SSTI Digest

An independent selection committee recently announced the incoming board of trustees that are expected to oversee a nonprofit entity that will operate the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC). The NSTC is the core research and development (R&D) component of the Department of Commerce’s CHIPS for America program. The NSTC will be a collaboration hub for members of the entire semiconductor manufacturing and supplier ecosystem. It will accelerate innovation and help lower the cost and time required to bring new technologies to market.  The newly selected board members will create a nonprofit entity that is expected to run the NSTC and hire executive leadership. The Department of Commerce intends to enter into a funding agreement with the newly formed nonprofit to begin operating the NSTC.  The initial members of the incoming board of trustees are: Robin Abrams, whose prior leadership roles include service as interim chief executive officer (CEO) of ZILOG Inc.; CEO of Firefly Communications Inc.; CEO of VeriFone; and president of Apple Americas. Craig R. Barrett, the retired CEO and chairman of Intel Corporation. L.…

Most states, businesses, families, and individuals spent the pandemic walking on the edge of a jagged economic cliff. Luckily, there were some guardrails in the form of fiscal recovery funds, disaster loans, paycheck protection, and childcare grants. These devices helped pull thousands back from the edge. But now, with the pandemic emergency over, the cliff is still in sight, but the guardrails are gone. Without them, will states, businesses, and others tumble over the economic cliff? The answer may depend on how they used those guardrails during the pandemic. Different states used Fiscal Recovery Funds in various ways Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) in March 2021, providing $1.9 trillion to respond to COVID-19 after the partial shutdown of the nation's economy. This money included $350 billion for Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF). The trillions of dollars the U.S. sent to states via ARPA impacted state budgets significantly, so much so that some states enacted permanent cuts to tax rates. Some of these states, in 2023, are still using SLFRF to pay for recurring expenses. However, this solution is only…

NSF recently announced the first Experiential Learning for Emerging and Novel Technologies (ExLENT) investment of $18.8 million to 27 teams at U.S. institutions of higher education, including teams led by minority-serving institutions and historically Black colleges and universities. Each team will receive up to $1 million for up to three years. Of the 27 teams receiving ExLENT awards this round, nine received an award in the Pivots track, which provides current professionals in any field an experiential learning opportunity that builds the skills and competencies they need to pivot into careers in key technologies. The remaining 18 teams received awards in the Beginnings track. Teams in this track will target individuals that have some basic experience in STEM fields and will receive additional experiential learning opportunities to deepen their knowledge and skills in key technologies. ExLENT teams will build partnerships between organizations in key technologies and those with expertise in workforce development. In the future, ExLENT will give awards to teams in an additional Explorations track. This track will provide participants with no prior STEM…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced up to $325 million for 15 projects to accelerate the development of long-duration energy storage (LDES) technologies. These demonstration projects will increase community control of local power systems, mitigate risks associated with disruptions to the grid, and help communities develop reliable and affordable energy systems. These projects will help DOE realize its Long Duration Storage Shot goal of reducing the cost of LDES by 90% by 2030 and will advance critical clean energy technologies, expand the adoption of renewable energy resources, and strengthen energy security.    Energy storage is essential for utilities and grid operators to adopt and use clean energy resources, like solar and wind, effectively and on demand. However, today's energy storage technologies must be sufficiently scaled or affordable to support the broad use of renewable energy on the grid. According to DOE's Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: LDES report, cheaper, longer, and more efficient storage is needed to meet energy demand that fluctuates throughout the day and night. The LDES Demonstrations Program, managed…

The Department of Defense recently awarded six Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program (DMCSP) grants totaling approximately $30 million from the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC). The DMCSP invests long-term in critical skills, facilities, workforce development, research and development, and small business support to strengthen the national security innovation base. The awards derive from Fiscal Year 2023 appropriated funding and leverage an additional $10,934,491 in non-Federal funds for a total investment of $40,759,243. The award winners focus on defense-critical sectors, from battery and energy storage to microelectronics and castings and forgings. The grant awards are: $4,997,965 to the Michigan Defense Resiliency Consortium. The consortium will undertake a $6,302,965 project to create the critical foundation for energy storage and battery manufacturing necessary to support the Department of Defense's rapid transformation from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles. They also will provide technical assistance, technology acceleration, and workforce training initiatives. $4,999,950 to the Missouri…

SBA's Office of Investment and Innovation recently established the Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Advisory Committee (IIEAC) to serve as an independent source of information, advice, and recommendations to the Administrator on matters broadly related to the U.S. startup and small business innovation ecosystem.  The committee will provide information and recommendations on how SBA can: Support innovation across the United States. Develop or evolve SBA programs and services to address commercialization hurdles. Address vulnerabilities and gaps in funding domestic invention and innovation. Facilitate and enable broad access to, and participation in, federal innovation support and funding programs. The IIEAC is tasked with examining the issues facing U.S. innovation economy stakeholders in these subject areas. Committee members include: Philip Gaskin, Executive Fellow and strategic advisor to the Office of the President and CEO, at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; Julie Lenzer, chief innovation officer at the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI); Andrew McCandless, chairman and CEO, Bascom…

In the absence of cohesive federal policies or regulations involving the growing development and use of artificial intelligence (AI), states’ governors and lawmakers are undertaking studies and crafting legislation that seeks to balance governance and implementation of this evolving technology. The studies and legislation are intended to protect constituents from AI’s possible harms without hindering potential uses or contributions of AI to government services or medical, science, business, and educational advancements. A recent report by the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) detailed how some states are currently regulating AI, but it also illustrated that for state policymakers nationwide, AI is (or continues to be) a growing area of concern. In the outgrowth of that concern, state policymakers have introduced more AI-related measures this year (191) than the past two states’ legislative sessions combined: nearly 200 bills were introduced in 31 states, with 14 bills becoming law in nine states (Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Texas, Virginia, and Washington). Much of the newly proposed or passed legislation focused…

Despite the pandemic and accompanying global economic slowdown in 2020 and 2021, U.S. business spending on research and development (R&D) activities increased by nearly $65 billion (12%), rising from $538 billion in 2020 to $602 billion in 2021. This increase was led by a $61 billion, or 13% increase, in R&D paid for by the company, compared to a $3 billion, 5% increase, in R&D paid for by others. This edition of Useful Stats uses the new 2021 release of Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) Survey data to analyze by state the new 2021 data and five-year changes in BERD expenditures by source for 2017-2021. The BERD survey is an annual survey of U.S. businesses with 10 or more employees that performed or funded at least $50,000 of R&D. The survey collects data on R&D expenditures and employment to assess trends in the funding and performance of business R&D. More information about the BERD survey can be found here.   Trends in 2021 domestic R&D expenditures Figure 1: Interactive map shows sources of funds for R&D As shown in Figure 1, companies in California spent the most on R&D,…

The economies, the wellbeing, and the stories of the U.S. and China have become so intertwined and so interdependent that individuals not following global political-military-ideological studies might be excused for getting lost in the narrative, let alone following such a complex plot. There won’t be a simplifying explanation offered here, but there are a few new twists in the storyline SSTI wanted to share that may relate to the innovation investment, product development, and exit strategies for some parties within the TBED community.  For instance, the CHIPS and Science Act tightens research security by requiring U.S. institutions to report gifts of $50,000 or more from a foreign government, whereas the previous reporting limit was $250,000. Tighter scrutiny and reporting may discourage even innocuous international research partnerships from continuing or being developed in the future. Additionally, on August 9, Biden issued an executive order that limits investments in companies in China, specifically restricted are investments in technologies affecting military, intelligence, surveillance, and cyber security. The executive order allows investment in…

The closely watched regional competition to identify the final two hubs of the ARPANET-H, a $2.5 Billion health innovation initiative of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, has come to a close with the selection of two firms to operate the Customer Experience and Investor Catalyst elements of the national network. ARPA-H has selected VentureWell to manage the Investor Catalyst hub and Advanced Technology International to manage the Customer Experience hub. ARPA-H will operate the Stakeholder and Operations hub directly. Each awardee, labeled Consortium Management Firms (CMF) by ARPA-H, will provide all necessary expertise to run its respective hub and significantly speed up research and development timelines. Hubs will include CMF teaming partners and spokes from a number of health science communities to ensure ARPA-H advancements are transitioned to those that stand to benefit the most. Each hub's performance period is five years, consisting of a one-year base and four one-year options. The Investor Catalyst hub will focus on quickly transforming innovative ideas into practical, accessible solutions by…

Created in 1987, the NSF Science & Technology Centers (STCs) program has supported exceptionally innovative, complex research and education projects that have opened up new areas of science and engineering and developed breakthrough technologies through integrative partnerships. The recent announcement of $120 Million in NSF funding for four new centers will bring the current active center portfolio to 17. STCs conduct world-class research through partnerships among institutions of higher education, national laboratories, industrial organizations and other public or private entities, and via international collaborations, as appropriate. Each new awardee will receive approximately $6 million per year over five years, with the possibility of continual funding for up to five additional years. A number of SSTI members are integral members of the teams for each of the four new centers, highlighted in bold in the descriptions below:  NSF Science and Technology Center for Quantitative Cell Biology (QCB), led by researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Harvard Medical School; and the J. Craig Venter Institute. The center aims to…

Families and young professionals from New York and New Orleans, San Francisco and San Antonio, Omaha, and expat communities abroad are homing in on one unassuming Midwest city as the ideal place to relocate and put down roots. If you tried to guess the destination, you probably wouldn’t guess Tulsa, Oklahoma. But this city is, in fact, one of the nation's hottest relocation destinations. Tulsa is one of many communities across the U.S. that has attempted to bolster economic development by launching programs to attract new talent. When it first launched in 2018, Tulsa Remote, a program that pays remote workers from out of state $10,000 to move to the city for one year, was subject to ridicule, particularly on social media. But nearly five years into the program, the county and state have generated millions of dollars. Program participants made $2.5 million for Tulsa County and $3.1 million for the state of Oklahoma in tax revenue, according to a recent economic impact report.  The program offered more than just an economic incentive. It also offered a place where participants, which numbered 2,400, could find relatively affordable housing, access…