Arizona Recent News – Page 2 – Swanson Reed

Uber’s self-driving cars are heading to Arizona

Only one week after launching its self-driving pilot program in San Francisco, the birth place of Uber, the trial is moving to Phoenix, Arizona.

“Our cars departed for Arizona this morning by truck,” an Uber spokesperson said in a statement of the fleet of modified Volvo XC90 cars. “We’ll be expanding our self-driving pilot there in the next few weeks, and we’re excited to have the support of Governor Ducey.”

In 2015, Uber announced a partnership with the University of Arizona’s College of Optical science. The project focuses on research and development in the optics space for mapping and safety. Gov. Doug Ducey signed an executive order at the time, allowing the testing of the self-driving cars in the state.

The vehicles began testing in San Francisco, however after one week they were faced with backlash. The California Department of Motor Vehicles in partnership with the attorney general said the program has failed to obtain a permit to test self-driving cars. Uber in rebuttal, argued that the cars were exempt from a permit due to the presence of safety drivers in the car at all times. The presence of the driver meant the vehicles did not match the state’s description of an ‘autonomous vehicle’.

Given Uber’s existing relationship with Arizona, the cars will move testing to the state.

Astronomers say Arizona becoming hub for asteroid exploration

Arizona State University’s (ASU) School of Earth and Space Exploration put in a bid for the school to lead a NASA mission.

NASA chose ASU to lead the $450-million Discovery mission to the metallic asteroid Psyche. ASU will also build a critical instrument for the robotic spacecraft and has a role in a second NASA mission announced last week.

The achievement of landing a NASA mission on ASU’s first application is extremely rare.“It’s kind of outrageous,” said Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Director of the School of Earth and Space Exploration. She noted she has been personally working on the science behind the mission for more than five years. Elkins-Tanton has previously been working as Director of a school that serves as mission control for two NASA space-based instruments.

On the day of the announcement, Elkins-Tanton wrote “We worked a paltry five and a half years. Other teams have gone through this process twice, three times.” Arizona will become a hub for space and asteroid exploration with the Psyche mission.

The Discovery program is a competition for “small” missions, capped at $450 million. Finalists for the current round of awards included two missions to Venus. A bid to launch an infrared space telescope to look for near-Earth objects was also a finalist. Although not selected, NASA continued funding for further development of the telescope. A NASA official congratulated the group of asteroid and comet researchers from across the country.

Additional NASA projects working in collaboration

In addition to Psyche, NASA selected the Lucy mission. Lucy provides the first close look at six “Trojan” asteroids. These asteroids are caught in Jupiter’s orbit, leading or following the giant planet in its orbit around the sun.

Jim Green, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, said NASA has not shifted its emphasis in its competed programs from planets to asteroids and comets. Green said the growth of small-bodies research is part of an evolution in thinking. Research into solar system formation began in Northern Arizona in the 1960s. Arizona began the research into how small bodies created our solar system, Green said.

The Psyche mission, scheduled to launch in 2023 will reach its target by 2030. Psyche, about 130 miles in diameter, resides in the main asteroid belt. The asteroid is about three times Earth’s distance from the sun.

The Psyche spacecraft will orbit its target for a year, using an array of instruments, including a multi-spectral imager being built by an ASU team, to determine the composition of Psyche, believed to be the iron-nickel core of a once-forming planet.

If you would like to discuss the R&D Tax Incentive further, please do not hesitate to contact one of Swanson Reed’s offices today.

Arizona Implements University R&D Tax Credit Program

As interests in emerging technologies and innovations continue to grow in today’s world, research and development efforts have also accelerated. In an attempt to encourage these efforts, the University R&D Tax Credit Program provides states with an opportunity to qualify for an additional non-refundable income tax credit when conducting research through specific universities within that area. Not only does this give faculty and graduate students the incentive to take on new research projects, but also provides an opportunity for companies to contract with these universities to conduct R&D, giving them complex yet practical research problems while providing the financial support to study them.

Recently, the state of Arizona has taken on the University R&D Tax Credit Program to maximize their research efforts in all capacities. The universities that are currently under the jurisdiction of the Arizona Board of Regents allowing them to receive the benefits of this program are Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona. One or more of the three universities listed above have access to this tax credit provided their research efforts qualify for the program. Currently, the credit is equal to 10% of any excess “basic research payments” made by a taxpayer in a taxable year in conjunction with the taxpayer’s “qualified organization base period amount” for the same taxable year.

To put the adoption of the University R&D Tax Credit Program into perspective, the current general R&D tax credit in a taxable year is equivalent to 24% of the first $2.5 million of qualified research expenses, with a threshold of 15% on expenses greater than that amount. Under the current law, the University R&D tax credit combined with the general Arizona R&D tax credit has a potential to increase the total R&D tax credit for qualifying research expenses by a whopping 19%. There is a cap, however, on the program’s certifications for one calendar year at $10 million. Once the certification cap is met, no further research payments will be certified by the ACA (Arizona Commerce Authority). Like many other limited enrollment programs, the ACA will approve applications on a first come, first serve basis.

Overall, the University R&D Tax Credit Program provides states with a greater incentive to engage in research that allows for new discoveries and advancements without feeling restricted by research expenses. Arizona is actively taking advantage of this program and will reap the benefits with more money in their pockets as well as an increase in research opportunities.

More about Arizona’s University R&D Tax Program application process can be found here: https://www.azdor.gov/TaxCredits/UniversityResearchDevelopmentTaxCredit.aspx

Talk with a Swanson Reed representative today if you would like to know more about how the University R&D Tax Credit works and if your university eligible.