People
The Pennsylvania NanoMaterials Commercialization Center selected Alan Brown as its executive director.
Berkshire to Offer High-Speed Telecommunications Network
Efforts to transform rural Berkshire County, Massachusetts from an area of economic decline into an equal player for the New Economy through improved telecommunications access are bearing fruit. Berkshire Connect, a consortium of business, cultural, academic, and community leaders has successfully negotiated an agreement with Global Crossing, Ltd. and Equal Access Networks to provide low-cost, equal access telecommunications throughout the region.
Pennsylvania Tobacco Settlement may include VC, Research
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge has proposed that 15 percent of the Commonwealth’s expected $11 billion tobacco settlement monies be directed toward health-care related research and venture capital. Pennsylvania anticipates receiving between $397 and $459 million each year for the next 25 years.
Mary Good Honored by Heinz Foundation
Dr. Mary L. Good, president-elect of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and former Under Secretary for Technology in the Department of Commerce, has received the 1999 Heinz Award in Technology, the Economy, and Employment from the Heinz Family Foundations. The Award is given in recognition for Dr.
Foundations Seeking to Make a Difference in Environment
This decade saw a significant increase in public and private investment in environmental technologies and programs. Confronting environmental issues will remain a challenge for many years to come.
Mass. Tech. Collaborative Releases 3rd Innovation Index
The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) has released its third annual Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy. The report tracks and explores the implications of 30 performance indicators on the long-term growth and stability of the Massachusetts economy. When statistics are available, Massachusetts is compared to its “leading competitor states” of California, Colorado, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and Texas.
Future of Innovation Identified
Curious who will shape technological innovation in 21st century? Technology Review magazine has developed for the first time a list of the top 100 innovators under the age of 35.
The list, nicknamed the TR100, was compiled by a panel of 24 judges including 3 Nobel laureates, 2 university presidents, and representatives of scientific and research organizations, businesses, venture capitalists, and the media.
NCIIA Supporting Higher Education Entrepreneurship
The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) seeks proposals that support innovation, invention, and entrepreneurship programs in U.S. colleges and universities. Through December 1999, NCIIA will award $400,000 in grants to faculty and students of member institutions. The next deadline is December 15, 1999.
Ben Franklin had $2.9 Billion Economic Impact, Report Says
Pennsylvania’s $187 million investment in the Ben Franklin Partnership boosted the state’s economy by $2.9 billion between 1989 and 1996, according to a new economic impact study. A Record of Achievement: The Economic Impact of the Ben Franklin Partnership concludes that between 1989 and 1996 the Ben Franklin Partnership achieved the following:
Job Corner: Innovation Philadelphia Seeks Manager of Marketing and Communications
Innovation Philadelphia, a nonprofit public-private partnership dedicated to growing the wealth and the workforce of the Greater Philadelphia Region, is seeking a full-time manager of marketing and communications to start immediately.
People
Douglas Goodall has been appointed CEO of Innovation Works, the successor to the Ben Franklin Technology Center of Western Pennsylvania.
Federal R&D Funding Out of Sync with Economy, MTC Finds
There is potential trouble ahead for R&D and those states with relatively low levels of federal support will be impacted most severely, according to the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's Analysis of the Impact of FY 2000 Federal R&D Investment Scenarios on Economic Growth.
Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse Established
Calling it one of the most important economic development activities of his administration, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge recently announced the creation of the "Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse" -- a public/private partnership intended to provide support, infrastructure, and the expertise needed to accelerate the development and re-use of system-on-a-chip (SOC) technology.
S&T Career Opportunities
Sue Rhoades is leaving her role as State Coordinator with Ben Franklin Technology Partners in Pennsylvania to take a position in the private sector. As a result, the Ben Franklin Technology Partners are seeking candidates to fill her position. The posting, as well as several other S&T career opportunities, is available on the SSTI website at: http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm
Millions in Renewable Energy Funding Freed in Massachusetts
On April 19, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court cleared the way for the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust Fund to begin operations with a unanimous ruling that the funding mechanism is constitutional.
People
President Clinton has announced his nomination of Dr. Mildred S. Dresselhaus to serve as Director of Energy Research at the Department of Energy. Dr. Dresselhaus is currently a professor in the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
MTDC Profiled in Latest SSTI Program Brief
Established in 1978 and entirely self-supported beginning in 1988, the Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) has one of the longest records of success for state-sponsored venture capital corporations. SSTI has completed an eight-page profile of MTDC as the fourth in an occasional series examining the diversity of approaches to technology-based economic development.
People
Steven Zylstra, chair of the Technology Transfer Committee of the Arizona Governor's Strategic Partnership for Economic Development, has accepted the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of the Pittsburgh Technology Council and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center.
SSTI Conference News: Intro Sold Out, Room Block Extended
As with last year's conference, registration has been brisk for SSTI's 5th annual conference, Creating Opportunity: Tools for Building Tech-based Economies. To make sure the event is the quality and caliber expected of an SSTI event, we anticipate once again the event will sell out — possibly before the September 5 deadline for early registration. SSTI encourages interested parties to complete the registration form on their brochure or on the website at their earliest convenience.
Pittsburgh Mayor to Lead 'Tech City' Tour for SSTI Conference
Tom Murphy says when he first took office as Mayor of Pittsburgh in January 1994, the city was suffering from one of the worst inferiority complexes in its history. To be sure, Pittsburgh once was known first and foremost as being the capital of steelmaking in the U.S. By 1994, the devolution of U.S. steelmakers during the past 25 years had taken its toll on the steel city, physically, economically and psychologically.
Southeastern PA To Map Nanotechnology Assets
The Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania has issued a Request for Proposals to develop an asset-mapping study of the nanotechnology sector in the four-state Philadelphia Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Gov. Ridge to Keynote SSTI’s Fifth Annual Conference
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge will deliver the keynote address at Creating Opportunity: Tools for Building Tech-Based Economies, SSTI’s Fifth Annual Conference, which will be held September 19-21, 2001 at the Omni William Penn in Pittsburgh.
$10 Million Gift Opens Tech Center at Wharton
The William and Phyllis Mack Center for Technological Innovation was founded last month at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The center is the product of a $10 million gift from William L. Mack, the president and senior managing partner of the Mack Organization — a national owner, investor and developer of warehouse facilities.
SSTI Conference Update
SSTI's fifth annual conference, Creating Opportunity: Tools for Building Tech-based Economies, will take place December 3-4, 2001, at the Omni William Penn in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The conference agenda remains intact from the original mid-September dates with almost all speakers reconfirmed. (see the conference agenda on SSTI's webpage: http://www.ssti.org/Conf01/agenda.htm [expired] )
SSTI Conference Rescheduled for December 3-4
SSTI’s fifth annual conference, Creating Opportunity: Tools for Building Tech-based Economies, has been rescheduled for December 3-4. The agenda and location of the conference remain the same.