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NSF PR 01-88 - October 31, 2001
NSF Invests in a Second Year of Grants to Foster
Community Innovation
A National Science Foundation (NSF) program to foster
significant public/private partnerships and help better
position local communities to accommodate new and
enhanced research and development will continue into
a second year.
The $14 million in grants awarded last year under NSF's
Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) have been supplemented
with over $7 million for 12 new grants in 2001 to
cover projects in 11 states involving more than 150
partner organizations.
"As we continue our efforts to link the broad-based
scientific and engineering knowledge gained through
basic research with the talent that exists in local
communities to build a stronger economic base and
workforce, we will tap new sources of innovative ideas,"
said Rita Colwell, NSF director. "These ideas will
be translated into new businesses, products, services
and educational programs - and will solidify our country's
leading role in innovation."
The twelve lead institutions receiving new PFI awards
include: Case Western Reserve, Cleveland; the University
of Alaska, Anchorage; the universities of Maine, Southern
Mississippi, Southern California, Pennsylvania and
South Dakota; Montana Tech; Michigan Technological
University; and Montana State, Northwestern and Wichita
State universities. All are receiving an average of
$600,000 over the next two to three years. The lead
institutions are selected to act as catalysts in helping
their surrounding communities transform research-based
knowledge into innovations that create opportunities
for new wealth and a broader economic base that benefit
communities and the nation at large.
"NSF expects a lot from these institutions," says John
Hurt, PFI program manager. "In addition to proposing
significant activities and partnership arrangements,
the lead universities must develop a concept for the
kinds of innovation to be accomplished, and the potential
economic and societal impact."
Examples of innovation that the grants are meant to
foster might involve development of advanced new technologies
to boost local economic growth. A university may serve
as the research base, then incorporate its results
into the corporate arena through knowledge and technology
transfer. Corporate partners may develop the industrial
processes for the innovation or product. Local governments
or other non-profit activities may become a third
leg in the partnership process by creating the climate
for new businesses or funding the marketing of the
product or innovation.
Innovation may also involve the spreading of knowledge
through internships for high school students, undergraduate
degree programs or research opportunities that provide
local existing industries and economies a boost by
enhancing the work force in number and in its knowledge
and competencies.
"Talent exists in all corners of our great country,
and these Partnerships for Innovation will help us
continue to exploit and develop those talents," Hurt
concluded.
Attachment: PARTNERSHIPS
FOR INNOVATION - 2001
Attachment
PARTNERSHIPS FOR INNOVATION - 2001
Case Western Reserve University - 3 years
Project will provide internships for local high school
students, academic degree programs for undergraduates,
internships for postgraduates as part of the master's
degree program, student research activities in bioengineering
or biomedical design to include a business plan for
product commercialization and technology transfer.
Partners: Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Inc.,
KAL Equity Capital Fund, Metro Health Medical Center,
Nortech-Northeast Ohio Technology Coalition, Ohio
Innovation Fund, Seven Roien Funds, University Hospitals
of Cleveland, Edison Biotechnology, Inc., CID Equity
Partners, Enterprise Development Inc.
Michigan Technological University - 3 years
Project will couple technology transfer and sponsored
research programs, create an on-line database of inventory
of knowledge assets at the academic institutions,
and manage and share knowledge assets through internal
collaborative relationships among partners.
Partners: North Carolina State University,
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, NASA, Michigan
Economic Development Corporation, Upstate Alliance
for Innovation (NY), and the North Carolina Technological
Development Authority.
Montana State University - 2 years
Project will develop new optical technology and incorporate
it into various operational optical communications
and computing systems. Montana State will do fundamental
research. Partner companies will help develop and
fabricate products. Not-for-profit organizations will
ensure a pro-business climate for establishment of
new small and medium-sized companies. State funding
will help in product commercialization.
Partners: AdvR, Intc., Tektronix, Inc., Scientific
Materials Corp., IBM Almaden Research Center, ILX
Lightwave Corp., MSU Techlink Center, Gallatin Development
Corp., and Montana Board of Research and Commercialization
Technology.
Montana Tech - 2 years
Project will develop systems through which educational
resources can be rapidly deployed to the widely distributed
population of Montana, develop on-line courses in
concurrent engineering and collaborative commerce
and advance the state-of-the-art in collaborative
methodologies.
Partners: Montana Dept. of Commerce, Montana
State University-Northern, Structural Dynamics Research
Corp., PFM Manufacturing, S&K Electronics, Lincoln
Electric Company
Northwestern University - 3 years
Project aims to forge an effective partnership within
the intermodal freight industry in Chicago through
interdependent research, in-depth analyses of past,
current and future trends of the intermodal freight
industry and promoting the use of decision support
tools through educational programs for the partners.
Partners: University of Illinois-Chicago Circle
Urban Transportation Center, Chicago Area Transportation
Study, City of Chicago, Metropolitan Planning Council,
Business Leaders for Transportation, Burlington Northern
Santa Fe Railway Company, Union Pacific Railway Company,
Central States Trucking Company, and Roadway Express.
Wichita State University - 3 years
Project will use integrated virtual reality models
of manufacturing systems to design, improve and operate
the manufacturing systems, and teach the workforce
(new graduates as well as current industry personnel)
by integrating the curricula of the industrial engineering
and manufacturing engineering programs at Wichita
State University with real-world experience in manufacturing
systems, and transfer of the computer modeling tools
to industry.
Partners: Boeing, Cessna and Raytheon Aircraft
Companies, Brittain Machine Inc., Delmia Corporation,
Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation, and the
Society of Manufacturing Engineers.
University of Alaska, Anchorage - 3 years
Project will bring computer technology to remote communities,
provide high school students with a vision of a career
in science and engineering, connect students with
professionals in industry and academia, provide industrial
partners with a technologically trained workforce,
and develop the enabling infrastructure necessary
to sustain the effort long-term.
Partners: The Universities of Alaska-Fairbanks,
Hawaii-Manoa and Washington, Ford Motor Co., Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, The Boeing Co., Kimberly Clark, Alcoa,
IBM Kirkland-Washington, Bureau of Reclamation, Microsoft,
Flour Daniel, Alaska Technical Center, Northwest Arctic
Borough School District, White Swan High School, Confederate
Bands and Tribes of the Yakama Nation, NANA/DOWL Engineers,
and NANA/Colt Engineers.
University of Maine - 3 years
Project will strengthen partnerships among the University
of Maine, private industry, state organizations, forest
product industry organizations and national laboratories
to foster commercialization of composite reinforced
wood and to develop innovative strategies for commercializing
composite reinforced wood hybrids that can become
models for other university research centers.
Partners: Maine Technology Institute, Eastern
Maine Development Corp., State Department of Economic
and Community Development, The Manufacturing Extension
Partnership, Maine Department of Transportation, Louisiana
Pacific, Dow Chemical, State Farm Insurance, Henderson
and Bodwell, The Kenway Corp., Market Development
Alliance of the FRP Composites Industry, APA the Engineered
Wood Association, National Institutes of Standards
and Technology, USDA Forest Products Laboratory.
University of Pennsylvania- 3 years
Project will provide the infrastructure, curriculum
development, teacher training and curriculum implementation
for associates degree programs in nano- and nano-biotechnology
by building an infrastructure that will leverage the
power of high bandwidth communications for regional
virtual classrooms and tel-experimentation. Includes
outreach to high schools.
Partners: Drexel University, the Collegiate
Consortium, HUBS (Hospitals, Universities, Businesses,
Schools), MAGPI (Metropolitan Area GifaPop in Philadelphia
for Internet2), Bucks County Community College, Delaware
County CC, Montgomery County CC, the CC of Philadelphia
in Pennsylvania, Camden County CC in New Jersey, Delaware
Technical CC in Delaware, Hartford CC in Maryland,
SAIC through HUBS, Centocor, Cephalon, Sunthes, Life
Sensors, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Ben Franklin
Technology Partners.
University of South Dakota - 3 years
Project includes creating a series of technology entrepreneurship
education modules, modifying several existing business
and entrepreneurship undergraduate and graduate courses
to focus on technology and R&D businesses, and integrating
university and private sector partners into technology
evaluation and development teams to move innovations
and technologies to market.
Partners: Black Hills State University, Dakota
State University, Northern State University, South
Dakota School of Mines and Technology, South Dakota
State University, South Dakota Board of Regents, Forward
Sioux Falls, Rapid City Economic Development, Genesis
of Innovation for South Dakota, Genesis Equity Fund,
LLC, Small Business High Technology Institute, South
Dakota Health Research Foundation, Dairean, Inc.,
Pacer Corporation, South Dakota Health Technology
Innovations, TJ Technologies, Inc.
University of Southern California - 2 years
Project proposes to create and implement a national
Technology Transfer and Commercialization Network.
The activity will provide private sector partners
that supply needed technology, financial and legal
expertise; national labs, state and local governments
that will assist in evaluating the program; and academic
partners that supply vital content and structure to
allow the partners and their clients to be successful
innovators.
Partners: California State University - Fresno,
Caltech, Claremont Graduate University, University
of Arkansas, University of Nevada-Reno, University
of Pittsburgh, NASA Ames, California Technology Trade
and Commerce, LA Economic Development Corporation,
Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Niagara
Broadband, and National Collegiate Innovators and
Inventors Alliance.
University of Southern Mississippi - 2 years
Project aims to develop a mechanism capable of translating
polymer science and engineering discoveries to commercialization
through development of new companies, and retention
and enhancement of existing companies. Partners will
develop, promote and sustain an accessible infrastructure
for innovation and design and implement educational
programs leading to the increase of the regional work
force.
Partners: Petal High School, Jones Junior College,
Pearl River Community College, Mississippi Department
of Economic and Community Development, Mississippi
Technology Alliance, Mississippi Technology Incorporated,
Mississippi Center for Community and Economic Development,
Area Development Partnership, Mississippi Polymer
Institute, Office of Naval Research Laboratories,
Cooperative State Research Education and Extension
Service, National Institute of Science and Technology,
John C. Stennis NASA Space Center, Bayer, Inc., Rohm
and Haas, J.M. Huber, Eastman Chemical Company.
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