President Clinton recently announced his intention to nominate Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Distinguished Professor of Zoology at Oregon State University, to the National Science Board, an advisory body to the National Science Foundation. The National Science Board recommends overall national policies for promoting basic research and education in the sciences.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has selected 13 new Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers, bringing the total number of centers to 24. NSF support for the new centers is expected to amount to $105 million over the next five year years. The centers are university-based programs that support interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary materials research and education.

The new centers are located at the following universities:

Dr. Elbert L. Marsh has been named to head the National Science Foundation's Directorate for Engineering. Dr. Marsh will now assume responsibility for all engineering funding at the federal agency--in excess of $300 million in 1995.

The Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and Institute of Medicine (IOM) has completed a review of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Science and Technology Centers (STC) program. COSEPUP recently released its conclusions which call for the continuation of the STC program, with some modifications.

The State of Rhode Island has selected two Research Centers of Excellence designed to expand research initiatives and encourage investment and job opportunities. The Rhode Island Center for Cellular Medicine and the Ocean Technology Center are the state's first technology centers.

Increased company support of R&D offset reduced Federal funding in 1994 and contributed to an overall increase in U.S. industrial R&D, to $119.6 billion, according to the National Science Foundation's Survey of Industrial Research and Development for 1994.

Science and Engineering Indicators - 1996 is available from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) National Science Board. The report is both a reference document and a policy document that provides an extensive array of data. The 1996 report has expanded to include output as well as input indicators as well as some indicators of the impact and outcome of science and engineering in the U.S.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) have created the NSF/SRC Engineering Research Center for Environmentally Benign Semiconductor Manufacturing. The new center will study the environmental, health, and safety aspects of the semiconductor manufacturing process.

For the third consecutive year, industrial support of U.S. academic research dropped, according to an April 2006 InfoBrief by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The 2.6 percent decrease in fiscal year 2004 from the previous year is the sharpest yet in the three-year trend, following a 1.1 percent reduction in FY 2003 and 1.6 percent in FY 2002.

Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri promoted Saul Kaplan to serve as the new director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. Kaplan replaces three-year veteran Michael McMahon, who left to launch a new equity firm.

John Cronin was named state director of the new Rhode Island Small Business Development Center at Johnson and Wales University in Providence. Cronin is CEO of the Rhode Island Manufacturing Extension Partnership.