Fourth Annual Maryland Tech Summit draws record crowd

Mary Legatski
Government Relations

The Fourth Annual Summit on the State of Technology in Maryland attracted 250 people who were eager to learn how the convergence of bioscience and information technology is powering the Maryland economy.

The event, which took place last month in Annapolis, Md., was hosted by ASME International in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies, the Greater Baltimore Technology Council and the Technology Council of Maryland.

The daylong summit focused on how the state of Maryland can support the commercialization of engineering, science and technology discoveries made in universities and laboratories throughout the state.

Summits like these, which can be arranged in any ASME section or region, raise the visibility of ASME as a source of information and a facilitator that brings together representatives of industry, academia and government. They are particularly beneficial to the economic development of technology-based industry.

The event marks the fourth consecutive year that the summit has been convened by the leaders of the Maryland General Assembly, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., and Speaker of the House Casper R. Taylor, Jr.

ASME President John R. Parker urged the standing-room-only crowd to heed the lessons learned by leaders of MarylandÕs technology community in establishing technology-based economic partnerships among industry, academia and government.

Representatives of more than a dozen Maryland technology companies, including FASGen, Maritime Applied Physics Corp., Chitin Works, Human Genome Sciences, MedContrax, and Sensors for Medicine and Science, shared their success stories. They also offered insights into how to successfully access and use the many financial and consulting services provided through the Maryland government.

MarylandÕs two U.S. Senators shared the podium for the luncheon address. The dean of the Maryland congressional delegation, Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes, observed that the state ranks second among all states in technological investments, a position underpinned by the many federal laboratories throughout Maryland. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski cautioned that the state, and the United States, must strengthen math and science education in grades K-12 to ensure that the next generation of technologists will be able to meet future challenges.

A discussion of how Maryland stacks up in comparison to other states in support of technology development rounded out the day. To organize a summit in your area, contact Allian Pratt at (202) 785-3756 or e-mail: pratta@asme.org.

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