COUNCIL FOR
CHEMICAL RESEARCH
Influencing
Government
Decisions from the
Ivory Tower
Terry A. Ring
Ch.E.
University of Utah
How Did I get Started?
 Volunteerism
 High
School Football
 Neighborhood Association Board
of Directors
• Influence Zoning in Neighborhood
 Ran
International ACS meeting
 CCR
• Administration Committee
• Government Relations Committee
Curiosity in Government
 Student Offices
• High School
• University
 Boy’s State
 Politics in UK
 Politics of R&D Funding in England,
Switzerland and Japan
 CCR - Government Relations
Committee
COUNCIL FOR
CHEMICAL RESEARCH
“An investment
in knowledge
always pays the
best interest.”
Benjamin Franklin
CCR Government
Relations Committee
 Agency Visits
 Budget Position Papers
 Congressional Visits Day
 Tell
them the importance of
Chemical R&D on Utah’s Economy
 Give Awards to Congressmen
 Science & Technology Town
Meetings


Rep. Chris Cannon
Rep. Merril Cook
R&D Funding History
 1996 - Newt Gingrich’s Contract With
America
 NIH 2x over 7 years
 Much of new medical technology
is built on traditional science and
engineering!
 Where is the equivalent funding
increase for traditional science
and engineering?
 Government funding of R&D over the
years has decreased significantly.
Year
2,
00
0.
0
19
98
19
96
19
94
19
92
19
90
19
88
19
86
19
84
19
82
19
80
19
78
19
76
19
74
19
72
19
70
19
68
19
66
19
64
19
62
R&D $ as % of GDP
Government Funding of
R&D as % GDP
7.0
6.0
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
Different Perspective
 Science and Engineering Funding in
Europe is Strong and Stable.
 Each
country has its strengths
that are being maintained.
 Japanese Funding for Science and
Engineering is directed to areas
where Japan will control the market.
 USA thinks that it can do it all well
and win them all.
Richard Gross,
CTO Dow Chemical
CCR President
 Move from anecdotes to
statistical backed knowledge
 Commission a Study of the
Situation with respect to
Chemical R&D and its
effectiveness.
 Council for Chemical Research
as vehicle.
CCR Study-Phase I (2001)
 David Sicilia
 U.
of MD
 Francis Narin
 CHI
Research
 Barouch Lev
 NYU
 Ashish Arora
 CarnegieMellon U.
 History of
Technology
 Literature/Patent
Analysis
 Financial
Analysis
 Overview
CCR Study
 History of Economic Impact
 Follow Research to Patents
 Importance
of Research on
Chemical Patents
 Exploitation delay
 Follow R&D $ spent to Corporate
Profitability to Tax Revenue
 Chemical Technology Enables other
Industries. It is the most enabling of
all industries!
What to do with the
Study?
 Rollout (my job)
 Make
this Public at the
Highest Levels!
Study Rollout Team
 Jim Albertine,
Gov’t. Relations

Press Relations





Albertine
Enterprises
M. Smith,

A. Rickard,
Association Vision
P. & J. Garfinkel, 
Imagemaker
Speeches

CCR Staff
CCR Action

Network
W. Wachob, Dow 
Report Editing/Writing
Layout & Printing
Coordination
Coordination/Overview
Study Manager
Study Rollout
 Combine studies into
one coherent document
 Publish Report
 Press Release Documentation
 Press Contacts
 Meetings with
• Business Week, Wall Street Journal
• Chemical Week, C&E News
 Government Release


Congressional Briefing
HB 153 & Dear Colleague Letter
• Work with Lobbyist & Congressional
Staff
Study Findings
 History of Impressive Impact
 Balance




of Trade
 50% of GDP growth
Can Follow R&D spending to Profit
Can Follow R to Patents and
Products (exploitation delay)
Papers lead to patents in the same
states
R&D is good for the economy (so we
should do more of it)
1 10
3
Number of Patents w Profit Greater Than
Data from Scherer, F.,
Ann Econ. & Statistic, 1998
$2.00
$1.50
$1-10M
$1.00
100
$0.50
10
$-
Barouch Lev, CCR Study-2001
$(0.50)
1
0.01
0.1
1
10
Profit (Millions $)
Scientific
Publication(s)
Proposal
100
After Tax ROI=17%
$(1.00)
TIME  $
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Years
0 1yr 2yr 3yr 4yr 5yr 6yr 7yr 8yr 9yr 10yr 11yr 12yr 13 yr 14yr 15
~$15-$100k
Technology Transfer
~$300k
Basic Research
1) National Lab Research
2) University Research
($29.5B in 2000)
(87% Gov’t. Funded)
Exploitation
Delay
125
20968
Data from 5 years, 1013 patent disclosures @ University of Utah, Innovation, vol.12
# Licenses >$1M=0.6%
Research Drives Each
Innovation Cycles
Profit
Expenditure, Profit, Taxes ($ Million)
Technology Business Cycle
10
Fundamental
R&D
Sustaining R&D
Applied
R&D
1
Taxes
0.1
10
5
trace 1
trace 2
trace 3
trace 4
0
Gov't. R&D Expenditures
Business Expenditures
Profit
Taxes
5
Years
10
15
Product Launch
Patent
License
Invention
20
Exploitation Delay
Cumulative % of Inventions
1.2
Patent Life
1
TV
0.8
Fluorescent
Lamp
Terylene
Nylon
0.6
0.4
Streptom
ycin
DDT
0.2
Freon
0
0
20
40
60
80
Years from Invention to Exploitation
Data from Birchall, J.D., Chemistry and Industry 7/18/1983.
100
Business Innovation
Cycles – long view
Business Cycles
Profit ($ million)
2
1
0
40
35
30
25
20
Years
15
10
5
0
Business Cycles are Shortening!!
International Competition is heating up!
Chances of Innovation
Success
 Innovation Activity
Success Probability
 Proposal Grant
1 in 10
 Research  Publ’cn,
1 in 2
 Publ’cn  Patent
1 in 100
 Patent  Profit
1 in 25

1 in 500,000
 Within TTO
 Invention  Patent App. 1 in 2
 Patent App.  Patent
1 in 2
 Patent  License
~1 in 1
 License  Royalty
~1 in 3
 License  Start-up
Odds are like Napoleon’s
Russian Campaign
Work After CCR Study
 CCR Study Phase II


Chemistry is Enabling (2006)
Government ROI
• $1B spent $8B Tax 20 years later
 Annual Congressional Visits

Pushing for more R&D
• Seed corn for the business in the next
generation
Work with Gov’t Relations Staffer in
Washington DC
 NSF Doubling Bill
 Signed into Law in 2002

NSF Doubling Bill
 Initiated by calls by CCR
Government Relations Staffer
 Precipitated an Avalance of Support
 ACS, APS, AAAS
 Success in politics is all about
timing.
 Read the sentiment
• Needs bi-partisan support
– Many people need to look good
 Acting
only when sentiment is
behind the initiative
NSF Doubling Bill
 Signed into Law in 2002
 No money in 2003,2004,2005,2006
 What is going wrong??
 Two Types of Bills
 Authorization
Bill
• This is a good idea
 Appropriations
Bill
• Fund it at $ level
Making It Happen
 “Rising Above the
Gathering Storm”
Report 2005
 State of the Union
2006
• American
Competitiveness
Initiative
 Money in 2007

NSF, DOE-OS,
NIST
“Measure for Measure:
Chemical R&D Powers The
US Innovation Engine”
 2006 Report
 Chemical
technology
enables more
industries than
any other
technology.
“Measure for Measure:
Chemical R&D Powers The US
Innovation Engine”
What have I learned
about Government?
Government is a study in
dynamics!
 Issues are constantly changing
 The players are constantly
changing
 Political power is never real nor
constant.
 Political power is in the eye of
the beholder.
What Have I learned
about Government?
 You scratch my back, I’ll scratch
yours.

Congressman Don Manzullo, Chair Small
Business Committee
 “Government is a mile wide and a
micron thick.”
Kurt Markva, Chief of Staff for Don
Manzullo
 For success on any issue, keep the drum
beating!
 It does not matter how good the music is
just keep the drum beating.

If you want government
to do the right thing you
must be talking to your
legislators.
 Help with campaign to get (re)elected
 Respond to questions from them
about upcoming legislation
 Go to Town Meetings and express
opinions
 It doesn’t matter who you
are, you can make a
difference!
 But you must be
persistent!