It's official: Texas will spend $200 million on incentives to keep or recruit emerging technology research.
Gov. Rick Perry signed the bill into law today at Samsung, a cornerstone of Austin’s high tech industry.
"Today, I'm proud to put my name on a bill that says that Texas will not be left behind in the world of technology innovation and the prosperity that follows that," Perry said.
The governor spoke to a crowd of Samsung employees about his excitement over the fund's possibilities not only in science, but in jobs and economic growth.
"That will improve research at our universities, help startup technology firms get off the ground and significantly reduce the time it takes to move new technologies, new life-changing innovations into the hands of consumers," Perry said.
The governor's excitement spans the scientific landscape with one exception. For personal or political reasons he and bill co-author Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, do not want any of the money to go towards embryonic stem cell research.
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Tech fund
Gov. Rick Perry signed the bill to create a tech fund on Monday.
 
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"The center for that right now is going to be California. They put $3 billion - not $300 million - $3 billion into that project. The little amount that would be coming from other states would be pennies compared to what California is doing. I think if I were a researcher in that area, that's exactly where I'd go," Shapiro said.
The $200 million Emerging Technology Fund will become available Sept. 1.
Researchers interested in funding must first go through one of nine regional centers to present their work. Locally, it might be SEMATECH and the University of Texas.
Those centers will then determine which projects are considered by lawmakers and may be eventually funded.
Jason Shear, an associate professor of chemistry at UT, is excited about the incentives. His department works with microfabrication of biological materials, that is, manipulating extremely small particles.
"We hope to learn about ways in which cells make contact with each other and communicate. And by cells, these could be a variety of cell types. But a lot of our interests lie in working with nerve cells," Shear said.
Extra funding would certainly provide a direct impact. It could eventually mean faster human applications or a better way to control wayward cells.
Shear considers his work fundamental in what has yet to come.
"Nanoscience and nanotechnology, really, in a sense is nothing new. It's taking what was done in more traditional areas and working at those boundaries frequently to achieve new ends," he said.
Microfabrication of biological materials is such a tiny process, it requires a microscope, a laser and protective goggles. But with help from the Emerging Technology Fund, its potential benefits can be very big.
"The big applications that one would just be astounded and thrilled would they to come true would be, I'd say helping people regain activity that they've lost," Shear said.
