Steven Aust, a professor of chemistry at USU for more than two decades, says the Utah Science, Technology, and Research economic-development initiative is fatally flawed.

The Legislature created the organization two years ago - with an initial $220 million investment.

The goal was to use USU and University of Utah researchers to develop technology that would help create 123,400 new jobs and generate $5 billion in tax revenues. So far, an additional $15 million - plus an extra $2.5 million this year - have been poured into the initiative.

Aust's concerns aside, it is too soon to judge the program's effectiveness, says USU's vice president for strategic ventures and economic development. The program is a marathon, not a sprint, says Ned Weinshenker.

"It's a very long-term project," Weinshenker said in an interview after a USU trustees meeting last month. "The Utah state government has funded it well. The ultimate win: . . . more high-tech jobs that pay at least two times the average salary in the state.

"The return to the state over this period of time would be increased taxes coming from these people earning money and from these companies."

But Aust isn't impressed. He believes his own research meets USTAR criteria - without the megafunding.

He worries that USTAR projects may not be good science or even remotely viable, and he wants an advisory board made up of knowledgeable scientists to review those projects.

"People are using up USTAR money working on things you might as well just pour the money down a rat hole," Aust says.

For example, he believes that USTAR's Biofuels Initiative and the Center for Advanced Nutrition program at USU doesn't compare with other much larger efforts elsewhere.

"You either have to be the leader of the field or you have to have some type of unique competitive advantage," he says. "They really need for USTAR to have some type of milestone guides, some criteria that have to be met by a certain period of time."

His main gripe: USTAR recruits researchers and pays them two to three times more than tenured full professors at USU and the U.

He believes the new hires are no more qualified or experienced than dozens of faculty members in good standing.

"It's just a big rat race. There are lots of professors that could be very successful at USU given a little support," Aust says.

USU President Stan Albrecht declined to comment about Aust's criticisms. But Weinshenker says USTAR's elevated salaries are competitive in the national market and take no funding away from the Logan-based university.

"It is funded entirely out of economic development. It's truly an investment in economic development."

And Weinshenker points out that some USU professors are active members of USTAR teams.

"In some cases, there are more faculty members involved in those activities than there are USTAR faculty."

USTAR spokesman Michael O'Malley says that project selection at the U. and USU was open and transparent, and the "all-star" salaries are necessarily high because of the very competitive field.

"One can certainly sympathize with someone who feels they're not being paid what they're worth," O'Malley says. "We have to always be cognizant of what the more than 30 other states, with similar economic-development programs, are doing to attract talent."

The initiative's results are running ahead of predictions, O'Malley says. Two new patents have been filed, one young company has been started at the U., another has been relocated to Utah and four new ventures are in the works. The economic activity will accelerate, he predicts.

"We've made progress but there needs to be realistic expectations for an organization that was created 26 months ago. The USTAR initiative is a 30-year project."

abrunson@sltrib.com