SSTI Digest

Former NASA Administrator Richard Truly, now head of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, announced his plans to retire in November.

Janet Yancey-Wrona, director of the Maine Technology Institute (MTI), has been named the Governor's Science and Technology Advisor and the first Director of Innovation for the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development. In her new position, Dr. Yancey-Wrona will oversee the state's research and TBED activities, including MTI, the business incubator program and Maine EPSCoR initiative.

California voters will be at the forefront of a highly controversial issue this November when they are asked to decide on a $3 billion bond issue to fund stem cell research.

The initiative, if passed, would provide $295 million annually to California researchers over the next 10 years. Under the proposal, priority for funding would be given to stem cell research that does not qualify for federal funding, and up to 10 percent could be used to build research facilities for nonprofit research organizations.

The importance states are placing on the biosciences to fuel future economic growth is clearly evident in a monumental study released today at the annual international convention of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). Laboratories of Innovation: State Bioscience Initiatives 2004 is the most comprehensive analysis ever done to quantify the scope and impact of bioscience employment in all 50 states.

Prepared for BIO by Battelle Memorial Institute and SSTI, the 450-page study examines programs and policies in each state to promote the development of bioscience companies. The state-by-state analysis, which expands on a 2001 study that looked at activities in 42 states, reveals states are learning that success means specializing in specific sub-sectors.

Other key findings include:

Only a handful of metropolitan areas have the critical mass necessary to ensure sustainability of their local biotech communities, according to America’s Biotech and Life Science Clusters, a new study from the Milken Institute. At the top of the list is San Diego, followed closely by Boston and the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill metro area. Only another nine are in the running, the report contends.

According to the Institute’s 2004 Biotech Index, the top 12 metros (and their composite scores) are:

Anxiety over offshoring is an increasingly prevalent issue among Americans and a hot button issue for the upcoming presidential election. With concerns looming from all sectors, it can be difficult to assess which ones hold the most validity. According to a new report from the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), the real threat to offshoring is it could alter the occupational distribution of the economy and, particularly, squeeze the middle class.

Understanding The Offshoring Challenge does not attempt to solve the complex issue of offshoring, according to PPI. Rather, it seeks to describe the phenomenon and its causes, to put it into proper prospective, and to define the economic stakes for Americans and policymakers. The main issues causing the angst, according to the report's author, Rob Atkinson, are the loss of particular jobs and its impact on specific individuals, and the weak nature of the U.S. employment market.

While the federal government supports fuel cell research, nearly every state across the country has taken a more active role in advancing the development and commercialization of fuel cell and renewable energy technologies, according to two recent reports from the North Carolina State University Solar Center. A web-based directory of more than 875 state and federal initiatives managed by the center helps prove that point.

In order to expand the market for stationary fuel cells in the U.S., the center feels, it is important for industry leaders, policymakers and researchers to be aware of the existence, scope and depth of state-level incentives and polices. The Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE) was established in 1995 through funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to track financial incentives, programs and policies to promote the use of renewable energy.

Overall retention rates for female engineering graduates has remained steady over the last few years, and according to the latest survey from the American Society for Engineering Education, a significant percentage of women are focusing on the less traditional fields of engineering.

A New Look At Engineering reports that in 2003 women accounted for 20.4 percent of all Bachelor degrees in engineering, a slight decline from 2002, which reported 20.9 percent. In 2001, women represented 19.9 percent of engineering graduates, a slight decrease from 20.8 percent in 2000. Tennessee State University had the largest percentage of female engineering graduates with 41.6 percent, followed closely by Alabama A&M University with 41.2 percent. The report also indicates women accounted for 22.3 percent of all Master’s degrees and 17.4 percent of all Doctoral degrees in engineering.

To commemorate its 75th Anniversary, the Kellogg Foundation along with the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) is funding a project to foster entrepreneurship across rural regions of the country. The project, Entrepreneurship Development Systems for Rural America, will provide grants to support traditional areas of interest including health, food systems and rural development, youth and education, philanthropy and volunteerism, as well as new opportunities that build on existing programs.

Industrial research expenditures in the U.S. had a record single-year decline in 2002, according to the latest National Science Foundation (NSF) Survey of Industrial Research and Development. An inflation-adjusted decline of $8.6 billion was the largest-ever reported since the survey began in 1953. The 2002 tally, when measured in current dollars, also wins the ignoble distinction of reflecting the largest single-year absolute and percentage reduction at $7.7 billion and 3.9 percent, respectively.

A 4 percent constant dollar increase in research spending by nonmanufacturing industries moderated the 11.7 percent drop posted by the manufacturing sectors.

The dismal 2002 results follow record-high expenditures set as recently as 2000.

One of the most critical elements needed for a tech-based economy is a strong higher education system that supplies a source of research ideas, new technologies and a skilled workforce. Studies have shown that individuals with college degrees earn more money, obtain better jobs, pay more taxes, and are more apt to perform volunteer work. Given higher education's important role, several states have been re-examining how higher education can play a larger role in their economy. SSTI highlights some of those efforts below.

Colorado

Colorado enacted a higher education initiative earlier this month, becoming the first state to offer college vouchers. Gov. Bill Owens signed Senate Bill 189 into law, which provides individual vouchers of $2,400 per year for Colorado students to attend public colleges and universities beginning in the fall of 2005. The bill also offers up to $1,200 for low-income students to attend one of three non-public institutions in the state.

To encourage innovation in health care and speed the development of new medical technologies, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced last week it is forming an internal task force to weigh new ideas and promote new solutions.

The task force will involve HHS’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health. Department Secretary Tommy Thompson has charged the task force with developing steps to speed the availability of new medical technologies such as drug and biological products and medical devices.