SSTI Digest

The Advanced Technology Program (ATP), managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, has selected 37 projects from the 1999 solicitation to receive awards. Recipients will share $110 million of ATP funding for high-risk R&D projects with the potential to spark important, broad-based economic benefits for the United States. ATP funds will be matched by at least $102 million from private industry. The 37 new awards were selected from more than 400 proposals received last Spring. The selected projects target a broad array of technologies, including pharmaceutical design, tissue engineering, industrial catalysts, energy storage, image processing, manufacturing control systems, electronics manufacturing, computer software, and electro-optics. The majority of the 1999 ATP awards, 26, went to small businesses, either for single-company projects or as the lead company in an industry joint venture. More than 20 universities are involved as joint-venture partners or subcontractors. The accompanying table presents the 1999 ATP awards by the lead organization’s state. …

The 1999 Advanced Technology Program National Meeting, Nov. 15-17 in San Jose, Calif., will feature more than 30 workshops for industry, academic and government researchers to discuss current ATP work in high-risk, high-potential technologies and future R&D opportunities. The meeting also will feature general information presentations on ATP and a showcase exhibit of a broad array of successful ATP-sponsored technologies. More details can be found on the meeting web site: http://www.atp.nist.gov/nationalmeeting.

The Indianapolis-based Lilly Foundation is providing nearly $60 million in two grants to help make Indiana more competitive for technology research and education and high-tech business development. The grants were made to Indiana University and the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. During the press announcement for the grants, Clay Robbins, Lilly Endowment President, cited the state's low ranking in educational achievement as a motivation for the Foundation’s awards. Indiana ranks 48th in the percentage of adults with a college degree and 50th in the percentage of the work force in professional positions or specialty occupations. The two grants are: A five-year, $29.9 million grant to the Indiana University (IU) Foundation to fund development of the Indiana Pervasive Computing Research (IPCRES) Initiative. Six research laboratories will be created through the grant, three focusing on software technology and three on advanced communication. IU anticipates working with Purdue University on computer security technologies within one of the labs. A $29.7 million grant to the Rose-…

Total annual research and development (R&D) expenditures — expected to pass $247 billion in 1999 — have grown 7.2 percent over 1998 levels (adjusted for inflation), according to a recent Data Brief from the National Science Foundation. Growth in R&D expenditures has been accelerating since 1995. The annual real R&D growth for 1995-99 is expected to average 6.1 percent. Almost all of the growth is attributed to a resurgence in industrial R&D. R&D’s share of the gross domestic product is forecasted to be 2.79 percent in 1999, the highest level since 1967's 2.80 percent share. The lowest R&D/GDP ratio was 2.12 percent in 1978. R&D as a proportion of GDP has risen sharply since 1994, following a three-year decline during the early 1990s. Industry continues to account for the largest share of US R&D support; industry’s share of the $247 billion is projected to be $169 billion. Only $2.2 billion of industry’s R&D expenditures will be directed toward academic research; other nonprofits account for only $1.2 billion. Federal support for R&D dropped to…

The SSTI Offices will be closed Wednesday, October 6 - Monday, October 11 due to the SSTI conference and in observance of the Columbus Day holiday. Due to SSTI’s 3rd Annual Conference next week, the SSTI Weekly Digest will not be  published on October 8.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced selections for the second — and perhaps final — round of funding for the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Technology (EPSCoT). Nearly two million dollars will be distributed among eleven projects selected from 29 proposals submitted last spring. The program is designed to assist state and local efforts to initiate technology-based economic development efforts in areas historically lacking federal research funding. These 11 projects join the seven original EPSCoT projects announced last January. The future of the program is up in the air; the Clinton Administration did not request any EPSCoT funding for FY 2000. The Department of Commerce has explained it will evaluate the success of the 18 projects during the next fiscal year in lieu of making any new awards. The new EPSCoT awards are listed below. A detailed description of each project, including contact information, can be found at:the EPSCoT website: http://www.ta.doc.gov/epscot/ TEAM DELTA: Technology-Based Economic Development in the Mississippi River Delta (Arkansas,…

Dr. Lura Powell, Director of the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) since 1995, has decided to take early retirement from the National Institute of Standards & Technology and pursue career opportunities in the private sector. Because of the voluntary early retirement option deadline, Dr. Powell’s retirement was effective September 30. Dr. Powell joined the then-National Bureau of Standards in 1972 in the Center for Analytical Chemistry and held several research and management positions before being assigned to establish the NIST Biotechnology Division in 1991. She received the Department of Commerce Gold Medal for leadership of ATP and the Silver Medal for building the NIST biotechnology research program. Cita Furlani, who is currently serving as the Acting Deputy Director of the ATP, will take over as Acting Director of the ATP, subject to departmental approval.

While many states are adding multi-million programs to their science and technology portfolio, state-led S&T efforts in much of the North Central United States are still suffering. The latest example was the elimination of North Dakota’s two largest programs this summer. Technology Transfer, Inc. (TTI) and the North Dakota Manufacturing Technology Partnership were closed effective June 30. Staff for the state’s Department of Economic Development & Finance, which inherited administration and oversight of TTI’s outstanding projects, was cut by 30 percent as well. Technology Transfer, Inc. was a nonprofit corporation established by the state in 1991 to foster the innovation and commercialization of new technologies. TTI was the only state-based resource in North Dakota for high-risk R&D funding. Project funding of up to $100,000 was available to companies with marketable ideas for products or manufacturing processes. Repayment of TTI funds was to be made through royalties if the product or process was commercialized successfully. Along with TTI’s portfolio, the North…

With last week’s release of “The Maryland Innovation and Technology Index 1999,” Maryland became the latest state to release an “S&T report card” as they are also sometimes called. Indices have become popular tools for benchmarking a state’s or region’s comparative position across several technological, economic, and social statistical indicators. Interest in using broad metrics to assist in the definition of specific state science and technology policy has grown so rapidly that the subject was one of the most requested sessions for the upcoming SSTI annual conference. The Maryland Index compares the state to five other East Coast states along 42 statistical indicators categorized among three groups: Performance -- the economic impact of commercialized innovations, Dynamics -- the processes employed to enhance the likelihood of commercializable innovation, and Resources -- the human, intellectual, physical and financial capital or infrastructure available in the state to support innovation. For each of the 42 indicators, the report addresses…

On September 9, the Federal Energy Technology Center (FETC) released a Request for Proposals entitled "Research and Development of Technologies for the Management of Greenhouse Gases" (Program Solicitation DE-PS26-99FT40613). Deadlines of January 3, 2000 and May 1, 2000 have been set for two separate evaluation periods. Projects must address the objectives of the FETC’s Carbon Sequestration Program. Six topic areas are identified and described in the Request for Proposals. Selected projects may last up to 36 months. Total funding available is $15-18 million. Cost sharing, although not required, is encouraged. For more information visit the Federal Energy Technology Center's Electronic Business Center at: http://www.fetc.doe.gov/business/  and click on 1999 Solicitations under the heading, Business Opportunities. Comments and questions regarding the solicitation should be addressed electronically to Deborah J. Boggs, Contracts Specialist, at dboggs@fetc.doe.gov

The Undersecretary for Science and Technology of the Department of Defense (DOD) recently released A Review of the Technology Reinvestment Project, a study of 112 of the 133 technology development projects funded through the Technology Reinvestment Program (TRP). TRP projects funded under the Technology Deployment and Manufacturing Education and Training components were not included in the study. TRP, the largest dual-use technology development effort undertaken by DOD, was managed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) from 1993 - 1997. Nearly $1 billion was awarded through three annual solicitations. While the last solicitation was held in Fiscal Year 1995, many projects are still in progress. The study found TRP was beneficial at several levels: * The program proved the feasibility of a new model for Defense research, development and procurement along the lines of dual-use technologies. This model has been incorporated into new DOD programs such as the Dual Use Science & Technology Program (DUS&T),…

The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking to fill two positions at its Gaithersburg headquarters. Both positions — an Evaluation Program Leader and an Evaluation Specialist — will work on MEP program evaluation, economic impact measurement, and data interpretation efforts. Resumes will be accepted until the positions are filled. Full position descriptions are available for review on the SSTI website (follow the S&T Job Corner link at http://www.ssti.org )