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News Index
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Fed Funding Key in '06 and '07 (Mass High Tech)
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by Catherine Williams
Looking Back
New England's defense technology industry is in transition. Defense technology companies are surviving despite a shrinking purse of U.S. Department of Defense dollars and increased competition over U.S. Department of Homeland Security funds. But the change in congressional leadership may bode well for New England defense technology companies, whose legislators are ranked high on military and finance committees.
A changing of the guard at three top Massachusetts defense-tech research laboratories over the summer is setting a new course for the industry. Eric D. Evans, 45, became director at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, while James D. Shields, 56, took up the post of president and CEO of the Cambridge-based Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc. in October. Both men replaced leaders in their posts for about a decade.
Both laboratories are revenue giants. Draper reported 2005 revenue of $322 million. Lincoln, which is a federally designated research center, received $600 million in federal R&D funds in 2006.
In addition, in August, Brig. Gen. R. Mark Brown took over command at the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center, a Natick-based research center focused on soldier technologies involving clothing, shelters and food science.
Companies throughout New England partner with the centers on research and development.
But New England's share of advanced research funding for defense technologies experienced a four-year decline from 2000 to 2004 and remained flat into 2005. New England defense technology companies competed over a shrinking slice of funds from Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the research arm of the Department of Defense.
New England's purse from DARPA dropped to 13 percent in 2005, when the region took in $330 million, from 15 percent in 2000, when its share was $273 million, according to data obtained by Mass High Tech.
To keep eroding defense-related funds and resources in check, the Massachusetts Defense Technology Initiative (MassDTI) was founded in February 2006. The goal of the nonprofit organization is to bring defense industry representatives together to further the sector's growth.
Looking Ahead
An increasing number of New England companies are looking to the Department of Homeland Security for contracts. Of particular interest to the agency are chemical and biological detection technologies for borders and ports.
DARPA is targeting technologies that fall into 11 technology areas, including language translation, sensors and mind-controlled prosthetics. DARPA is also interested in technologies that include vehicle robotics, and it is looking to accelerate the rate of vaccine production from 12 years to 12 weeks to protect against bio-warfare.
But it's not clear whether the region's shrinking cut of DARPA funds will continue or whether Homeland Security funds will meet expectations.
Defense technology companies continue to worry about the available work force. In response, Massachusetts state officials spent several months in 2006 orchestrating a collaboration between Bay State defense technology companies and universities. Participants in the program included BAE Systems Inc. and Boston University. Since the project came under the watch of Gov. Mitt Romney's administration, it is not clear if the program will survive incoming Gov.-elect Deval Patrick's economic development plans.
New England stands to gain from new leadership roles for the region's Democratic congressional representatives, according to Christopher Greeley, president of Boston-based lobbying firm WolfBlock Public Strategies LLC.
Massachusetts senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry hold ranking memberships on
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