USF Develops Test to Detect Smallpox and Anthrax
University of South Florida (USF) microbiologists have developed tests that can rapidly detect either smallpox or anthrax. The tests, which can detect the presence of smallpox in 20 minutes and anthrax in less than one hour, allows for quick response to a possible biological attack and can help prevent the spread of disease.

The researchers’ findings have been published in the Journal of Microbiological Methods and in Biosensors & Bioelectronics.

For additional information, visit www.usfnews.usf.

UCF Gets Downtown Digital Media Campus
The Orlando City Council approved a 40-year lease of the downtown Expo Centre to the University of Central Florida (UCF). The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency will contribute $4.4 million toward renovations, while UCF will finance the other $1.9 million.

The building will be renovated for UCF’s School of Film and Digital Media and UCF’s new Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA). The centre will house experienced software programmers and artists who will teach students how to design, program and test video games. As the remodeling is completed, other programs in the School of Film and Digital Media will move downtown as well.

FIEA will open in the Fall of 2005. Students completing the program will receive graduate level certificates. UCF estimates that by 2006, there could be as many as 400 students, faculty and staff members from FIEA and other School of Film and Digital Media programs located in the centre.

For additional information, visit news.ucf.edu

Governor Honors Florida Companies
Two Corridor companies were among 11 recognized at the Governor’s Business Diversification Awards during Industry Appreciation Week. The awards program, developed by Enterprise Florida (EFI), recognizes companies for their efforts to diversify and enrich the state’s economy by creating higher-wage jobs and investing in their communities. These companies facilitate the state’s economic success and will continue to be an integral part of recovery after the recent storms.

The companies that received awards within Florida’s High Tech Corridor were Sarasota’s Biolife LLC and Melbourne’s Harris Corporation. Biolife received the Major Market Entrepreneurship Award and the Harris Corporation received the Business Expansion Award.

For additional information, visit www.eflorida.com

Discover Florida Life Sciences at Statewide Forum
Enterprise Florida will present a Statewide Life Sciences Forum, “Florida: Emerging Innovation Hub for Life Sciences” on November 16 at the Renaissance Tampa Hotel International. The forum will provide the opportunity to exchange ideas with colleagues, view the diversity of life sciences throughout Florida and discover the roadmap to Florida’s future.

The forum’s keynote speaker Donn Szaro, global health sciences director of Ernst & Young, one of the nation’s leading authorities on biotechnology, will provide a current, global perspective of the life-sciences industry. The forum will also include regional discussions from North, Central and South Florida explaining the key competitive strengths and challenges each of them face.

The Florida High Tech Corridor Council is proud to serve as a key sponsor.>

For additional information or to register, visit www.eflorida.com

UCF Awarded for Improving Math and Science Education
The University of Central Florida (UCF) Lockheed Martin/UCF Academy for Mathematics and Science has been awarded the Christa McAuliffe Award by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) for improving math and science education in Florida.

The award’s purpose is to advance the field of teacher education by acknowledging promising practices in current teaching methods and identifying the critical issues relating to teacher education programs and the effect on student learning.

For additional information, visit www.aascu.org

USF Receives Grant for Coastal Tide Observation Stations
University of South Florida (USF) College of Marine Science Program researcher Clifford Merz has received a $200,000 grant from the State of Florida’s Emergency Management Preparedness and Assistance Trust Fund to install four additional coastal tide observation stations as part of the Coastal Ocean Monitoring and Prediction System (COMPS).

COMPS consists of an array of instruments spread along the Gulf coast and offshore which measure wind, water, temperature and salinity. The data is passed to state and federal agencies for operations and research to predict storm surge, coastal erosion and red tide research.

The grant will strengthen the existing program by supporting the installation of new coastal meteorological and tide observing stations in Pasco, Pinellas and Lee counties.

For additional information, visit www.usfnews.usf

Orlando Ranked in Top 10 Broadband Markets
Neilsen/NetRatings (NNR), the international standard for Internet audience measurement and analysis, reported that Orlando ranked sixth in the top local markets connected via broadband.

The data indicated that the U.S. coastal cities, which tend to be more affluent communities with large professional workforces, are more connected via broadband while those located more inland are still connected via narrowband.

NNR found that nationally, about 51 percent of Web users connect to the Internet via broadband, compared to Orlando’s 64.7 percent connected by broadband. San Diego was ranked first with 69.6 percent connected via broadband.

For additional information, visit www.nielsen-netratings.com

DataGlyphics has Record-Breaking Year
DataGlyphics Inc., a St. Petersburg-based Web development firm that hosts and manages Internet applications announced that the Web Marketing Association (WMA) named a record six of DataGlyphics’ client sites Standard of Excellence WebAward winners.

The WMA was founded to help set a high standard for Internet marketing and corporate Web development on the World Wide Web. The WebAwards is the premier annual award competition that judges Web site development against an ever increasing Internet standard and against peer sites within their industry.

The winners of the Standard of Excellence WebAward were:Nokia Mobile Phone’s Latin American site, Pinellas County Economic Development,The Poynter Institute, Lazzarra Yachts, American Hydro Systems, and the Florida Marine Research Institute.

For additional information, visit www.dataglyphics.com

UCF Researches Human and Robot Interaction
The University of Central Florida (UCF) in conjunction with the Army Research Laboratory (ARL), Army Research Development & Engineering Command (ARDEC) and the Army’s Simulation & Training Technology Center (ASTTC) are researching how humans and robots interact and how confident people are when working with robots.

The results of these experiments are aimed at determining the best way to train soldiers when working with robots so that the Army can use more robotic air and ground vehicles to have safer and more effective missions with less human casualties.

The research, funded by ARL and ARDEC occupies a whole room and is housed in Central Florida’s Research Park.

For additional information, visit news.ucf.edu

UCF ORBIT Presents Executive Briefing
UCF ORBIT will present the Executive Briefing, “ The Knowledge Power of IT Transformation, Business Alignment and Mergers and Acquisitions – The Global & Domestic Market Impact in the Florida High Tech Corridor” on Tuesday, November 16 at the Orlando Science Center.

Industry leaders will cover strategic trends that are having the largest economic impact on the current and future IT workforce in the Florida High Tech Corridor.

Presenters include Christy Woodruff, global CIO of Siemens PG; Dr. Joel Hartman, vice-provost & CIO of the University of Central Florida; Tom Ward, CIO of Hughes Supply; Tony Hughes, CIO of CNL Financial Group; Frank Hailstones, CEO of Axena - UCF Technology Incubator Co.; and, Dr. Neal Gallagher, Dean of the UCF College of Engineering & Computer Science.

For additional information, visit www.orbit.ucf.edu.

Did You Know?
Florida, a long time leader in technology has received a steady stream of top national rankings including: second in the nation in the number of high tech start up companies; third in the nation of high tech exports; fourth in the nation in high tech employment; and, fourth in the nation for the most high tech business establishments.

Corridor People in the News
Mike Evans, formerly of the Tampa Bay Partnership, will be serving as a consultant for Florida High Tech Corridor Council workforce projects.

Calendar of Events
The following are events taking place across the corridor's 21-county region or the surrounding area, which readers may be interested in attending:

The UCF Leadership Edge: Linking The Best in Leadership Theory and Practice in the Florida High Tech Corridor
Presented by: UCF ORBIT
Thursday, November 4 - Friday, November 5 - Orlando Science Center
For event information, visit www.orbit.ucf.edu.

What is a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) program and is it right for your business?
Presented by: Emerging Business Network
Tuesday, November 9 - Radisson Plaza Hotel, Orlando
For event information, visit www.incubator.ucf.edu.

Seamless Financial Support Minority Fellowship: Bridge to the Doctorate
Presented by: Florida-Georgia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation and The University of South Florida
Application Deadline: Wednesday, November 10
For event information, visit www.msphds.usf.edu

TBTF Industry Achievement Awards Dinner
Presented by: FHTCC and Tampa Bay Partnership
Monday, November 15 – Hyatt Regency Tampa
For event information, visit www.tbtf.org

Emerging Innovation Hub for Life Sciences: Statewide Life Sciences Forum
Presented by: Enterprise Florida
Tuesday, November 16 – Renaissance Tampa Hotel International Plaza
For event information, visit www.eflorida.com

UCF ORBIT Executive Briefing: The Knowledge Power of IT Transformation, Business Alignment & M&A - The Global & Domestic Market Impact in the Florida High Tech Corridor
Presented by: UCF ORBIT
Tuesday, November 16 - Orlando Science Center
For event information, visit www.orbit.ucf.edu.

"Kickin' It Up A Notch" – FACC 55th Annual Convention
Presented by: Florida Association of Community Colleges (FACC)
Wednesday, November 17 – Friday, November 19 – Hyatt Regency Tampa
For event information, visit www.facc.org

STAR TEC Premier Celebration
Presented by: Young-Rainey Science Technology and Research Center,
DataGlyphics Inc., Forensic Technology, Inc., STAR Center Partners for Progress, Pinellas County Economic Development and the FHTCC
Thursday, November 18 – Young-Rainey STAR Center
For event information, visit www.startecflorida.com

Florida’s First Annual Manufacturing Summit
Presented by: Enterprise Florida
Wednesday, December 1 - Thursday, December 2 – Hyatt Regency OIA
For event information, visit myeflorida.com

The UCF IT Professional of the Future Series – “IT as a Service Organization” – Bridging the Gap between the IT Organization & the Business Units in the Florida High Tech Corridor
Presented by: UCF ORBIT
Monday, December 6 - Tuesday, December 7 - Orlando Science Center
For event information, visit www.orbit.ucf.edu.

Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, & Education Conference
(IITSEC)
Presented by: CAE, Northrop Grumman, L3 Communications, MultiGen-Paradigm and AAI Corporation
Monday, December 6 - Thursday, December 9 – Orange County Convention Center
For event information, visit www.iitsec.org/confinfo.cfm.

TBTF & CFTP Present: The Fast & Furious Partnering Conference
Presented by: CFTP, TBTF, Lakeland EDC, City of Lakeland, FHTCC and Siemens
Wednesday, January 12 – The Lakeland Center
For event information, visit www.tbtf.org

National Events
The following is an event taking place outside of the Corridor which readers may be interested in traveling to:

Photonics West 2004 Program
Presented by: SPIE
Monday, January 24 - Saturday, January 29 – San Jose Convention Center San Jose, CA
For event information, visit www.spie.org

Inside Florida’s High Tech Corridor is published by the Florida High Tech Corridor Council, Inc. (FHTCC) and its economic development partners. The FHTCC is an initiative of the University of Central Florida(www.ucf.edu) and the University of South Florida.(www.usf.edu). For more information visit our Web site at www.floridahightech.com, or contact one of the region’s economic development partners listed at www.floridahightech.com/linkslibary.