Turning an innovative technology into a successful business can be a complicated and arduous process. Fortunately for would-be entrepreneurs, The National Science Foundation has programs in place to help turn dreams into business reality.

Errol Arkilic leads the software and services portfolio of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. He is one of ten program managers in the SBIR program at NSF where he focuses on IT and Security Technologies. The NSF supports high-risk innovation research projects in four areas: nano- and advanced materials and manufacturing; bio and chemical technologies; information and communications technologies; and education application.

As 2010 winds down, we've noticed an endless amount of online top 10 lists sputtering across the web. Trends, memes, social media celebs, darlings of the Internet--these rankings are eclectic in their range and subject matter. But most share one common thread: some mention of Ke$ha, Katy Perry, or Justin Bieber. These are artists who not only dominate sales charts, but social media, indicating the two have become inextricably intertwined.

We've lassoed all these top 10s--from Apple to Facebook to Last.fm--all in one convenient location. Here's how the year in trends has shaped up.

These life lessons certainly apply during the holiday season. But importantly, they’re life lessons which can help you embrace a more positive, successful perspective every day of 2011 and beyond.

• Recognize your personal limitations and become successful despite them.
• Your greatest challenges can be the seeds of your greatest successes.
• Humility can never be overrated.

Body Browser shows an interactive detailed 3D model of the human anatomy that includes multiple layers, such as the circulatory and nervous systems and the skeleton and muscles. It works like Google Maps, with special tools for viewing different types of body systems (nervous system, circulatory system, etc.), adding text, etc. You can send a link to any images you create by simply emailing the URL that currently shows in the browser address bar, as in this example:

IDG News Service has produced a video review of the year’s robot news, covering home, business, sports, and space uses.

As a Web journalist, I don’t need many tools. Give me a laptop, a smartphone, and an Internet connection, and I’m basically a roving newsroom. But don’t ask me to make anything other than words: in my loft, the closest thing to a power tool is the kitchen blender. To build, say, a robot dog, I’d first have to spend thousands of dollars on design software and metalworking equipment.

Or at least, I would have until this week. Now there’s another option: I could just get a $100-per-month membership at TechShop, a craftsmen’s clubhouse that plans a “soft opening” of its new San Francisco location this weekend. TechShop has almost every conceivable tool at the ready, from design workstations to computer-controlled looms, laser cutters, commercial-grade sewing machines, welding equipment, injection molding machines, an electronics lab, and a full woodworking shop. It’s a DIY enthusiast’s paradise.

The General Accounting Office (GAO) has found that despite federal efforts to the contrary, constraints remain on the transfer of technology from federal laboratories to the private sector. These constraints include limits on conducting proprietary research at federal labs, difficulties in copyrighting or licensing certain types of research, and overly bureaucratic procedures.

Since 1980 Congress and the Administration have been trying to increase U.S. industries' access to technology developed in federal labs, which collectively spent more than $20 billion on R&D in fiscal 1987. Because of these efforts, government- operated labs can now enter into collaborative research ventures with private companies and grant exclusive licenses for commercialization of government inventions. Contractors who operate government-owned labs are permitted to retain title rights to inventions and technical data without having to first request that the government waive its rights to this intellectual property.

Ghana: Agricultural Innovation in Ghana

The Worldwatch Institute, an environmental research organization based in Washington D.C., recently toured Ghana in search of innovations as part of a two year evaluation of sustainable agriculture across sub-Saharan Africa. While conducting research for the project, Worldwatch’s Nourishing the Planet team found that a new generation of agricultural innovators has emerged from farmers’ groups, private voluntary organizations, NGOs and universities.

While these organizations span a large variety of industries and disciplines, they all share the common goal of equipping Ghanaian farmers with the tools to alleviate hunger and poverty. Nourishing the Planet researchers met with a variety of organizations that are working to revive sustainable development in Ghana, such as the Ecumenical Association for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (ECASARD), based in Accra. Since its establishment in 1991, ECASARD has connected with over 32,000 farmers in 7 regions of southern and central Ghana in order to help them organize into business associations and cooperatives. By working with individual villages and especially encouraging women and youth to get involved, ECASARD “works with the root” and builds upwards. ECASARD’s dedication to small farmers, for example, is seen in the Abooman Women’s Group, who received funding to form a cooperative of women interested in learning how to raise and care for dairy cows.

In the first four posts in this series Nicholas and I have addressed big meaty questions – what is venture capital?, what exactly is an investor? and so on, which has been fun, but has been a bit like building a house before the foundations are down.  This week I want to look at those foundations – asking the question ‘where do VCs get their money from?’

The quintessential answer to this question is ‘institutional investors’ or ‘pension funds, insurance companies and endowments’.  These are all examples of companies that manage huge pools of money which they invest for maximum risk weighted return.  Generally speaking, they have a high level ‘asset allocation’ policy which splits their money across different types of investment with the major groups being equities (i.e. shares traded on public exchanges like NASDAQ or the LSE), fixed income (i.e. government and corporate debt), cash, and ‘alternative assets’ (which includes venture capital).  The idea is that if you have a large pool of money under management you should have a mix of low risk-low return, medium risk-medium return and high risk-high return investments and alternative assets/venture capital is one of a small number of high risk-high return options.  The allocation to alternative assets is typically 1-5% of the total, and the good news is that modern portfolio theory is pushing fund managers to increase their exposure to alternative assets and so this percentage is slowly rising. 

FORTUNE -- Some day early next year, Warren Buffett -- and 14 others including former President George H.W. Bush, Maya Angelou, and Stan Musial -- will descend upon Washington to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. (The date is uncertain right now, apparently contingent upon the schedule of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, another recipient.) This has become a familiar destination for Buffett, who has kept himself in the news lately doing interviews and speaking out on issues -- much more so than he has done previously. Just this Tuesday, Buffett, along with his billionaire buddies Bill and Melinda Gates, met with President Obama in the Oval Office to discuss their Giving Pledge initiative and the economy. What's interesting to consider is whether Buffett's new higher profile contributed to his being considered for the medal (not that this was necessarily a goal of his).

Artist Evan Roth has a radical idea to help let our ideas live long after we die.

Taking inspiration from organ donation programs, Roth advocates donating intellectual property to the public domain to contribute to the ‘progress of science’ and ensure that your creative legacy lives on.

Why let all of your ideas die with you? Current Copyright law prevents anyone from building upon your creativity for 70 years after your death.

The European Commission has formally presented its proposal to create a single European patent, invoking the Enhanced Cooperation mechanism, which allows it to go ahead despite failing to convince all Member States - and notably Italy and Spain - to support the creation of unitary patent protection across the EU.

This means any scheme that is introduced will only be valid in participating countries. “European inventors can afford no further delay,” said Michel Barnier, the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, announcing the proposal on Tuesday (14 December).

At present, he said, “Filing for patents in Europe is a costly and complicated affair, making it available only to those companies who have deep pockets: The unacceptable reality is that on average innovators validate and protect their patents in only five of the EU's 27 Member States because of the high costs. “

We live our lives by routines.  In January, we all make resolutions for the new year.  In November, we give thanks for the bounty of the harvest at Thanksgiving.  And for those in the tech industry, in October we go to the Web 2.0 Conference and try to outdo each other with our declarations of "Bubble 2.0".

Today's NY Times story declares that "Silicon Valley’s math is getting fuzzy again."  This sounds somewhat similar to their story last year which concluded that: "Web 2.0...has in recent months become the focus of dot-com-style hype in Silicon Valley..."

As people leave the conference this evening to write their obligatory "we're in a bubble" story, I thought it would be helpful to provide them with examples from the last few years, so they can find new ways to express the same thoughts...

When someone introduces me to an “idea person,” I automatically jump to the down-side conclusion that this person doesn’t do follow-up. Of course there are people who are great at getting things done, but haven’t had an original idea in their life. Great entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates, are great at both.

I was with IBM in the early PC days when Bill worked with us to provide PC DOS and other software. He was relentless in his focus on getting a project done, and he always assigned himself the toughest tasks. At the same time, he was always pushing the limits of our business relationship with new ideas.