International Technology Research Institute

ITRI is the leading American organization that provides public international technology assessments and is becoming a key resource for the international development community.  With sponsorship from most of the Federal research agencies, it has published more than 50 technology assessments based on on-site review of research and development abroad by distinguished American experts in those fields.  Also, with support from the international development community, ITRI assists scientists and engineers in the newly independent states survive in a free market economy by development of small businesses.  ITRI provides bottleneck resources such as creation of business incubators and technoparks, organization of marketing training programs, and Web-based international development applications.  To support these efforts, ITRI conducts research and development of information technology solutions.

Background

Loyola College is one of over 50 Jesuit universities around the world, some of which date to the sixteenth century. Since its founding in 1854, Loyola College has challenged itself to remain grounded in a centuries old tradition of Jesuit, liberal arts education, while continually seeking to adapt to changing circumstance. In this balance between values and the desire to serve the greater community, the College has managed to create itself anew, time and again.

Its International Technology Research Institute (ITRI) contributes to the education, research and service goals of its parent institution by conducting programs to:

• evaluate science and technology in the U.S. and abroad to meet national goals for world leadership
• encourage international development by providing business training, consulting, space and other resources to developing nations
• encourage technology transfer for the benefit of science and industry
• provide research and development in technologies for education, research and service to the Nation

ITRI is directed by Duane Shelton and houses three divisions and one office. George Mackiw serves as deputy director, and George Gamota is the associate director.  The ITRI Development Office, also headed by George Gamota, is charged with economic and information technology development, plus external relations in Ukraine.  The World Technology (WTEC) Division, headed by Geoff Holdridge, conducts international technology assessments with funding from several Federal agencies through a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.  The International Business Development (IBD) Division, headed by Bob Margenthaler, operates the Business Incubator Development (BID) Program throughout Ukraine and the Marketing Assistance Program in Kharkiv with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development,  Peace Corps, IREX, and other donor agencies.  The Technology Transfer (TTEC) Division, headed by Brad Mooney, conducts general research and development for several agencies including the Office of Naval Research, plus education research grants from the NSF.

Senior Staff

• Duane Shelton is also Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Loyola and has chaired several university science and engineering departments. He was a policy analyst at NSF, and recently served as legislative assistant to Rep. Lloyd Doggett as an IEEE Congressional Fellow.  His degrees are in electrical engineering. More Information
• George Mackiw is Professor of Mathematical Sciences and has chaired that department.  He also led Loyola's successful application for a Phi Beta Kappa chapter.  He speaks Ukrainian fluently.
• George Gamota has served as Director of Research for the Department of Defense, as President of ThermoElectron Technologies, Inc., and as Director of the MITRE Institute.  He speaks Ukrainian fluently. His background is in physics.
• Brad Mooney led a distinguished career in the submarine service, including commanding the U.S.S. Menhaden.  He then served as Chief of Naval Research, in charge of ONR and NRL, until retiring as Rear Admiral.  He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, as a marine engineer.
• Bob Margenthaler was Chief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force Logistics Command, then served as Dean of Loyola's Sellinger School of Business and Management.  In addition to his ITRI assignment, he is also Director of Loyola's Latanze Center for information technology in business. His degrees are in business and industrial engineering.
• Geoff Holdridge has served as a staff member at the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation. His Yale University degree is in Asian History.  He is also a professional musician, performing with several bands in the Washington area.

WTEC Division

The mission of the ITRI World Technology (WTEC) Division is to inform scientists, engineers, and policy makers of global trends in science and technology in a manner that is timely, credible, relevant, efficient, and useful. WTEC's role is central to the government's effort to measure its performance in science and technology. As stated by the President and the National Science Foundation, the goal is to maintain world leadership; the 1993 GPRA Act requires measurement against such goals, and the NSTC requires a government wide effort.

Since 1989, WTEC has conducted over 40 multi-agency studies comparing U.S. efforts to those abroad using a peer review methodology that some believe is the best single method of measuring the quality of R&D. Japan is often the leading competitor, and WTEC has conducted many of the public technology assessments there.

Studies of international science can also provide many other benefits. Thus, WTEC's purpose is not only to evaluate S&T, but also to provide information on foreign research and development to Americans, and to seek opportunities for appropriate international cooperation in S&T.

Over 300 distinguished scientists have served on ITRI expert panels, including the current NSF Director and individuals who have served as Chief of Naval Research, Chief Scientist of the Air Force, Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology; Associate Administrator of NASA; IBM's senior vice president for research, and provosts of Rensselaer and the University of California System. The findings are clearly reaching a wide audience: over 500 other Web sites have links to the ITRI Web site that distributes reports, and over 5000 different Web sites visit the ITRI site per week. WTEC chairs have presented study results to members of the U.S. Senate, the President's Science Advisor, NASA's Administrator, and other senior officials. Government initiatives in nanotechnology, superconductivity, displays, machine translation, and packaging have drawn on these assessments for background information on international R&D activities.

WTEC is funded by NSF, DARPA, AFOSR, ONR, ARO, NASA, NIST, DoE, NIH, and many other Federal research agencies.

Paper: Sleeping Tiger: Japan's Continuing Advances in S&T (Conference on Japanese Technical Information, Library of Congress, July 1997)

IBD Division

The International Business Development (IBD) Division helps implements Loyola's strategic plan goal to move to the next level of excellence by strengthening Loyola's international outreach.  As Loyola's president, Fr. Ridley, has said, “ We are compelled -by our history and our faith-- to seize our destiny and move toward a broader vision to a world in need of values and leadership."   To help implement this vision of moving toward the next level, IBD will provide support for development of small and medium sized enterprises for economies in transition.  It will provide business education and training (via traditional approaches and distance learning), business plan development, access to capital and markets, brokering of joint ventures, and other business services.  IBD services will be provided via small business incubators, business support centers, and technoparks. IBD's largest program is its cooperative agreement with USAID to develop incubators in Ukraine via its Business Incubator Development (BID) Program.  The BID Program has created two small business incubators:

• KievSBI through a contract with the International Management Institute
• KharkivSBI through a contract with the Institute for Single Crystals.

IBD is also helping organize Ukraine's first three technnoparks and is one of three USAID contractors chosen to conduct the Marketing Assistance Program in Kharkiv, with a curriculum of training courses for managers of small and medium sized companies.  Plans are being prepared to extend operations to other cities in Ukraine and to neighboring countries. IBD is supported by resources from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Peace Corps, IREX, and other donor agencies.  The division has an office in Ocher House at Loyola and a Ukraine Coordination Office in Kiev.

Paper: The Business Incubator Development Program  ( Expert Meeting on Best Practices in Business Incubation, UN Economic Commission for Europe, Geneva, June 1999)

TTEC Division

The Technology Transfer (TTEC) Division  conducted ten technology assessments for the U.S. Department of Transportation, and is presently engaged in several studies of international S&T for the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the National Science Foundation. It is also developing a Web site for science learning under a grant from the National Science Foundation. While WTEC focuses on technology assessments in countries that currently lead in science and technology, such as Japan and the EU, TTEC concentrates on countries that are making the most rapid gains in their S&T capability, such as the Asian "Tigers."

Paper: Assessing and Transferring Technologies: A View from the U.S. (UN Asia Pacific Tech Monitor, December 1999)

Acknowledgements

ITRI's international assessment program owes much of its success to its sponsors: over a hundred government program officers from more than a dozen agencies who see the need for studies of developments abroad.  Some 400 expert panelists have shared their expertise in conducting peer reviews for little more than travel costs.  Thousands of foreign hosts have unfailingly been hospitable and open in sharing their results with these American delegations.

ITRI's new international development effort owes much to generous funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, which administers the U.S. foreign assistance program providing economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 80 countries worldwide.