The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, in concert with the Pennsylvania State University, are presenting the inaugural Creating Pennsylvania’s Future: A Higher Education, Economic and Community Development Summit, aimed at energizing institutions of higher education, busi

Chris Capelli, currently director of the technology transfer office at University of Pittsburgh, is leaving to become vice president for technology transfer at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Richard Lunak is the new CEO of Innovation Works and Ron Bianchini has been named chairman of the organization.

Is Pennsylvania getting enough bang -- or the right bang -- from its investments in promoting a tech-based economy? The state has been one of the nation's leading public investors in technology-based economic development (TBED) for more than 20 years. Programs have evolved and been added over the years as factors affecting innovation and private sector growth changed. The result is now Pennsylvania's researchers and entrepreneurs have a complex portfolio of public-private resources available to them.

Editor's Note: Last week's issue of the Digest included a Recent Research item, Are Leading Firms Team Players? that drew an animated reaction from a reader whose opinion SSTI holds in great respect because of his contributions to improving the understanding and delivery of technology-based economic development initiatives. As a result, Dr.

Jack Pfunder is the new executive director of the Manufacturers Resource Center in Bethlehem, Pa.

Rebecca Bagley is the new Deputy Secretary for Technology Investment in the PA Dept. of Community and Economic Development.

After nine years as deputy director of the National Science Foundation, Dr. Joseph Bordogna is resigning. He will return to the University of Pennsylvania as Alfred Fitler Moore Professor of Engineering.

Richard Overmoyer, deputy secretary for technology investment at the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, is leaving to join the lobbying group, GSP Consulting.

Venture capital investments in Montana may have become a little more attractive last Friday as the Montana House of Representatives passed the Montana Equity Capital Investment Act, moving the legislation to Gov. Brian Schweitzer for his consideration and expected signature.

With a state legislature that only meets for 90 days every two years, opportunity for positive change in Montana's public-supported efforts to build a tech-based economy is limited. For the proposed $20 million Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund - one of new Gov. Brian Schweitzer's largest economic development initiatives - the 90th day, April 26, is fast approaching.

A long-delayed equity capital program in Montana is on its way to becoming a reality. Montana, which received no venture capital investment in 2006 according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers Moneytree survey, has struggled to attract the interest of venture capital firms. The Montana Equity Capital Investment Act, sponsored by State Sen. Jeff Mangan and signed by Gov. Brian Schweitzer in 2005, was intended to make the state more attractive to outside investors, but never seemed to get off the ground.

 

Across the nation, policymakers, business leaders, private foundations and nonprofit groups are investing in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates to maintain a competitive U.S. workforce. From middle school math and science labs to engineering-centered summer camps and tuition reimbursement for undergraduates who pursue these fields, there is widespread support for STEM graduates.

 

Americans say they take pride in our nation's leadership role in science and technology and believe the U.S. needs to continue investing in scientific research and development (R&D) in order to remain at the forefront of discovery and innovation, according to a Gallup survey conducted on behalf of the Bayer Corporation in partnership with the National Science Foundation.

The next U.S. supercomputing system operating at speeds well beyond a trillion calculations per second will reside at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) through an expected $45-million award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Last week, the National Science Board (NSB), NSF's governing body, authorized the three-year award following a national competition.

Rob Jaffe, director of federal funding programs with Innovation Philadelphia, is resigning to become a senior underwriter for Institutional Lending at Commerce Bank.