State & Local Round Up
Indiana
The Indiana legislature approved a $50 million appropriation over the next biennium for Indiana's 21st Century Research and Technology Fund. The program supports the development and commercialization of advanced technology. Created in 1999 (see related 9/10/99 Digest story), the fund received $50 million in the 2000-2001 biennium.
People
Ann Lansinger, the director of the Baltimore's Emerging Technology Center, has been named the first president of the Maryland Business Incubation Association, a new organization representing the state's eight publicly funded incubators in the state.
People
The Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development has hired Lawrence C. Mahan to serve as the state's senior biotech executive.
People
Joseph Hornett has been selected to serve as senior vice president and treasurer of the nonprofit Purdue Research Foundation (PRF). Hornett currently is COO for Sport Service, Inc. in Indianapolis. PRF holds more than 130 properties and 10,000 acres of Indiana farmland near Purdue University, including the Purdue Research Park.
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Aaron Greenfield will serve as the new director of the Anne Arundel County Economic Development Corp. in Maryland.
Manufacturing Pivotal to Economic Growth, NIST Report Says
Because knowledge-based services can be supplied anywhere across the world due to increased international investment in IT infrastructure, future U.S. competitiveness hinges on diversification and broadening of the technology-based manufacturing sector, according to NIST Senior Economist George Tassey.
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President Bush has nominated Elias Zerhouni, executive vice dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as the new director of the National Institutes of Health.
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The Indiana Technology Partnership named Jim Wheeler as its new president. A former partner with Andersen LLP, Wheeler takes the position vacated by Tom Miller last fall.
Study Finds Maryland Incubators Have Big Impact
The Maryland Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO), RESI (a regional economic studies institute at Towson University), and the Maryland Business Incubation Association (MBIA) presented on Thursday the results of the Maryland Incubator Impact Study — a first-of-its-kind study for the state by measuring the economic impact of Maryland's six public- and university-related high-tech business incubators on the state's economy.
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The Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC) has announced that James Thurston has joined the ITIC team as Director of Technology Policy. Mr. Thurston has worked for NIST's Manufacturing Extension Partnership for several years.
Conference Sponsor Profile: The Manufacturing Extension Partnership
The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is a nationwide network of not-for-profit Centers in over 400 locations nationwide, whose sole purpose is to provide the more than 361,000 small and medium-sized manufacturers in the country the help they need to succeed in a global economy.
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Alan Balutis, director of the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), is leaving the agency at the end of the month to take over leadership of the Federation of Government Information Processing Councils
Competitions Open for 13 Research Funding Opportunities at NIST
NIST has opened the fiscal year 2001 competitions for funding under 13 different research grant programs: Precision Measurement Grants; the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (known as SURF) in six NIST laboratories (Building and Fire Research, Chemical Science and Technology, Information Technology, Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Physics); the Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory Grants Program; the Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory Grants Program; the Fir
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Johns Hopkins University has named Jill Tarzian Sorenson to serve as associate provost and director of the Office of Licensing and Technology Development.
NIH Changes Ground Rules for Biotech
The nation's most significant source of funding for life science research, the National Institutes of Health, announced two sweeping changes last week that could dramatically alter biotechnology commercialization. The first policy change addresses known and potential conflicts of interest by NIH employees, while the second encourages all NIH-funded research to be released publicly within 12 months of final publication.
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Ron Gifford is the new president and CEO of the Indy Partnership. Gifford replaces Gordon Hendry, who left to take an executive position with CB Richard Ellis.
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John Hertig was appointed executive director of the Alfred Mann Institute for Biomedical Development at Purdue University.
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Kenneth Kahn will be the Avrum and Joyce Gray Director of the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship at Purdue University, effective Jan. 1. In addition to directing the center, Kahn will be a professor in the university's Department of Industrial Technology.
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C. Robert Eaton is resigning as president of MdBio, effective March 31, 2007, to pursue other opportunities in the private sector.
ATP Announces Details on Competition, Proposers’ Conferences
Approximately $60 million is expected to be available under a new Advanced Technology Program (ATP) competition to support high-risk industrial R&D projects, the program announced today.
Maryland Budget Includes 66% Increase for Stem Cell Research
As the 2007 legislative session in Maryland came to a close last week, Gov. Martin O'Malley celebrated an important victory for the future of life sciences with a $10 million increase for stem cell research and the creation of a life sciences advisory board. Gov. O'Malley requested the 66 percent increase during his Jan. 31 State of the State Address (see the Feb. 19, 2007 issue of the Digest).
TEDCO, DBED Study Shows Origins of Maryland Entrepreneurs
The Maryland Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO) and the Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) recently presented the first part of a two-phase study by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies entitled The Genealogy of Maryland Entrepreneurs.
Initiative to Strengthen Presence of Life Sciences in Central Indiana
Leaders of Central Indiana's top research, academic and economic development organizations announced on Wednesday an effort to develop the region as a world-class center for the life sciences industry.
Maryland's TEDCO Launches Tech Transfer Fund
The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) kicked off the new year with a new $330,000 program to support Maryland companies wishing to develop technology-based products and/or services in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University (JHU), Morgan State University (MSU) or federal laboratories in Maryland. The Maryland Technology Transfer Fund (MTTF) will award non-equity investments of up to $50,000 per project.
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Anita Balachandra, formerly in charge of the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Technology (EPSCoT) in the U.S. Department of Commerce, is now working with the Maryland Technology Development Corp.