A group of inventors, academics and researchers presented an aspirational list of inventors' rights at the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) Annual Meeting held last week. The Academic Inventors' Bill of Rights includes protections for researchers and students to prevent onerous university intellectual property policies and lack of transparency from preventing successful commercialization. The full document will be available later this week at:  http://www.ipadvocate.org/

Gov. Pat Quinn unveiled last week the FY11 capital budget outlining the state's progress on the $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now plan enacted last year by the legislature (see the July 29, 2009 Digest). The governor is seeking an expansion of the program, which includes new appropriations for green economy initiatives within the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO).

Providing strong evidence for how public investments in research and TBED pay off even on a short time horizon, a recent impact analysis calculated the total impact from the first $19.9 million North Dakota spent over the past four years for the establishment of 20 Centers of Excellence across the state. The analysts from North Dakota State University reported a combined cumulative impact of $329.5 million for the 30 months ending June 2009. The total includes both direct reported results and estimates for indirect impacts.

The fourth installment of SSTI’s Tech Talkin’ Govs series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Illinois, Massachusetts and Utah.

Los Angeles County (CA), New York County (NY) and Cook County (IL) topped the list of places where people older than 25 with graduate or professional degrees moved to between 2007 and 2011, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s County-to-County Migration Flows Tables. Middlesex County (MA) and Fairfax County (VA) also ranked among the top destinations for highly educated transplants. The Census report provides data on domestic migration at the county level, including data on income and educational attainment.

The latest Department of Defense-led manufacturing innovation institutes will support cutting-edge research and product development in lightweight and modern metals and digital manufacturing and design. A consortium of 73 companies, nonprofits and universities will help launch the Chicago-based institute. The Detroit-area based consortium involves 60 partners.

Of the 118 university-based startups launched in Illinois between 2006-13, about 73 percent remain in the state, according to the latest issue of the Illinois Innovation Index. The 2013 fourth quarter report of the Index focuses on the recent strides made by the state in building a stronger technology transfer pipeline. During the five-year period of 2008-12, Illinois universities received 47 percent more patents than they did during the 2003-07 period, almost triple the national growth rate.

North Dakota has announced it will relaunch its Innovate ND business venture competition as a more expansive suite of services for innovative startups and entrepreneurs. Participants will receive vouchers for up to $2,500 to help pay for coaching and consulting services at an entrepreneurial center, development of a business plan or building a prototype. Education services also will be available, including biannual Entrepreneur Boot Camps.  Read the announcement…

Mark Lytle has been named the University System of Georgia's new vice chancellor for economic development.

Frederick Cartwright has been appointed the executive director of the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research.

President Obama launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Steering Committee “2.0.” Former SSTI board member Luis Proenza, president of The University of Akron is part of the steering committee chaired by Andrew Liveris, president, chairman, and CEO of the Dow Chemical Company, and Rafael Reif, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A public-private investment of $1.5 billion to create a nanotech hub in upstate New York and a $250,000 educational investment in Illinois illustrate recent state efforts to elevate nanotechnology in workforce development. New York is putting $200 million toward the Nano Utica facility for purchasing new equipment. The initiative is being led by six global technology companies, and the facility will serve as a cleanroom and research hub for computer chip packaging and lithography development and commercialization.

A new program that builds upon the successes of North Dakota's Centers of Excellence and Research Excellence programs will fund up to half of the cost of R&D and commercialization projects conducted by the state's research universities. Under Research North Dakota (RND), the development and commercialization of new products will be achieved on a project-by-project basis and state funds will be matched with private-sector cash investment.

The co-locating of researchers, donated equipment, and capital are recent examples of key elements provided by private-sector partners to help accelerate technology commercialization. In the past month, leaders from universities and nonprofit organizations across the country have announced new efforts to expand research capacity and bring more products to market by launching innovative centers in collaboration with corporate partners.

While public debate rages over the role of surveillance in our society, one particularly infamous government surveillance technology, drones, is being prepared for private sector deployment in the U.S. Drone-related technologies are predicted to revolutionize commerce in the U.S., with industry projections valuing their initial deployment as an $82 billion boost to the national economy.

Yuka Nagashima, executive director of the High Technology Development Corp. and center director for the Innovate Hawaii program, has resigned from both posts and will leave the state agency in August. Nagashima will be leaving for Denmark to support her husband's research career. Len Higashi, current senior economic development manager, was selected to become the acting executive director.

During this year’s legislative sessions, several states looked toward creating, providing support for or redesigning programs that help incentivize businesses to hire and mentor student interns. In an effort to spur rural internships, Minnesota lawmakers approved a new tax credit program to support internships for students in greater Minnesota. In North Dakota, lawmakers committed $1.5 million to their Operation Intern program, while Nebraska lawmakers updated their Intern Nebraska grant program to provide students with a high-quality internship experience. Rhode Island Gov.

More than half of the country’s governors have delivered their state of the state addresses. Last week’s addresses tended to relate to the national election and the incoming administration, with some governors heralding the change and others pledging to try to reach a bipartisan understanding while standing firm on issues they believe in, like climate change in California. Although TBED issues may not have been at the forefront of the addresses, science, technology and especially innovation and higher education continue to receive attention. This week we zero in on comments delivered by governors in California, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana and Utah.