July 14, 2009 According to statement made by BIO, continued innovation in U.S. biotechnology industry is dependent on strong U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Furloughs or other measures that result in reduction of patent examiners will have negative impact on ability of PTO to examine critical biotech patent applications in timely manner. This could slow innovation, stifling biotech innovation, threatening U.S. competitiveness, and jeopardizing high-wage, high-quality U.S. jobs.

July 14, 2009 Passed by House of Representatives, H.R. 2965 allows small companies that receive majority of their financing from venture capital to be eligible to compete for Small Business Innovation Research grants. According to Jim Greenwood, BIO President and CEO, passage of bill is critical step toward ensuring that all innovative companies can compete for SBIR grants - based on promise of their science rather than structure of their capital.

July 14, 2009 Jim Greenwood, BIO President and CEO, made a statement praising Barack Obama's nomination of Francis S. Collins as Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In it, Greenwood urged the Senate to move quickly to confirm Collins, citing the "impeccable credentials and experience" he will bring to the position. Greenwood went on to express an eagerness to work with Dr. Collins and the NIH staff to attain the President's goal of finding a cure for cancer "within our time."

July 14, 2009 Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee has announced Chairman's mark that provides $190 million for hydrogen and fuel cells at DOE, restoring funding to FY2009 levels. According to Chairman Dorgan, Energy and Water Appropriations bill invests in efforts to reduce reliance on foreign oil and restores funding for hydrogen energy research. House Appropriations Committee also met to review proposed FY10 budget, which will proceed to House floor.

July 14, 2009 According to James C. May, ATA President and CEO, airline industry commends Commodity Futures Trading Commission for recognizing serious adverse effects of unchecked speculation on consumers and businesses. U.S. airline industry supports CFTC initiative to consider imposing position limits on commodity investments designed to prevent speculative investors from disproportionately controlling commodities markets.

July 14, 2009 During the 2009 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, executives of biofuel and industrial biotechnology companies, as well as representatives of NGOs, will offer their views on how the industry might fare under carbon accounting rules. Topics will address biofuels and carbon policies; the utility of sustainable biofuel certification; US climate change legislation; as well as feedstock procurement, regulation, and storage.

July 14, 2009 In Job Growth: Dos and Don'ts speech at RadTech's Spring Meeting, Drew Greenblatt of Marlin Steel Wire Products urged members to target overseas markets as way to revitalize economy. Greenblatt recommended reinvesting to create jobs and diversifying offerings for customers. In addition, he said members should invite local/state/federal officials to visit manufacturing facilities to learn what facility produces, jobs it provides, and benefit company brings to local community/economy.

July 14, 2009 Materials and Processes for Medical Devices conference and exhibition, to be held August 10-12 in Minneapolis, will bring together materials scientists and engineers, metallurgists, product designers, researchers, and clinicians. In its 7th yr, event will cover medical devices using metallic and biodegradable plastics, bioactive ceramics, nanomaterials, and biocompatible alloys. It will include sessions covering various aspects of medical device design in addition to 5 sessions on materials.

July 13, 2009 Held from May 28-30, 2009 PTDA Canadian Conference brought together power transmission/motion control industry's leaders for insiders' focus on Canadian industry trends. Jayson Myers, president of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, addressed Canadian economic forecast, and Mike Edwards, editor of Design Product News, offered participants insights into 10 technology trends that will impact PT/MC industry. Participants also attended various in-depth market briefings.

July 13, 2009 PMA METALFORM Mexico tradeshow, co-located with AWS Weldmex, Fabtech Mexico, and COATech tradeshows, featured more than 6,200 attendees that viewed latest welding, fabricating, and metalforming technologies. Held at Monterrey's Cintermex exposition facility, 64% of attendees were first-time participants, and more than 40% came from outside of Monterrey. Sponsors PMA, AWS, FMA, and SME will co-locate Mexico tradeshows again on May 11-13, 2010, in Mexico City.

July 10, 2009 In response to report released by FERC, NEMA is advocating use of state-by-state study as guide for achieving maximum cost-effective demand response. Report finds that with full demand-response participation, U.S. can level out peak-capacity requirements through 2019, nearly eliminating need for new power plants. Report identifies future technological trends that can continue to reduce peak load, including Smart Grid capable appliances, photovoltaic panels, and plug-in electric vehicles.

July 10, 2009 In survey conducted with 789 individuals, AIIM found that more than 50% of knowledge workers consider Enterprise 2.0 to be Important or Very Important to business goals and success. Only 17% admitted that they have no idea what it is, compared to 40% at start of 2008. Within 650 organizations polled, main business drivers to adopt Enterprise 2.0 technologies are knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and responsiveness, and biggest impediments are lack of understanding, corporate culture, and cost.

July 9, 2009 AIA New York Chapter has announced that "A Space Within: The National September 11 Memorial and Museum," a public showcase of the 8-acre memorial and museum taking shape at the World Trade Center site, is open to the public. Curated by Thomas Mellins, the exhibition contains details of the memorial and museum plans. It will host public programs as well as display scale models, construction photographs, drawings, and videos. The exhibition will remain on view until September 14, 2009.

July 9, 2009 ZigBee® Green Power will help establish a global, standard technology for self-powered devices operating through energy harvesting techniques. These devices will communicate seamlessly with existing ZigBee and ZigBee PRO networks and will enable maintenance-free, environmentally friendly products that eliminate the need for wires and batteries to power control devices. The standard will be made available to Alliance members at the end of 2009.

July 9, 2009 T. Boone Pickens will be featured as the keynote speaker for PMI® Global Congress 2009 - North America, which will be held October 10-13 in Orlando, FL. In his keynote address, Pickens plans to deliver a comprehensive solution for what North America should do to decrease its increasing reliance on foreign oil. He will offer open and candid responses to audience questions about the country's dependence on imported oil while providing details on how to enhance energy security.

July 9, 2009 According to IPC's North American PCB Statistical Program, rigid PCB shipments were down 34.2% and bookings were down 25.7% in May 2009 from May 2008. Book-to-bill ratio continued to climb and reached 1.03. Flexible circuit shipments in May 2009 were down 3.0% and bookings were down 12.9% compared to May 2008, while book-to-bill ratio inched up to 0.96. For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry shipments decreased 32.2% from May 2008 and orders booked decreased 24.8%.

July 8, 2009 ANSI and NIST have published a meeting report on the first gathering of the Nuclear Energy Standards Coordination Collaborative (NESCC), a joint initiative to identify and respond to the current needs of the nuclear industry. Attendees first discussed the intent of the activity, which is focused on collaboration and coordination rather than standards development. Planned task groups were then discussed, and NESCC is now accepting formal proposals for them.

July 8, 2009 Developed by the ISO Committee on Consumer Policy, a draft guide on instructions for use of products by consumers has been circulated to ISO national standards bodies and national committees of the IEC for vote. ANSI invites all interested stakeholders to submit comments by July 31, 2009. With practical recommendations and a proposed methodology for assessment, ISO/IEC Guide 37 establishes common criteria for evaluating the quality of product instructions.

July 8, 2009 NIST is seeking comments on report that identifies issues and proposes priorities for developing technical standards and architecture for U.S. Smart Grid. Report was prepared by Electric Power Research Institute to engage Smart Grid stakeholders in development of draft interim standards road map. EPRI technical experts have compiled and distilled recommendations from two 2-day public workshops, 6 expert working groups, and cyber security coordination task group.

July 8, 2009 In June, ANSI welcomed Lansing Community College, Identity Theft Resource Center, Green Building Certification Institute, VisionTree Software, Inc., DDL Inc., Android Industries LLC, Soma Development LLC, IMPERSA S.A., GL&V, Center on Education and Training for Employment, R & M Industrial LLC, and Assoc. of Millwork Distributors. Constituency works to improve quality of life by developing, implementing, and promulgating voluntary consensus standards and related conformance assessment systems.