Rhode Island's Continued Economic Transformation through Strategic Investments and Collaborations Top June STAC Meeting Agenda
Related Media Coverage and Links
June 9, 2011 | Print this page | Share This |
Focus on Pittsburgh as a case study for how a region can successfully transform its economy and how this can serve as a model to further grow Rhode Island’s knowledge-based industries
As part of Governor Lincoln D. Chafee’s focus on best practices in science and technology-based economic development, this afternoon’s meeting of the Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC) featured a look at the revitalization of Pittsburgh, Pa. as an example of how a region can rejuvenate its economy after the decline of a traditional industrial base.
Governor Chafee joined Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC) Executive Director Keith Stokes and STAC members to discuss how Rhode Island can continue to utilize and develop its economic strengths, like the Knowledge District in Providence, to achieve sustainable job and industry growth.
“Sound economic development relies in great measure on obtaining accurate and expert information. Meetings such as today, where we enjoyed the input of a leader in Pittsburgh’s revitalization through investment in science and technology and that of two of Rhode Island’s leading nanotechnology academics, ensure that the Science and Technology Advisory Council is receiving timely and expert input as it continues to assist in our economic recovery,” Governor Chafee said.
“Like Pittsburgh, Rhode Island has made significant strides to grow our knowledge and innovation-based economy as traditional industries have changed. The challenge before us is to continue to make the necessary strategic investments in business infrastructure like the Knowledge District in Providence, workforce development and access to capital that will help our economy compete and thrive in the 21st Century, just as it did during the industrial revolution,” said RIEDC Executive Director Keith Stokes.
Dr. Christina Gabriel, President of the University Energy Partnership - a nonprofit organization founded to support collaborative energy technology research and innovation and inclusive economic growth throughout the greater Pittsburgh region, discussed how the area has successfully transformed its economy through strategic investments and innovative collaborations. Since the decline of the steel industry in the 1970’s, Pittsburgh has become a national leader for venture capital growth and home to a hotbed of innovation in advanced manufacturing, digital technologies, life sciences and energy solutions and could serve as a model for Rhode Island which is looking to further build on the success of similar industries in the state.
STAC members also heard from Dr. Arijit Bose from the University of Rhode Island and Dr. Robert Hurt from Brown University on services and programs offered by the newly formed Rhode Island Consortium for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.
The Consortium was established in 2010 by Congress as a joint entity between the University of Rhode Island and Brown University <http://www.brown.edu> . The Consortium seeks to enhance Rhode Island's competitiveness as a center of excellence in nanoscience and nanotechnology by promoting industry-university collaboration and new technology ventures to catalyze economic growth and job creation in the region, building research teams that exploit complementary strengths at URI and Brown, seeding entrepreneurship awards for selected new ventures and establishing critical infrastructure allowing campus and non-campus access to state-of-the-art instrumentation for nanoscale research and development.
About STAC
STAC was launched in 2005 and sustained by legislative statute in 2006 to make innovation central to the state’s leadership agenda. STAC seeks to assist state leadership in developing programs and policies that: 1) increase Rhode Island's research and development capacity;
2) encourage entrepreneurship and new company creation; and 3) enable all organizations to innovate. STAC meets on a regular basis to review progress, get updates on specific programs and projects, and develop clear recommendations about enhancing research competitiveness, entrepreneurial activity and innovation capacity in Rhode Island. STAC membership consists of leaders in academic, business and public sectors who work collaboratively to advance these important issues.
About Dr. Christina Gabriel
Dr. Christina Gabriel is President of the University Energy Partnership, a nonprofit organization, cofounded in 2010 by five major research universities working with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory and its industrial partners, to support collaborative energy technology research and innovation and inclusive economic growth throughout the greater Pittsburgh region. Prior to this, she led Innovation Economy grant making at The Heinz Endowments. Philanthropist Teresa Heinz Kerry created this program to capitalize on the research and technology strengths of southwestern Pennsylvania’s universities, medical centers, corporate and government laboratories to promote economic growth and broaden economic opportunity.
From 1998 to 2006, Dr. Gabriel worked at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, eventually becoming Vice Provost and Chief Technology Officer where she led the restructuring of the university’s technology transfer function to enable a higher volume of transactions and closer collaboration with the business community. Last year she was appointed by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke to the Obama Administration’s National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Dr. Gabriel received both her Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.