Carnegie Mellon University Engineering School Dean Pradeep Khosla told a room filled with engineers yesterday that all is not lost in the United States' quest to remain a global "superpower." Despite a recent study by the American Society for Engineering Education reporting that fewer than 5 percent of undergraduate degrees awarded in 2004 were in engineering, America can remain "at the top of the food chain" if it trains its engineers in management, finance, policy and entrepreneurship, Dr. Khosla said. "We need to train engineers ... who will be managing, creating and deploying innovation," he told the lunchtime crowd at a panel discussion titled, "Is America Falling Behind?"

Moderated by William J. Holstein, editor -in-chief of CEO Magazine , other panel members included Bob Black, deputy executive director of the American Society for Engineering Education; Peter Faletra, assistant director of the office of science for workforce development for teachers and scientists for the U.S. Department of Energy; and Alex G. Sciulli, senior vice president at Mellon Financial Corp. The mostly dark-suited, salt-and-pepper haired audience, sat rapt as the panel members shared their ideas on how the United States can prepare itself to compete in the ever-changing global economy.

The overwhelming answer: prep engineers in topics that are considered "soft" by some -- public speaking, leadership, writing. These are tools that will allow them to leverage their technical skills to grow and lead successful companies, both large and small. And start early. It's not enough to focus on broadening an engineer-to-be's horizons at undergraduate and graduate levels -- youngsters must be taught broader skills, plus how to love math and science, from the time they start school. It's not enough anymore to just be a technical genius -- you have to be able to develop a business plan and execute it, too. "You don't have to be an engineer and work in technology," said Mr. Sciulli, an engineer by training. "You can take leadership roles in other areas."

Speaking of superpowers, guess which California software firm is eyeing Pittsburgh as a location for a new research and development facility? None other than tech behemoth Google Inc., the Mountain View, Calif.-based online search engine with millionaires and a few billionaires (and a great cafeteria, I'm told). A Pittsburgh office would place Google squarely in the middle of some of the best software minds in the country, thanks to CMU. "Google is a growing company, so we are always looking for additional space for our expanding employee population,'' a Google spokesman said, before quickly adding: "We don't have any specific real estate announcements to make at this time." Technology entrepreneur support and mentoring group HELP -- for Helping Entrepreneurs Learn from Peers -- has presented the Allegheny Conference on Community Development with a proposal to create a Web portal or online information depot for local entrepreneurs. HELP founder Gary Rosensteel, who moonlights as the chief executive officer of McMurray-based tech firm DigiBrix, said the conference is close to giving the project the green light. The portal would be self-sustained with banner ads and a fee for such local tech service providers as attorneys and accountants to have their names linked off the site. Such a Web site could help fill the gap left when Steven Czetli's TechyVent e-newsletter folded in October. A conference official could not be reached for comment. U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart are hosting a roundtable discussion Monday afternoon at the Hazelwood-based Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse with a handful of local luminaries to discuss their joint legislation designed ease the tax code for burgeoning biotech firms trying to raise money to do research and development. Expected to attend the event are: Sean McDonald, CEO of South Side-based Precision Therapeutics; Pete DeComo, CEO of Marshall-based Renal Solutions; and Mickey Flynn, president of Malvern-based Pennsylvania Bio. Tech-based economic development executives Steve Zylstra of the Pittsburgh Tech Council and Doros Platika of the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse also are expected to participate. Mr. Santorum and Ms. Hart plan to discuss the Biotechnology Future Investment Expansion Act of 2005, the federal legislation modifying Section 382 of the tax code to allow biotech firms to utilize tax breaks on their net operating losses. The Technology Collaborative, the North Side-based economic development group, said it plans to provide $1.7 million in technology commercialization grants to universities, start-ups and other tech-focused firms on or before April 15. The group is accepting proposals for short-to-medium-term projects that are based in Pennsylvania's "core technology competencies" the details of which can be found on this Web site: www.techcollaborative.org/default.aspx?id=download_rfp. New to this funding round is a two-step submission process with draft proposals due Jan. 16 and final proposals due Feb. 24. Questions should be directed to the Tech Collaborative's chief technology officer, Dr. Chuck Brandt, chuckb@techcollaborative.org.