The KSTC mission is to enhance the capacity people, companies and organization to develop and apply science and technology and compete responsibly in the global marketplace. KSTC carries out this mission through innovations in three functional areas:
- education
- R&D
- commercialization and entrepreneurship
2006 Highlights
- Creation of 'KentuckySat', a joint enterprise for the design, development (including scientific payloads), launch and on-orbit operation of small satellites and accompanying educational applicaitons. The KySat1 Mission Team of students from 5 Kentucky universities, which are members of the ownership consortium, have designed the egineering model and started work on the flight model. The call for applications to the KySat2 Mission Team was released Jan 07. www.kysat.com)
- 'Leaderhsip by Design' is a technology-based service for school leaders to better assess (and capture data on hand-held devices) the quality math and science teaching in their schools as measure by several indicators.
- KSTC continues to participate in leaderhsip development aspects of the Appalachian Math Science Partnership.
- KSTC recently received a new FIPSE grant to work with Teacher Colleges to better assess their students' preparation and abilities for real world teaching. This project is enttitled 'Linking Pre-service Preparation and In-service Induction through Formative Assessment.'
- 'The EntreSchools Initiative' just completed another round of over 50 new investments in teacher/student-generated ventures, which include the applcation of technology for entrepreneurial purposes. Ventures report learning and revenues emanating from these locally relevant applied learning initiatives. (www.entreschool.com)
- The 2006 'IdeaFestival' (IF) marked the start of an annual schedule for this convergence of world class thought leaders across many disciplines and participants from all walks of life. In fall 2006 some 10,000 people gathered in Louisville to talk about topics ranging from commercial space flightm, going 'green', the art and science of peace, and new media to new applications of gaming platforms, what comprises 'maverick' companies, and the future of space exploration. Speakers included Burt Rutan, Ray Kurzweil, Polly LaBarre, Steve Curwood, KC Cole, and Ethan Zuckerman among many others. IF 2007 is set for Sept 13-15 in Louisville, KY. (www.ideafestival.com)
- KSTC operates serveral investment programs that support the R&D, start-up and growth of technology companies. Our 2006 annual report on investments since 2001 showed a total of $34 million invested in 723 projects, genrerating over $375 million in follow-on investments from other sources, 200+ IP actions, and more than $1 million in actual ROI back to these investment funds.
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Kentucky is one of the states featured in the Linking Leaders Community for Change Book. Click the image to go to the Linking Leaders book main page and learn more about Kentucky's Linking Leaders program activities. |
Linking Leaders: Kentucky entered the Linking Leaders program in 2004 with Linking Leaders 9. A design team is being formed and preliminary workshop planning is underway to address the findings of the 2004 teacher survey on introducing critical technologies to K-12 learning opportunities.
KSTC prepared the first-ever statewide science and technology plan, which was translated into the Kentucky Innovation Act of 2000 and KSTC has since made over $22M in 500 investments in new economy research projects and startup technology companies; demonstrated improved test scores in math and/or science in 95% of ARSI schools, aligned instructional materials to standards-based math/science curricula and implemented inquiry-based teaching in these schools; trained 2,100 mathematics and science teachers from all of Kentucky's 120 counties; created inquiry-based undergraduate science course models (see Transforming Tomorrow's Teachers Today (T4) at www.kyprism.org/initiatives); invested in 45 EdVentures for entrepreneurial learning; opened an office at NASA Ames to explore opportunities for research and commercialization partnerships; and attracted 10,000 people to the first two ideaFestivals, each time featuring dozens of events during this multi-day, interdisciplinary celebration of innovation.
Kentucky Teacher Survey of Critical Technologies: to determine if Kentucky science teachers are introducing to their students the new technologies, many of which are fueling the knowledge economy; Mathematics and Science Reviews, a voluntary process for auditing the alignment of school and classroom practices with state and national standards (available from the ARSI); Learning by Design (final prototype phase 2004), an electronic handheld tool for principals interested in better understanding the quality of science teaching in their schools; EdVentures Fund, a venture-like fund under the entreSchools® Initiative for making investments in educators' ideas for entrepreneurial learning ventures; World class peer review process for awarding competitive research grants and due diligence protocols for making investments in tech start-up companies; “Kentucky's Science and Technology Strategy” (1999); “Kentucky Clusters – Industrial Interdependence and Economic Competitiveness” (2001); “Audit of Kentucky's Policy Framework for Encouraging Entrepreneurial Development” (2002); and ideaFestival™ (2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006). |
