Americans in the foreseeable future could benefit from better cancer therapies, safer homes and new treatments for Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis, while U.S. industry could gain more agile and efficient manufacturing systems, new chemical synthesis techniques and higher-performance engines as a result of 37 new industrial research projects selected for support by the Commerce Department's Advanced Technology Program.

"From new medical techniques that can improve our health and quality of life to improved materials and manufacturing processes, the awards we announce today are a glimpse into the technologies of the next century," said Commerce Secretary William M. Daley in announcing the awards. "In its partnerships with American industry, the ATP is helping to lay the foundations for our economic strength in the new millennium."

The Advanced Technology Program provides cost-shared funding to industry for high-risk R&D projects with the potential to spark important, broad-based economic benefits for the United States. ATP support significantly accelerates potentially important R&D projects. These are projects that industry on its own could not fully support because of the technical risks involved, and where timing is critical to eventual economic success in the highly competitive global market. In many cases, ATP support is essential for the project to take place at all.

ATP awards are made on the basis of a rigorous competitive review considering scientific and technical merit of each proposal and its potential benefits to the U.S. economy. The program does not fund product development. Applicants must include a detailed business plan for bringing the new technology to market once technical milestones have been achieved under ATP support. The program is managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the Commerce Department's Technology Administration.

The awards announced today were the result of the ATP's 1999 competition, which attracted over 400 proposals. The selected projects target a broad array of technologies, including pharmaceutical design, tissue engineering, industrial catalysts, energy storage, image processing, manufacturing control systems, electronics manufacturing, computer software and electro-optics. The majority of the awards, 26, went to small businesses, either for single-company projects or as the lead company in an industry joint venture. More than 20 universities are involved as joint-venture partners or subcontractors.

If carried through to completion, the 37 projects announced today will be funded at approximately $102 million from private industry, matched by approximately $110 million from the ATP. The awards announced today are contingent on the signing of formal agreements between NIST and the project proposers.

A list of the 1999 ATP projects and participants are available at www.atp.nist.gov/www/comps/index99.htm. More details are available at www.atp.nist.gov or by faxing a request to NIST Public and Business Affairs at (301) 926-1630.

As a non-regulatory agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Technology Administration, NIST strengthens the U.S. economy and improves the quality of life by working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements and standards through four partnerships: the Advanced Technology Program, the Measurement and Standards Laboratories, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the Baldrige National Quality Program.

Note to Editors: The 1999 Advanced Technology Program National Meeting, Nov. 15-17 in San Jose, Calif., will feature more than 30 workshops for industry, academic and government researchers to discuss current ATP work in high-risk, high- potential technologies and future R&D opportunities. The meeting also will feature general information presentations on the Advanced Technology Program and a showcase exhibit of a broad array of successful ATP-sponsored technologies. For advanced media registration for the 1999 ATP National Meeting, please contact Michael Baum, (301) 975-2763, michael.baum@nist.gov.

Brief list of awards

Full project descriptions

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