The Commonwealth's executive and legislative branches, in conjunction with industry and academia, are keen on developing a strategy to spur the state's economy through research, development and technology commercialization and real money's been put on the table to encourage action even in these tough fiscal times. The campus has already won a number of awards related to S&T from both the Commonwealth and UMass System because of the potential economic development benefits for the state. The Research Area can help you take advantage of S&T opportunities currently available.

Connections within the state and industry can help your research be more nationally competitive, too. RFPs are increasingly including "translational" or "commercializable" outcome statements. The Research Area has existing relationships with MA associations - public and private - and skills that can help you enhance your proposals. Developing a state strategy doesn't have to be time consuming. A small effort can go a long way particularly when you leverage the groundwork already laid.

Maintaining the state's S&T leadership has been on the minds of legislators and private industry for the past few years. In 2002, Mass Insight Corporation spearheaded the development of an action plan which brought together leaders from UMass, private universities, teaching hospitals, high-tech businesses, and state government with the goal of recommending an agenda for the state's strategic investments in science and technology. In parallel, a bi-partisan S&T Caucus was created which has seen its membership ranks grow and six regional competitiveness councils (RCCs) have been established to create economic development workplans that will leverage existing industry clusters, many of which are S&T related. The accomplishments of these groups include an assessment of the state's S&T enterprise, an analysis of the state's regional strengths, economic stimulus legislation with a strong S&T emphasis, and two new funds from the UMass President's Office to encourage S&T and commercialization. In all, more than $65M has been targeted to these efforts and the Research Area has been working with key administrators and researchers since the beginning to position UMass Amherst prominently.

Action item:
To help you understand the key players and what funds are available in the S&T space, the office of Industry Liaison and Economic Development (ILED) put together a quick reference guide to the legislation, funds and organizations that are part of the S&T initiative. ILED can help you use these contacts effectively and can provide advice for your own state S&T strategy. Go to http://www.umass.edu/research/S&Tsummary.html

An output of the Mass Insight-led state S&T initiative was the development of a roadmap that identified Massachusetts' core technology strengths and strategic university-industry alliance opportunities. Performed by Battelle Memorial Institute, the report Choosing to Lead: The Race for National R&D Leadership & New Economy Jobs begins to form the foundation of a long-term, technology-based economic development (TBED) strategy. UMass Amherst is cited throughout the report as both a leader in core technology areas as well as important to the successful implementation of S&T strategies outlined in the plan. Although Mass Insight is only one organization active in the S&T space, this case study has been a good platform for discussions around the state.

Action item:
Understanding the economic development implications of your research can help you access funds and connections within the state which in turn can enhance your national competitiveness. This case study is a good read because of the background information and TBED language used. For a copy of the report, go to http://www.massinsight.com/docs/Choosing_to_Lead_ Part1.pdf

UMass Amherst has been successful in capturing its share of TBED awards in the short time that S&T funds have been available. Opportunities to garner more of this money from the state and the UMass President's Office exist. Here are some highlights of campus awards to date:

STATE S&T FUNDS:

• $120K in John Adams Innovation Institute (JAII) Research Center Matching funds to UMass Amherst Biomedical Innovation Consortium in conjunction with the Baystate/UMass Amherst Biomedical Research Institute (contingent on NSF Partnership for Innovation Award)
• $500K from the Science and Engineering Pipeline Fund for the Commonwealth IT Initiative (CITI) - lead by UMass Amherst and leveraged to $1M by $500K anonymous corporate donor match
• $10K from the Science and Engineering Pipeline Fund for the Pioneer Valley Science Technology Engineering and Math Education Regional Network (PV STEMNET) Planning Grant

• $200K to UMass Amherst MassNanoTech to develop an new umbrella center for nanotechnology at UMass Amherst that will focus on nanoscale fabrication and development.
• $125K to the Security, Emergency Preparedness and Response Institute (SEPRI) to develop a new research institute at UMass Amherst to address the interdisciplinary issues of security, preparedness and emergency response to threats and disasters.
• $100K to Baystate/UMass Amherst Biomedical Research Institute to work on developing additional industrial partnerships and to seek out additional state and federal funding.

Action item:
Both the UMass President's S&T Funds and JAII Funds want proposals to include a TBED focus. RFP applications for JAII Funds can be found at http://www.masstech.org/jaii. Support (including proposal writing) to pursue these S&T funds is available through the ILED office. Contact: Marla Michel at 413.545.2706 for more information.

Commercialization is an important piece of the TBED pie. In May, President Jack Wilson awarded technology commercialization grants to 10 researchers throughout the 5-campus system. Five faculty from the Amherst campus received awards, which will be used to accelerate the commercialization of technology developed in their labs. Each grant is worth $10K, and is funded out of the CVIP Technology Commercialization Fund. UMass Amherst grants were awarded to the following projects:

• Todd Emrick, Polymer Science and Engineering --Use of novel polymers to release chemicals and biologically active compounds.
• Lloyd Semprevivo, Veterinary and Animal Science --Development of vaccines for three diseases.
• Elizabeth Stuart, Microbiology -- Use of flow cytometry to detect Chlamydia.
• Clifford Konold, Scientific Research Reasoning Institute -- Development of a data analysis tool for middle school subjects such as algebra and geometry.
• Paul Voss, Geosciences -- Development of altitude-controlled balloons for air mass tracking with applications in forecasting, national security, and communications.

Action item:
The UMass Amherst office of Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Property (CVIP) evaluates, protects and commercializes inventions and discoveries created by UMass Amherst researchers. Our collaborations with researchers are very important and we invite you to contact CVIP to discuss your work or with any questions. Contact: Michael Jaremchuk at 413.577.6121.

UMass Amherst Research Centers and Departments are being marketed this year to industry and other interested parties through Mass Insight's 2004 Directory of University and Nonprofit Research Centers. The ILED office, in conjunction with department business managers and staff in A&F, supplied the data for this first-of-its-kind publication. The directory is online at http://www.massinsight.com/researchdirectory.pdf

Action item for UMass Amherst:
We'd like to provide updates and include more UMass Amherst entries for the 2005 directory. Contact Becky McNiven in the ILED office at 413.545.2706 to learn of the requirements for inclusion and discuss getting your center or program publicized.

Do you have a project or idea that could benefit from state or federal support? Be sure the right people on campus are aware of your goals so that they can be included in strategic discussions with campus administrators and government officials. Three offices on campus can help: State and Government Relations, the Office of Grant and Contract Administration (OGCA) and ILED. State and Government Relations staff are well connected to state and local legislators and can help you develop a strategy to work with them. They know what is currently being communicated and how to help you position your project in a way that will get it the appropriate attention. Contact Sharon Kennaugh - 413.545.2560. OGCA staff assist campus researchers with proposal submission to state agencies. For more details, see http://www.umass.edu/research/ogca/proceds.htm, or contact John Fillio, 413.577.2344, for state agency related proposals. John is a new addition to the OGCA proposal team and takes over state agencies from Jim Ayres. (Note: completed proposals must be submitted to OGCA for review with 5 days lead time to the deadline). ILED staff can help researchers develop strategies and write proposals to tap people and support in the tech-based economic development arena. Contact ILED 413.545.2706.

Action item:
Senior campus officials meet regularly with local legislators. Keeping them informed of your goals for state and federal support helps them to develop a coordinated strategy with which to engage government.