SSTI Digest

The State of Delaware has selected its first three Advanced Technology Centers (ATCs), public/private partnerships designed to bolster the state's technology base and to create and retain quality high-tech jobs. The centers will receive $2.31 million from the state's 21st Century Fund for their first year of operation and are eligible for two more years of state funding given satisfactory performance.

In partnership with the Ohio Department of Development, BP America, and the Great Lakes Industrial Technology Center, NASA Lewis Research Center has opened a technology based incubator. The Lewis Incubator for Technology (LIFT) will enable companies to gain comprehensive business, financial, and marketing assistance as they work to commercialize NASA-developed technologies.

LIFT is located in 31,000 square feet of space at the BP America Research and Development Facility in Warrensville Heights, Ohio. Services available to the tenants include access to analytical laboratories, a reference library, and video conferencing facilities.

As with other NASA supported incubators (SSTI Weekly Digest, May 3, 1996) LIFT has two major goals. First, the facility will give entrepreneurs, start-up companies and early stage companies access to NASA's expertise. Second, the NASA Lewis Research Center will work with the Great Lakes Industrial Technology Center, one of six NASA Regional Technology Transfer Centers, to commercialize NASA-developed technologies.

For more information on LIFT, please contact Sally Harrington of the NASA Lewis Research Center at 216/ 433-2037.

The South Florida Manufacturing Technology Center (SFMTC), a regional office of the Florida Manufacturing Extension Partnership, is currently seeking a Director. SFMTC is located in Pompano Beach, Florida and serves seven counties along Florida's southeast coast: Broward, Dade, Martin, Monroe, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie.

The Director will manage contracts, develop operational procedures, evaluate Center progress and monitor economic impacts on its clients and the manufacturing community, and communicate the Center's mission to government, industry and the community. The Director must interact with the SFMTC board, ensure accountability for project funding and administer the Center's budget. The Director is the contact point with the Florida Manufacturing Extension Partnership and is responsible to the FMEP director for program quality and performance.

The ideal candidate will have a master's degree in management or engineering with 10 years experience in the following areas: leadership of a large staff; responsibility for budget development; entrepreneurial experience; manufacturing, engineering or technical expertise; coordinating with institutional and government entities; knowledge of the issues and problems facing smaller manufacturers.

For more information, please contact:

Jon Gardner Chairman,

Barnett Bank of Broward County

901 Southeast 17th Street Causeway

Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316

954/ 527-8507

President Clinton announced his intention to nominate three members to the National Science Board (NSB), an advisory body to the National Science Foundation. The three are:

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking candidates to fill the position of Associate Director for Regional Programs. Responsibilities will include the creation, planning, evaluation and maintenance of a national network of state and local technology assistance providers to develop and enhance their capabilities to meet the needs of small and medium sized manufacturers. Responsibilities also include supervising and assessing the staff and operations of the Regional Programs Office; managing, planning, and implementing programmatic policies within the Regional Programs Office; and overseeing and maintaining the Regional Programs budget.

The House-passed National Institutes of Health (NIH) appropriations for FY 97 included a problematic provision that would have changed the formula for awarding Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) projects at the Institutes. The provision would allow NIH to fund SBIR research only if the average score of the pool of small business proposals met or exceeded the score of basic research proposals submitted by universities and other research centers.

President Clinton announced his intention to nominate five members to the National Science Board (NSB), an advisory body to the National Science Foundation. The five are:

The California Manufacturing Technology Center has begun a search process for qualified applicants to fill a number of economic development-oriented engineering positions. The CMTC seeks applicants with over eight years of hands-on manufacturing experience to: define and develop proposals, present to potential clients, perform and manage projects, and build a network of consultants.

Increased company support of R&D offset reduced Federal funding in 1994 and contributed to an overall increase in U.S. industrial R&D, to $119.6 billion, according to the National Science Foundation's Survey of Industrial Research and Development for 1994.

The U.S. House of Representatives on a vote of 246-179 on Wednesday approved an appropriations bill that includes funding for the U.S. Department of Commerce. Programs affected by the bill include the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and Advanced Technology Program (ATP), and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) Information Infrastructure Grants (IIG).

The General Accounting Office (GAO) has collected and provided information on fiscal year 1993 costs for professional staff, managers and executives at the Department of Defense's (DOD) Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC). FFRDCs were established during World War II to meet the special research needs that the federal and private sector could not provide. Over the years the number of FFRDCs have varied, but in fiscal year 1993 there were 39, with 10 sponsored by DOD.

Science and Engineering Indicators - 1996 is available from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) National Science Board. The report is both a reference document and a policy document that provides an extensive array of data. The 1996 report has expanded to include output as well as input indicators as well as some indicators of the impact and outcome of science and engineering in the U.S.