Princeton Weekly Bulletin October 26, 1998

Shapiro cochairs N.J. technology partnership

At the request of N.J. Governor Christie Whitman, President Shapiro is serving as one of three cochairs of a new statewide initiative, known as the Edison Partnership, that is being asked to propose strategies for increasing New Jersey's attractiveness to high technology industry.

The partnership brings together representatives from existing and emerging high technology companies, state government, the banking community and the educational community to work with the governor's office and senior members of her cabinet in such areas as promotion, access to capital, creating a technically trained workforce, and increasing resources to develop and commercialize technology.

The other two cochairs are Caren Franzini, executive director of the N.J. Economic Development Authority, and Thomas Uhlman, president of the New Ventures Group at Lucent Technologies. The partnership is expected to complete its work in about a year.

     



Over the summer Gov. Whitman (l) visited the Center for Photonics and Optoelectronic Materials (POEM) in the School of Engineering with POEM director James Sturm (c), professor of electrical engineering, and President Shapiro. POEM is a leading example of the cooperative relationships that have been established in recent years among New Jersey's universities, technology companies and state government.