SSTI Digest

Daniel Krichbaum was named Gov. Jennifer Granholm's new chief operating officer, replacing Mary Lannoye who left the administration as chief of staff.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has selected Brian McGowan to replace Yoland Benson as deputy secretary for economic development in California's Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. McGowan, San Bernardino County's economic development administrator, will start his new position in January. Gov. Schwarzenegger also has appointed Teresa Takai as the state's first Cabinet-level chief information officer.

Gov.-elect Bobby Jindal has appointed Stephen Moret as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Economic Development. Moret will assume his new post on Jan. 14, leaving behind his duties as president and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce.

Mark Robinson resigned as chief operating officer of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council to join the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Steven Zylstra was appointed as vice president of global corporate communication and public relations for Mylan. Zylstra had been president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Technology Council and the Pittsburgh Biomedical Development Corp.

Listen or read the business news media and the dreaded “R” word, recession, is back in common parlance. State revenue cycles seem to feel it first. Already, with more than a dozen states projecting budget deficits for both current and coming fiscal years, it seems certain: Spending cuts in programs and services and/or tax increases are imminent. The nationwide housing market slump, the rising cost of energy and health care, and increased state spending are cited as a just a few of the reasons for shortfalls in state budgets. The lack of a fiscal year 2008 federal budget, now nearly one-quarter over, does not help state fiscal planning.   In June, the Government Accountability Office released State and Local Governments: Persistent Fiscal Challenges Will Likely Emerge within the Next Decade, which found that an unexpected explosion in health-related expenditures combined with no new policy changes will result in fiscal challenges for state and local governments over at least the next 10 years (see the Aug. 8, 2007 issue of the Digest).   Then, last week, the U.S. Conference of Mayors released a report forecasting a…

Although Missouri frequently ranks in the top 20 states for federal research grants and academic R&D, the state consistently ranks much lower in the creation of new high-tech companies. A recent report by Dr. Mark Parry of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Bloch School of Business suggests that early-stage high-tech entrepreneurs and companies have been unable to secure sufficient capital to launch successful ventures. Part of this capital deficit has been due to a lack of state investment in capital formation and access programs, he contends. While neighboring states spent an average of $2.79 per resident in 2006 on capital formation initiatives and similar states such as Arizona, Ohio and Minnesota spent $2.94, Missouri spent only $0.10. Parry argues that this lack of spending has contributed to the state's persistent difficulty in translating its intellectual capital into new companies.   One problem identified by the report is that although the amount of early-stage capital under management in Missouri has increased over the past six years, the amount invested in Missouri companies has declined. Angel and venture investors are not…

Three major announcements were made in Singapore last month focusing on R&D of new technologies and educating the workforce to produce specialized graduates in upcoming fields.   Development plans for Asia’s first zero-energy building (ZEB) were released by the Parliamentary Secretary for National Development. The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) will retrofit an existing building that will both house classrooms and offices and serve as a testbed for green technology research. Slated for completion in 2009, the ZEB is expected to be 60 percent more energy efficient than an average commercial building. The building will create a highly efficient complex that produces as much energy as it consumes from renewable resources.   The National University of Singapore will use the facilities for testing technologies that come out of the university’s research laboratories. The project is jointly funded by the Ministry of National Development and the MND Research Fund for the Built Environment. The BCA also is stepping up its efforts in industry training and will offer a new Diploma program next year in mechanical…

One continuing challenge states and regions are attempting to overcome is adjusting their workforces in a rapidly changing, innovation-driven, global economy. The growing consensus emerging from many people examining science and technology competitiveness is that U.S. students need to be academically stronger in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields than they are today and that the supply of graduates with a science background needs to increase. This advice comes as other countries around the world, with populations large and small, pursue this same strategy to increase the quality and quantity of future workers with backgrounds in science and technology.   In response to this challenge, education policies and new initiatives at the federal, state and local levels are focusing on the preparation of students for careers in science and engineering (S&E) fields. However, a report released in October questions if enacting policies to increase the number of STEM students and improve the quality of students are the most efficient means to supply the S&E workforce.   In Into the Eye of the…

Nearly 700 new products resulting from university research handled by technology transfer offices reached the marketplace in FY 2006, according to the latest Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) Survey of U.S. Licensing Activity released this week.   The 189 research performing institutions that participated in the survey also reported the creation of 553 start-ups during the year and almost 5,000 new licensing relationships with companies.   The AUTM survey provides core data for most of the empirical analysis of university tech transfer efforts. As such, it has drawn criticism in the past for what is not measured – a common complaint for measuring the impact of nearly all research and economic activity. For instance, the National Science Foundation continues to invest considerable staff time and financial resources into developing better measures of an innovation-based economy.   AUTM also is taking strides to improve its survey instrument. While those changes are not evident yet in the 2006 survey, the summary report suggests additional surveys and modifications to the seminal…

During the past year, the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program has garnered a great deal of attention, setting the stage for a national debate over potential changes to the well known federal program – namely the issue of participation from companies with venture-capital backing. With congressional reauthorization on the horizon for next year, SSTI examined the SBIR program in-depth during a breakout session at the annual conference in October, looking at both current status and future developments. Compiling award and proposal statistics by state for fiscal year 2006, SSTI finds the 10 states with the most awards in FY 2006 were California (725), Massachusetts (466), Virginia (221), Texas (176), Colorado (173), Maryland (169), Ohio (167), New York (163), Pennsylvania (133) and Washington (91). Compared to the top states for FY05, little changed other than Texas, Colorado and Maryland switching around fourth through sixth places and Washington edging out Michigan for the 10th slot.   SSTI has prepared a table showing FY 2006 Phase I SBIR data for all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia.…

A complete description of this opportunity and others is available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. Griffin Analytical Technologies, a high-tech, high-growth chemical detection company focused on identifying chemical warfare agents and explosives and environmental monitoring applications, is seeking someone for the position of research scientist. This position is responsible, in part, for performing R&D in the chemical, explosives and bio detection areas and helping to identify funding opportunities. A Ph.D. or M.S. degree in chemistry is preferred; a B.S. degree with five-plus years of experience will be considered.