With nearly $1 billion in federal R&D funding proposed for the new Department of Homeland Security, many states, universities and companies are exploring ways to be actively involved as R&D partners. Already home to several military and intelligence research activities, with proximity to Washington, D.C. in its favor, Virginia recently announced an effort to further strengthen its competitive position in the funding race.

Ellen Hemmerly has been named president of the nonprofit Association of University Research Parks.

Charles W. Steger, President of Virginia Tech. has been elected chairman of Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology. Paula S. Gulak, Founding Partner of SyCom Technologies, is the new Vice Chairman.

Since reaching a high point of almost 27,300 in 1998, the number of science and engineering (S&E) doctorates has dropped by 7 percent to just over 25,500 in 2001, reports a 2001 nationwide survey conducted for the National Science Foundation (NSF). The decline since 1998 has led to a rollback of total Ph.D.s to pre-1994 levels, the report states.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) plans to fund $9 million in new FY 2003 awards under the Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) Program, according to the program solicitation's recent release. To promote PFI, NSF will sponsor 15-25 partnerships among academe, government and the private sector that explore new approaches to innovation.

The purpose of the program, as defined in the PFI solicitation, is threefold:

Chuck Henderson has announced he will retire as president of the University of Nebraska's 130-acre Technology Park next June.

Dan Curran is the new director of the Business Development Division of the Nebraska Department of Development.

With several of the right elements already in place but scattered across a wide area, the two planning districts comprising the 13-county region surrounding Roanoke, Virginia, combined efforts to develop a strategic economic development strategy that focuses heavily on science and technology-based initiatives.

The importance of strong academic R&D capabilities in building state and regional tech-based economies cannot be overstated. Subsequently most states, either independently or in partnership with federal EPSCoR programs, are making investments toward strengthening their academic research enterprises. Some also have invested in programs to attract, leverage or match federal R&D investments.

Anne Armstrong, president of Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology since 1999, has resigned from the position effective the end of this month. Virginia Secretary of Technology George C. Newstrom will serve as Interim President during a search for a new president.

Robert Templin, Jr., has been named the new president of Northern Virginia Community College, effective August 17. Templin, currently a senior fellow at the Morino Institute, was a previous president of Virginia' Center for Innovative Technology.

Virginia is one of the most connected states in the country with 5.19 million access lines, 2.76 million wireless telephone subscribers and 218,808 high-speed lines, according to a report issued by Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology (CIT).

The National Science Foundation has released a new set of statistical tables that show research and development (R&D) funding levels, reported by 31 federal agencies for the last three fiscal years.

A wake-up call. That's what the final report of the Lincoln Technology Council said the city received after learning one of its top employers was expanding its operations in a nearby city instead of Lincoln because of perceived weaknesses in Lincoln's telecommunications infrastructure.