The Office of Technology in the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development seeks an Assistant Director for the Centers of Excellence Program. The position's responsibilities include promoting the development of new and established Centers that will assist the state economy to expand in focused technology areas. Deadline for application is February 23, 2001.

There is so much happening in state and local tech-based economic development across the country that we’re adding a new Digest feature: the Regional Roundup. Our goal is to provide 1-2 sentence coverage of news stories, reports and resources demonstrating the variety of activities underway to build a stronger tech-based economy. Of course, whenever possible, we’ll include a link or contact for more information.

Editor’s Note: During the next few weeks, nearly every Governor will present a State of the State and/or budget address outlining new initiatives or priorities for the upcoming year. In the past, SSTI has compiled excerpts relevant to tech-based economic development for publication. This year we will highlight significant proposals in the SSTI Weekly Digest and provide links to the actual speech, related background, press releases, etc.

During the past few weeks, the National Science Foundation has released more than a dozen reports, issue briefs, and early release statistical tables of potential interest to the S&T community. Due to limited space in this week's Digest, we are offering brief descriptions and links for more information.



Federal Funds for Research and Development: Detailed Historical Tables: Fiscal Years 1951-2000 [nsf01308]

"High paying jobs in growth areas are critically needed to offset the decline in wealth and employment from Alaska's North Slope. These new jobs require technical innovation, capital, management, and trained workers."

"How we view -- and treat -- the environment is a critical question for the 21st century," begins the letter from Eamon Kelly, chair of the National Science Board, that accompanies Environmental Science and Engineering for the 21st Century: The Role of the National Science Foundation. The study outlines the scope of the $600 million in current NSF environmental activities and conveys policy guidance for NSF to design a future $1.6 billion portfolio of programs and initiatives.

Two-thirds of all U.S. research and development (R&D) expenditures in 1997 were concentrated in just ten states according to a July 10, 2000 Data Brief from the National Science Foundation. In contrast the 20 lowest ranking states in R&D expenditures accounted for only four percent of the $199 billion total. 

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and its sponsors have more than $1 million available through several programs to support and recognize science students and teachers. Applications are currently available for the following programs: 

Increasing globalization of research and development (R&D) and the prolific growth of information technology (IT) are major elements in a "science and engineering enterprise that is in transition," the National Science Board (NSB) reports in Science and Engineering Indicators 2000.

Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology is seeking a new President and Chief Executive Officer. The CIT president's primary responsibility will be to assist the Secretary of Technology in implementing the Commonwealth's technology strategy by developing and directing CIT's key role in the strategy. Applications are due by June 22, 1999.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation have announced approximately $5 million will be awarded in FY 2000 for grants to support research toward "Technology for a Sustainable Environment."

Entities eligible to submit proposals include universities and not-for-profit institutions. The agencies anticipate making 20 grant awards for the solicitation in January 2000. Proposals are due July 26, 1999.

Robert Templin, president of Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), has resigned. Wolfgang Tolle, managing director, has been named acting president. Patsy Brown, CIT's director of public affairs, also has left CIT.

Kate Latta Hoffher, senior public affairs specialist with the National Science Foundation's Office of Legislative and Public Affairs, is on detail to NSF's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) until the end of July.

The National Science Foundation has issued a call for nominations for the 1999 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM). Each award is accompanied by a $10,000 grant.

The President announced his intent to nominate Dr. Joseph Bordogna as Deputy Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Dr. Bordogna has served as Acting Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of the National Science Foundation since 1996. For the four years prior to this service, he was the Assistant Director for Engineering at the National Science Foundation.

The accompanying table on the SSTI website http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/NSFfy98_SBIR1.htm presents the results of the 1998 SBIR Phase I competition held by the National Science Foundation in rank order by total dollars awards in each state. The award figures were compiled from the NSF Fast Lane website. (There were no Phase I awards reported within the 13 states omitted from the table.

The Alaska Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF) seeks a Group Projects Administrator to work with industry on R&D projects to benefit the Alaska economy and to track project results. The position requires training and experience in project management with sufficient technical and/or business background to work productively with scientists or engineers to identify economically feasible projects.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has invested $10 million to fund the first year of new Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) in Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, South Carolina and Virginia. Each of the five centers will receive $2 million in the first year from the NSF, leveraged by support from industry, state governments and partnering universities. NSF will support the centers for five years, after which the support agreement is subject to renewal.

Innovative manufacturing, plasma and photon processing, and Internet technology will be the focus of three new Centers of Excellence in Virginia. The Commonwealth of Virginia and Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) recently announced the selection of these three new Centers as the second-generation of CIT’s Technology Development Centers program.

Four industries (aerospace, computers and office machinery, electronics and communications equipment, and pharmaceuticals) are growing at a rate more than twice as fast as other manufactured goods,  thereby driving national economic growth around the world, according  to a National Science Foundation (NSF) Issue Brief, High-Tech Industries Drive Global Economic Activity (NSF 98-319).

The most comprehensive source of statistical information on science and engineering issues has been released by the National Science Board. "Science and Engineering Indicators: 1998" is the 13th report in a biennial series.

The 800-page report contains a wealth of information on a variety of topics, including four cross-cutting themes:

Industrial research and development spending totaled approximately $145 billion in 1996, a 10 percent increase for the second year in a row. More than 83 percent of that funding came from industry itself with the federal government providing the remaining funds, according to a new Data Brief prepared by the National Science Foundation. Small businesses, those with 500 or less employees, spent slightly more than $20.2 billion or 14 percent of the total industrial R&D spending in 1996.

The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Science Resources Studies has released three individual data briefs all pertaining to federal research and development funding trends.

With an overall positive review, the Office of the Inspector General within the National Science Foundation (NSF) has made several recommendations for improving the performance of NSF's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). EPSCoR plays an important and strategic role in many states’ efforts to build a stronger research enterprise and tech-based economy. In FY 2000, the NSF EPSCoR program distributed $51.7 million to 19 states and Puerto Rico.