PROJECT ON THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF SIX MAJOR FEDERAL LABORATORIES TO CALIFORNIA

A Briefing for CCST

Patrick H. Windham

May 5, 2005

BACKGROUND

March 1999 report on federal labs in California• Part of CCST’s CREST report

• A general inventory of the 48 federal laboratories in California

• In-depth look at three labs: LBNL, LLNL, and JPL

Now a new project: updating that report Today’s briefing summarizes this new project

WHY WRITE A NEW REPORT?

Federal labs remain an important part of the state’s S&T capabilities

Both national and state leaders now are asking important questions• National leaders are asking about laboratory roles and

management• State leaders are asking how to keep CA innovative• They may find an objective report informative and useful

THE NEW PROJECT

An examination of six major laboratories• Four DOE labs: LBNL, LLNL, Sandia/CA, and SLAC

• Two NASA facilities: JPL and Ames

The audience• The Governor’s office and State legislators

• Members of the CA Congressional delegation

A two-phase project: reports in June and December

WHAT THE NEW PROJECT EXAMINES

The labs’ economic, scientific, technological, and educational contributions to California• Contributions to date: employment, spending, assistance to

industry, education, assistance to State agencies• Possible further contributions: as S&T become more

collaborative, the labs offer resources (e.g., in nanotech, LBNL Molecular Foundry and the proposed BIN Institute)

The benefits of university management for LBNL, LLNL, JPL, and SLAC

REPORT FORMAT

An introduction focusing on the roles that federal laboratories play in the nation and in California

For each of the six laboratories:• A basic narrative on activities, organization, and

contributions• Case studies of contributions to industry, education, and

State agencies• Basic quantitative information on activities and

contributions

QUANTITATIVE DATA

Annual laboratory budgets Lab employees and contractors Extramural awards for research and procurement Collaborations with university faculty and students Interactions with industry: research agreements,

licenses and royalties, spin-off firms

WORK PLAN

Now meeting with lab officials and collecting information

Labs now providing the basic quantitative data Phase I report will be draft in May, submitted in June Phase II work in July and after Phase II final report in December

EMERGING POLICY ISSUES

Two issues are emerging from this project:• Federal security rules that limit foreign students, postdocs,

and professionals at the labs may hinder lab hiring and may affect collaborations with universities and firms

• Policies at State agencies limit the agencies’ ability to contract with the labs

The new report could identify such issues and recommend that policy-makers examine them

REQUEST TO COUNCIL MEMBERS

We very much welcome your thoughts about:• The types of contributions the labs make now, including

notable examples or case studies

• The types of contributions they could make in the future, especially particular opportunities for collaboration

• How CA might better take advantage of lab capabilities

• The advantages of university management of laboratories