Four organizations were named winners of SSTI's 2010 Excellence in TBED Award, serving as national models for states and regions investing in science, technology and innovation to grow and sustain their economies and create high-paying jobs.

Armed with professional advice from mentors in scientific fields and free access to sophisticated design and engineering software, teachers and students from Hawaii, Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Vermont and Virginia will participate in a national competition to solve a real-world engineering challenge defined by the aviation industry.
 

The Obama administration announced winners of the Advanced Manufacturing Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge on Tuesday. The challenge — publicized earlier this year — is one of the key initiatives of the interagency Taskforce for the Advancement of Regional Innovation Clusters and is sponsored by a partnership between the U.S. Department of Commerce, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Departments of Energy and Labor, and the Small Business Administration.

In an era of tightening fiscal constraints, states have to make tough decisions, establish clear economic development funding priorities and transform their economic development models to take advantage of immediate opportunities and position their state for long-term economic growth. Mississippi, Oklahoma and Washington have released state-specific strategic plans that make those tough decisions by focusing their resources on key science & technology (S&T) areas to address the economic impacts of the Great Recession and position the state for future prosperity.

With the number of startups on the rise, several states and cities are reaching out to entrepreneurs to connect them with the assistance and capital they need to survive.

Indiana

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed the Oklahoma Aerospace Engineer Tax Credit — reestablishing a tax incentive that was put on moratorium during last year's legislative session. The legislation extends tax credits of $5,000 a year for up to five years to engineers who are hired in Oklahoma. Under the law, companies receive a tax credit equal to 10 percent of the compensation paid to an engineering graduate from an Oklahoma institution of higher education.

Steve Biggers, deputy director, Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology has retired after 31 years of service to the state. He has served at OCAST for the last 19 years.

A new statewide network will coordinate the regional economic development activities of Indiana University, according to an announcement released by the university this week. The Innovate Indiana Network will complement the work done by the Innovate Indiana initiative and the university's Council for Regional Engagement and Economic Development (CREED). The network will include representatives from 16 schools, offices and centers across the state that offer services that could potentially benefit regional economies.

Follow-on funding, access to technology, talent and resources all can be barriers to commercialization and successfully spinning off sustainable companies. Always seeking a quicker, more viable path to market for technologies and products, university-based programs and public-private partnerships try to tackle these hurdles, which often times are region-specific. Such is the case in Long Island, NY, where a recent partnership between a nonprofit organization and venture capital firm is working to address access to capital concerns.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin announced that Jonna Kirschner, executive director of the Oklahoma Commerce Department, will serve on a transition team to establish a new workers’ compensation system. Vaughn Clark , the Commerce Department’s director of community development, was named as interim executive director.

Tom Walker is departing i2E to join TechColumbus as CEO. Walker, a founding member of i2E, has served the private nonprofit for 14 years. Walker replaces Tim Haynes, who has been serving as interim CEO.

Mark Herzog will step down as executive director of the Virginia Biotechnology Association on June 1. Herzog will serve as senior vice president for corporate and government affairs at Health Diagnostic Laboratory, a Richmond-based company that conducts clinical tests.

A program envisioned nine years ago as a $1 billion endowment that would transform Oklahoma into the research capital of the Great Plains was eliminated last week by the legislature. The Economic Development Generating Excellence Fund, or EDGE Fund, which provided grants to high-tech companies, was unable to secure a long-term financial commitment from the state following an initial appropriation of $150 million in 2006. The balance of the fund, about $161 million, will be transferred to Oklahoma universities for the endowed chairs program to fund academic positions and research.

Two common themes emerged in a trio of reports aimed at growing the bioscience sectors in Indiana, New York and Pennsylvania: the need for a sustained financial commitment from the states and the importance of a shared vision and better communication between policymakers and industry leaders. In all three reports, the authors say the payoff is big for the states. The bioscience and life science industries support high-wage jobs and attract significant federal funds.

Indiana

Betsy Biemann, who has served as president of the Maine Technology Institute since 2005 has resigned. Joe Migliaccio, manager of MTI's Business Innovation Program, is serving as interim president.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has been named the next president of Purdue University. Daniels will become the 12th president in Purdue's 143-year history in January at the end of his second term as governor.

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.