Despite two relatively strong research universities, Louisiana is in the lower ranking of states when it comes to the allocation of federal R&D dollars. Louisiana received $230 million in federal R&D funds in FY 1997, the least of all three Gulf States (see Louisiana Table). This amounts to 0.3 percent of total federal R&D spending which is enough to rank Louisiana 36th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia even though Louisiana's population is roughly the same size as Alabama's.

Louisiana federal R&D dollars come primarily from four agencies: DOD, NASA, HHS, and USDA. HHS is the largest contributor with $65 million followed by NASA ($41 million), USDA ($34 million), and DOD ($31 million). Together these four agencies account for three-fourths of Louisiana's federal R&D portfolio.

The largest performers of R&D through the use of federal dollars in Louisiana are the universities and colleges. They received $126 million in FY 1997 of federal R&D monies with HHS leading the way with an allocation of $57 million of the total. Louisiana State University and Tulane University received the majority, $68 million and $44 million respectively.

Louisiana State University (LSU) is one of only 25 universities nationwide to hold both land-grant and sea-grant status. In addition to federal funds for R&D, LSU also receives approximately $140 million in additional R&D funding with the state of Louisiana granting the most with $69 million, roughly the same amount as the federal grants the university receives. With these monies, LSU funds a variety of R&D programs and centers including the Louisiana Space Consortium (LaSPACE) which is managed through LSU's Department of Physics and Astronomy. LaSPACE is a NASA space grant program in Louisiana that helps fund aerospace R&D and education. In conjunction with LaSPACE, LSU oversees a $1 million NASA EPSCoR program.

In addition, LSU boasts the Earth Scan laboratory at its Coastal Studies Institute which is the nation's first satellite earth station established wholly by state funding. Other highlights include the LSU Agriculture Center, the Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices, and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center.

Other notable university programs in Louisiana include the joint Xavier University and Tulane University Center for Bioenvironmental Research created by DOD in 1989. Also, the University of Southwestern Louisiana has a grant from NIST for a Manufacturing Extension Partnership in its Louisiana Productivity Center. Louisiana Tech University has a program for access to the newly created Light Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory in Livingston, Louisiana. Also in place is the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium that specializes in R&D on environmental management.

The second largest performers of federal R&D in Louisiana are the government labs with $50 million spent in FY 1997. More than half of these funds came from USDA ($26 million), and the Department of the Interior (DOI) contributed $12 million placing it second.

Most USDA funding goes to its Southern Regional Research Center (SRRC) in New Orleans. This center is one of four USDA centers around the country that specialize in research in crops indigenous to that specific region. The SRRC has seven basic research units designed to study crops such as cotton, rice, and peanuts, and to conduct research in biotechnology.

The funding from the DOI goes to the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The USGS has placed its National Wetlands Research Center in New Orleans. The Center is the main clearinghouse for disseminating information on USGS conducted research on the nation's wetlands.

The U.S. Navy has also placed its National Biodynamics Laboratory, an integral part of the Naval Medical Research and Development Command, in New Orleans. The Biodynamics Lab studies the effect of mechanical forces on the human body while on aircraft or naval vessels.

Industry is not far behind as a major federal R&D performer in Louisiana. In FY 1997, industry received $45 million in federal R&D funds. The bulk of these funds came from NASA with $36 million and DOD a distant second with $7 million.

The major industry R&D facility in the state is the Lockheed Martin Michoud Space Systems Assembly Facility. The facility conducts R&D and produces the external fuel tanks for the Space Shuttle and works in close collaboration with the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.

Louisiana also boasts the Exxon R&D Laboratories, which conducts research on technology for petroleum and synthetic fuels; the Dow Chemical Company's Louisiana R&D facility, specializing in polymer chemistry research; Vickers Incorporated, which produces the Main Engine for the F-22 fighter, and McDermott International, Inc., a firm with expertise in chemical, mechanical and structural engineering.

Louisiana's R&D state initiatives are spearheaded by the state's Department of Economic Development providing assistance in areas that focus on technology, modernization, and innovation. The department, for example, funds Louisiana's Technology Transfer Center. Its activities include maintaining an electronic directory of all university centers, technology transfer from fed-eral laboratories, partnerships with the Louisiana Productivity Center at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, the Louisi-ana Partnership for Technology and Innovation, the Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana, the Tulane Office of Technology Development, and the Baton Rouge Area Mo-lecular Biological, and Biotechnical Alliance.