goods manufacturing and construction led to declining real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 39 states last year, according to a recent release by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The largest declines were seen in the Great Lakes region, where Michigan, Ohio and Indiana suffered considerable losses in manufacturing. Meanwhile, Oklahoma, Wyoming and North Dakota posted the highest percentage GDP gains. Read the BEA release .

Encouraging university researchers to bring their discoveries to market is a key component of many regional innovation strategies, but entrepreneurial activity by faculty may come at a cost, according to several recent scholarly articles by Andrew A. Toole and Dirk Czarnitzki. Toole and Czarnitzki examined the publication and commercialization histories of U.S. university-based life scientists and found that engaging in entrepreneurial activities tends to lower their publication rate, even after returning to the university full-time. This reduction in publication has a nontrivial impact on knowledge creation in the nonprofit research sector, particularly since researchers who engage in entrepreneurial activity tend to publish at a higher rate than other faculty before they leave to pursue private sector opportunities. Although the commercialization of new technologies is important for the economy, reducing the research output of star professors could have longer-term negative consequences. The authors suggest that the correct balance of research and commercialization has not yet been achieved.

TBED People
Anne Barth has been named the executive director of TechConnect West Virginia.

Joann Rockwell MacMaster has been appointed site director for the Arizona Center for Innovation at the UA Tech Park.

Catherine Renault resigned from her position as director of the Maine Office of Innovation effective December 3.

Sandra Watson, COO of the Arizona Commerce Authority, received the Chairman's Award during the 2010 Governor's Celebration of Innovation awards. The award is given by the Arizona Technology Council and Arizona Commerce Authority.

Renée Winsky, CEO of the Tech Council of Maryland, received the Technology Advocacy Award at the Howard Technology Council's 2010 Annual Technology Awards dinner. The award is presented to an individual who has made a significant difference in the technology business community in Maryland.

After months of closed-door negotiations, the chairs of National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform has released a draft list of proposals to reduce the growing federal deficit. The proposals include drastic cuts to the federal government's economic development agencies, including the elimination of the Economic Development Administration (EDA) and the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Program (MEP), as well as the merging of the Department of Commerce and the Small Business Administration (SBA). The commission also has proposed funding cuts for research into fossil fuels, defense and private sector space flight. While the proposals would have far-reaching consequences for the TBED community, commissioners have emphasized that the current draft does not represent the final report and many changes are expected before it is released later this year. President Barack Obama has said that he will comment on the commission's proposals once the full report is released in December.

Massachusetts remains the state best prepared to navigate the changing economy, according to the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation's (ITIF) 2010 State New Economy Index. ITIF uses 26 indicators in five categories to evaluate the economic structure of states and assess their capacity to drive innovation-based growth. Massachusetts ranked number one in economic preparedness by a wide margin, as it has since the first index was released in 1999. Other top states include Washington, Maryland, New Jersey and Connecticut. Overall, most states and the U.S. as a whole improved in most indicators between 2008 and 2010. Only three U.S. indicators showed a marked decline during that period: patents, non-industry R&D, and venture capital.

Facing the largest budget deficit in the European Union, British Prime Minister David Cameron will not to cut spending on S&T. The European Commission predicts the UK will face a 12 percent budget deficit in 2011. To combat this deficit, the Cameron led Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition took drastic measures to reduce the deficit by 2014. In October, Chancellor George Osborne unveiled the budget plan, which will cut almost all government departments by an average of 19 percent over four years. This austerity plan should reduce spending by almost £80 billion pounds (roughly $126 billion) according to Fox News.