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Earlier this month, three universities - Stanford University, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of California, Berkeley - announced partnerships with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), a graduate-level research university set to open in Saudi Arabia by September 2009. Each of the U.S.-based universities will assist with the development of the following initiatives within specific academic fields of study at KAUST:

The presence of "surrogate universities" - that is, nonacademic institutions able to attract a skilled workforce, produce marketable innovations and cultivate local entrepreneurship - have greatly influenced the growth of the tech-based economy of Boise and Idaho's Treasure Valley. Furthermore, distinctions in these surrogates' culture, innovation model and marketable products may help to explain the development of new technology firms in the metro area.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced the recipient universities to conduct security research through five new Centers of Excellence. These centers will develop new technologies to prevent natural and man-made disasters, improve government response to such crises and monitor the nation's shores and borders.

State universities and research programs depend on public support to develop and commercialize new technologies, but the actual science involved in these discoveries can seem intimidating and arcane to the layman. How then should a state go about engaging the public in scientific research?

 

The advances being made in nanotechnology-based research are likely to impact most industry sectors eventually as more commercial applications are identified. As a result, the National Nanotechnology Initiative has been a research priority for the federal government for many years. Nanotech research is occurring around the world, but, at this point, the majority of effort is concentrated in several leading universities and private companies.

Using statistics from the National Science Foundation’s report Science & Engineering Indicators 2006, SSTI has prepared a table presenting 2003 state rankings for industrial R&D intensity - the ratio of industry R&D to gross state product (GSP).

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.

Dennis Cheek is vice president of education with the Kauffman Foundation.

Dr. Donald Daniel is the new CEO of the University of Tennessee Space Institute.

William Harris is the new president and CEO of Science Foundation Arizona, a recently formed nonprofit organization.

Dennis Cheek is vice president of education with the Kauffman Foundation.

Dr. Donald Daniel is the new CEO of the University of Tennessee Space Institute.

William Harris is the new president and CEO of Science Foundation Arizona, a recently formed nonprofit organization.

Matt Kramer stepped down from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to become vice president of sales and marketing with a Plymouth health care provider. Kramer served three years with DEED.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute named Nag Patibandla as director of the Center for Future Energy Systems, a New York State Center for Advanced Technology.

The State of Maryland has created a new Small Business Programs unit as part of the Governor's Office of Business Advocacy and Small Business Assistance.

Team NEO appointed Thomas Waltermire as CEO of the organization, a private sector-led economic development organization that helps to grow companies in Northeast Ohio.

Janice Whitehouse was named president of CyberMichigan, an institute within the nonprofit Altarum.

The University of Texas at El Paso hired Tony Woo as the assistant vice provost for research and technology transfer.

The innovation gap between Europe and the U.S. is shrinking by several measures, according to the latest benchmarking study from the European Union (EU). The size of the gap remains significant, however, due in part to factors such as an increasing public R&D intensity in the U.S. and a decreasing public R&D intensity in the EU.

 

Venture capitalists invested almost $2.5 billion in China in 2007, according to a new report from Dow Jones VentureSource. That figure is a 5 percent increase over the 2006, and the highest since 2001, despite a decrease in the number of deals. Though investment is not growing quite as quickly as it is in the U.S., where venture investment rose by 8 percent last year, China is becoming a key global market for venture investment.