SSTI Digest

The Georgia Biomedical Partnership has become Georgia Bio, The Life Sciences Partnership.

The Houston Technology Center has launched its new Emerging Technology Council.

Dr. Daryush Ila, head of the Alabama A&M University Research Institute, was elected to serve as the executive director of the Alabama EPSCoR Steering Committee.

Jerome Mahone is the new director of Venture Creations, a business incubator at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Richard Murphy was named interim president of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). Arlene Chiu announced she will resign as interim chief scientific officer of CIRM, effective Oct. 31.

Andre Pettigrew was named the new head of economic development for the City of Denver. Pettigrew replaces John Huggins, who left earlier this year.

Seth Porter was selected as deputy director for Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter's Energy Office.

William Stephan has been appointed vice president of engagement for Indiana University, a new position aimed at furthing economic development and related outcomes.

Dr. J. Timothy Stout has been named to the newly created position of vice president for commercialization strategies at Oregon Heath and Science University.

The Tech Council of Maryland/MdBio has appointed Dr. Richard Zakour to lead MdBio and the MdBio Foundation as executive director.

After months of negotiations, the House and Senate have approved the most significant bill in years to bolster U.S. research. The America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education and Science (COMPETES) Act authorizes over $43 billion in new federal spending over the next three years, which will support U.S. math and science education and federal research agencies. In fact, the legislation would double the budget authorizations of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) laboratory activities.  

While many parts of the country are looking for innovative means to increase the number of citizens and businesses connected to high-speed Internet in both urban and rural areas, two governors recently announced initiatives targeting the further extension of broadband services throughout their states.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick declared the commonwealth would invest $25 million into a new “broadband incentive fund” to be managed by a division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC), named the Broadband Institute. Under the plan, private companies will compete for funds to install equipment such as network fiber and wireless towers in rural areas that currently do not have broadband. According to the MTC, 32 towns in Massachusetts lack broadband access and 63 municipalities only have broadband in a limited area. The program’s goal is to make broadband available to all communities by 2010.