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http://news.siu.edu/2012/01/011912cjm12006.html
There's a common trope that the United States, having been gutted of its manufacturing jobs by the brute force of globalization, is now on the verge of giving up its crown as the world's leading innovator. Yesterday, The Washington Post published an article on our loss of high-tech manufacturing jobs to Asia that played right into the theme. Here was the apocalyptic lede:
The United States lost more than a quarter of its high-tech manufacturing jobs during the past decade as U.S.-based multinational companies placed a growing percentage of their research-and-development operations overseas, the National Science Board reported Tuesday.Scary stuff. And a bit overwrought. There's no question that the U.S. needs to be vigilant about its place as the world's research lab. But when it comes to R&D, we're still number one, and the report cited by the Washington Post, "Science and Engineering Indicators 2012," actually helps our case.
In 2009, the United States was responsible for 31% of of the world's R&D spending. That was down from 38% in 1999. As the Post dolefully notes, R&D expenditures in "China and nine other Asian countries have risen to match that of the United States." Is that so scary? Are we supposed to mourn the death of a unipolar R&D age to learn that it takes China, Japan and eight other high-growth Asian countries just to equal total research spending in the U.S.?
The picture brightens more once you look at US R&D growth independently. From 2004 to 2009, it grew from $302 billion up to more than $400 billion. Even after the recession, investment (at least, non-residential investment) in the United States has been anything but moribund. Some American corporations have moved their highly technical design and engineering work to manufacturing centers in Asia, particularly China. But that shift hasn't been dramatic. In 1999, U.S.-based multinationals spent 87.4% of their R&D budgets, about $126 billion, domestically. In 2009, they spent 84.3% of their budgets here, or roughly $199 billion. We're taking a similar slice of a much bigger pie.
So a massive shift in R&D towards Asia is still largely hypothetical. But what about those hundreds of thousands of high tech manufacturing jobs we've lost? In some industries, the losses have been due to the migration manufacturing to Asia, such as personal electronics. But that's just a piece of the story. We can also blame the recession and the large jumps in U.S. productivity fueled by technological advances.
In the end, the U.S. still has the world's most robust set of high-tech manufacturing industries, which according to the NSB include pharmaceuticals, communications equipment, computers, aircraft and spacecraft, scientific and measuring equipment, and semiconductors. We may not rule in cell phones these days, but we do well in aircraft and drugs.
Measured by value added, the U.S. high tech sector was worth $390 billion in 2010. Compare that to the second place European Union, at $270 billion, and third place China, at $260 billion.
Should we be on guard? Yes. We need to keep investing in education and research to maintain our place in the world of discovery and technology. But, despite some dour headlines, we're still here.
CARBONDALE - The SIU Technology and Innovation Expo put the research of faculty and students on center stage Friday at the Dunn-Richmond Center.
The event included speeches by faculty innovators, Chancellor Rita Cheng and Phil Pfeffer, president and CEO of Treemont Capital Inc.
Faculty members also were awarded for innovations, and a student was announced as the winner of a poster contest. The event also included the ribbon cutting of the Saluki Innovation Lab.
The Innovation Lab contains lab equipment for startup businesses such as an ultra low freezer, reach-in incubator and a table-top autoclave. Kyle Harfst, executive director of the Southern Illinois Research Park, said the facility will offer equipment for local startups that do not have access to such equipment.
The USDA Rural Devel-opment helped fund the lab. Area Director Rusty Wanstreet said it is the mission of the group to create business and jobs for local communities. The lab was also funded by Delta Regional Authority and the Southern Illinois Research Park.
In addition to celebrating the new lab, the event also honored the faculty and students who push research forward at SIU. Ahmed Soueidan, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, won the student poster contest for his design of a fanless aircraft engine to make airplanes safer from collisions with birds.
Paul Chugh, professor in the Department of Mining and Mineral Resources Engineering, received the Inventor of the Year award.
His inventions include a water spray system that reduces dust exposure in coal mines.
Bakul Dave, associate professor in chemistry and biochemistry, received the award for University Startup of the Year. He has developed startups Nano-aqueonics, a technology for surface coatings, and Enki Technology Inc., which works on solar panel technology.
Geology professor Ken Anderson, who started feedstock company The-rmaquatica, received the award for Innovator of the Year. Anderson said it was very gratifying to get the award and he owes a lot of success to his team.
"There's more than me involved, and I'm happy to share the credit," Ander-son said.
Anderson said the research park at the Dunn-Richmond Center is an excellent investment in the future of the region because it nurtures local inventors and businesses.
"The work being done here will eventually return a lot of benefits to Southern Illinois," Ander-son said.
Paul Newton / The Southern SIU alum Matt Reavill of Plainfield recently won
an award for inventing a medical device that reduces the risk of infection
for patients who need a central line catheter.
After his 60-year-old father died from an infection from a central line catheter
after heart surgery in 1994, Matt Reavill of Plainfield knew there had to be a better way.Reavill, an SIU Carbondale alum, created the ReavillMED CV. Instead of catheterizing the heart through a surgical procedure through the neck, his device operates through an IV and enters through the arm without a need for any kind of surgery. By going through the IV tube, the catheter also stays in a sterile evironment, cutting down the risk of infection.
"It's just that stupidly simple," Reavill said.
Reavill attended SIU from 1984 to 1988, receiving an education in engineering. At the time of his father's death, he was selling medical devices. That's when he realized there may be an easier way to monitor the heart. He later lost his job, but he saw it as a new opportunity.
"Now I had to do it," Reavill said. "Blessings appear in very odd form."
Reavill admits it's surprising no one has thought of doing this before, but now that his idea is out there, others are taking notice. His method, which has been approved by the FDA, recently won first place at the Health Pitch Battlefield in London. He will develop the ReavillMED CV out of the Illinois Small Business Development Center in the Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center at SIU Carbondale.
"That's where my loyalties lie," Reavill said.
Reavill said he also plans to hire disabled veterans for the business because "it's only right the money goes back to the soldiers who gave everything they have."
It's not just loyalty to the university that brings Reavill here. He also has a fondness for Carbondale. He said his father-in-law, Bob Brewer, served as a school board member for 38 years and his mother-in-law, Betsy, founded the Apple Tree gift shop.
Emily Carter, director of Entrepreneurship and Business Development at SIU, said being able to assist Reavill is a great opportunity.
"The Illinois Small Business Development Center at SIU is really excited about helping a creative alum like Matt," Carter said. "His desire to launch this innovate venture in our region could lead to not only new jobs, but showcase to others that Southern Illinois is a great place to be an entrepreneur."
