DoD Science and Engineering Research Awards Announced

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 25, 2007

Public contact:
http://www.dod.mil/faq/comment.html
or +1 (703) 428-0711 +1

The U.S. Department of Defense announced today plans to award $7 million to 13 academic institutions in nine states to perform research in science and engineering, under the fiscal 2007 Defense Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR).

The Army Research Office, the Office of Naval Research and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research solicited proposals using a defense-wide agency announcement. The announcement was published on the Internet and accessed by DEPSCoR state committees, which solicited and selected projects for each state's proposal.

Academic researchers in Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming were eligible to receive awards under this competition.

All awards are subject to the successful completion of negotiations between DoD and the academic institutions.

The list of projects selected for fiscal 2007 DEPSCoR funding can be found online at www.defenselink.mil/news/Apr2007/d20070425awards.pdf.

NSF Days in West Virginia Set for December

December 3-4, 2007
Waterfront Place Hotel
Morgantown, West Virginia

The National Science Foundation (NSF), West Virginia Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (WVEPSCoR) and West Virginia University Research Corporation are sponsoring a program to provide an introduction to and overview of the National Science Foundation, its mission, priorities, budget, and its proposal and merit review process. Additionally, there will be presentations on the programs of each NSF directorate: Mathematical and Physical Sciences; Biological Sciences; Engineering; Geosciences; Computer and Information Science and Engineering; Education and Human Resources; and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences. There will also be time for participants to chat informally with NSF program managers.

The NSF Days event is scheduled for Dec. 3-4, 2007, at the Waterfront Place Hotel in Morgantown. For registration information, contact Ginny Painter, WVEPSCoR communications program manager, at ginny.painter@wvepscor.org.

Article by WVEPSCoR Director Featured in Magazine

The following article was featured in the spring 2007 issue of Views & Visions, a publication of the law firm of Bowles Rice McDavid Graff & Love LLP. The issue was devoted to research and technology-based economic development.


Technology-Based Economic Development—The Brightest Star in West Virginia’s Future

By Paul L. Hill, Ph.D.
Executive Director
West Virginia Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (WVEPSCoR)


As I write this article, West Virginia University (WVU) and the Datacaster Corporation, which has offices in Morgantown and Martinsburg, have just announced formation of a partnership to market the Reality Computing (TM) platform developed at WVU’s GeoVirtual Lab. This exciting initiative came about because entrepreneur David Levine, Datacaster’s chief executive officer, had experience building high-tech businesses and saw an opportunity to commercialize a patented product being developed by researchers in the university’s laboratories.

Business projections look bright for Datacaster, which will produce highly interactive, three-dimensional maps on hand-held devices for both the business and consumer markets. Startup companies like Levine’s traditionally bring with them the types of high-tech, good-paying jobs needed in West Virginia. Research-driven economic development initiatives similar to this one between WVU and Datacaster are precisely the type of public-private partnership we should all be encouraging if we really want to charge up our state’s economic future.

Yes, West Virginia all too frequently ranks close to the bottom in major economic indicators. But we can change those discouraging trends. To do so, we need to keep our eyes on the big picture. Change will not happen overnight, and it will require a significant investment in money and effort. But in the end, the benefits for all West Virginians will be substantial.

Studies show that regions of the country with more science, technology, engineering and mathematics professionals in the population have better wages, higher levels of job creation, healthier citizens, and so on. These populations also tend to create new intellectual property and commercial ventures readily. Good examples include regions like North Carolina’s Research Triangle and California’s Silicon Valley.

Closer to home, and on a much smaller scale, is the Mid-Atlantic Technology Research and Innovation Center (MATRIC), which opened two years ago in South Charleston. Salaries for the center’s 40-plus employees average $76,000/year. Just think what more jobs like that would mean for our state’s future.

If we are to realize our vision of a new, prosperous and diverse economy in this state, we must continue to grow the research enterprise—to lay the groundwork for more technology-based economic development initiatives like the one announced by WVU and Datacaster.

As a roadmap for that journey, WVEPSCoR (West Virginia Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) has developed Vision 2015: The West Virginia Science and Technology Strategic Plan.

The plan is based on the premise that to succeed, West Virginia must continue to diversify and transform its traditional extractive and industrial base to a more high-tech, knowledge-based economy. Endorsed by Governor Joe Manchin III and other state leaders, Vision 2015 calls for the state to grow the research enterprise by investing $250 million over 10 years to recruit scientists and engineers, construct state-of-the-art science and engineering facilities, increase the production of West Virginia scientists and engineers with advanced degrees, and develop new technology-based businesses like Datacaster. We project this $250 million investment would result in a cumulative economic impact through 2015 of $3.3 billion and 33,000 new jobs.

West Virginia is not alone in engaging this strategy. As manufacturing and traditional jobs continue to move offshore, states across the country are driving economic diversification through investments in cutting-edge research.

Furthermore, although West Virginia invests approximately $4.3 million annually in academic research through the Research Challenge Fund (RCF), the surrounding states of Pennsylvania ($99.1 million), Kentucky ($52.5 million), Ohio ($109.4 million), Maryland ($60.8 million) and Virginia ($85.4 million) invest significantly more. West Virginia must keep pace.

The Datacaster announcement is evidence West Virginia’s fledgling research grant program is starting to achieve some of its goals. In fact, this business venture is the fifth startup company to result from the RCF program. These state grants also have generated $18.2 million in the form of corporate and federal grants and more than $2.3 million in venture capital. But much remains to be done to make our state competitive in the new world economy.

Vision 2015 has established a clear pathway for building intellectual capital and stimulating unprecedented growth. WVEPSCoR looks forward to continuing to take the lead as a catalyst for improvements within our state and as a contributor to West Virginia’s increased competitiveness in the global economy.

Advisory Council to Meet May 24

The Advisory Council of the West Virginia Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (WVEPSCoR) will hold its regular board meeting at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 24, 2007. The meeting will be held in the offices of the Secretary for Education and the Arts, Room 205, Building 5, State Capitol Complex, Charleston.

Agenda
1. Call to Order

2. Approval of Minutes from last meeting

3. Program Status Report
(ESRE) Eminent Scholars Recruitment and Enhancement
(RCG) Research Challenge Grants
(RII) Research Infrastructure Improvement
National Program Activities

4. Finance Report

5. Proposed Spending Plan FY ’07

6. Vision 2015 Plan--Redux

7. STaR Symposium

8. Next meeting date and announcements

9. Adjourn


For more information, contact Annette Echols at echols@wvepscor.org or (304) 558-4128.

STaR Symposium Call for Papers

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 12, 2007

Contact:
Ginny Painter
Communications Program Manager
304.558.4128 ext. 6
ginny.painter@wvepscor.org


STaR Symposium Call for Papers Announced

The planning committee for the upcoming STaR (Science, Technology and Research) Symposium has announced its Call for Papers. The event, which will be held Sept. 17-18 at the Waterfront Place Hotel in Morgantown, is intended to provide a forum for the state's increasingly competitive science and technology enterprise. University and college faculty members, researchers, students and members of the business community will gather at the symposium to share research developments, ideas and collaborations.

The committee is seeking papers to be delivered during the symposium to provide attendees with information about the latest advances in scientific research being conducted in West Virginia. Research sponsored by federal agencies (National Science Foundation, National Institutes for Health, Department of Defense, etc.) is of particular relevance. All accepted papers will be published in symposium proceedings. Researchers interested in submitting a paper should visit the symposium website at www.starsymposium.org for guidelines. The deadline for submission of research papers is July 1.

There will also be a student research poster competition held in conjunction with the STaR Symposium. Designed to showcase the best student research in West Virginia, the competition is open to all West Virginia college and university undergraduate and graduate students who are actively involved in a scientific research project. The deadline for student abstract submissions is July 15.

From the abstract submissions, 20 students--10 undergraduate students and 10 graduate students--will be invited to prepare research posters to be presented at the symposium. One Undergraduate Researcher of the Year and one Graduate Researcher of the Year will be selected from among the finalists. The student selected as the Undergraduate Researcher of the Year will win a cash prize of $1,200 and the student selected as the Graduate Researcher of the Year will win a cash prize of $1,500. Second-place student researchers will receive $600 and $750, respectively. Contest guidelines are available on the symposium website.

Sponsors of the STaR Symposium include the NASA IV & V Facility, the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium, the National Science Foundation, the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation and the West Virginia Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (WVEPSCoR).

For more information or to register for the symposium, visit the symposium website or call (304) 558-4128, ext. 244.

WVEPSCoR Featured in Marshall Student Newspaper


W.Va. seeks economic boost through sciences

By Katherine S. Orr
The Parthenon (Marshall University)
Issue date: 4/10/07


Goals, plans and strategy are not just for sports - they can help you get a job in the sciences, too.

Marshall University, along with West Virginia University, is participating in a statewide plan to boost West Virginia's economy through the science industry.

Vision 2015 is a strategic plan to increase science competitiveness in the state through state funding. The plan was created by the West Virginia Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research in February 2006 and consists of 16 goals to reach by the end of the year 2015.

"Our mission is to increase research capacity within the state," Dr. Paul Hill, West Virginia EPSCoR program director, said.

"As a state, we have never developed and focused our attention on research as an economic tool," Hill said. "We've looked on our academic institutions as a place to achieve degrees. Great universities also have another mission, which I think we have neglected."

He said federal dollars are not enough to achieve a competitive scientific infrastructure and state support is needed.

Hill said the plan calls for $250 million in state funds to be given to universities in West Virginia in order to strengthen the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.

"This will have a long-term effect in developing our economy," Hill said. "We need 2015 to build up that research and development, so we can have more science and technical opportunities in the state."

Hill said the state Legislature already has dedicated $10 million this year to the plan. Gov. Joe Manchin said this is only the first installment of funding.

Dr. Andrew Rogerson, College of Science dean and member of the Vision 2015 advisory council, said the plan is about turning knowledge into patents that will end up as industries and not about research for research's sake.

"This is targeted research to make something that will benefit mankind," he said. "We hope to spawn new opportunities for the state."

We are entering a new phase of science entrepreneurship, and the Robert C. Byrd Biotechnology Center is a part of that phase, Rogerson said.

"The biotechnology center came at a fortuitous time for Marshall, because it gave us a biotechnology focus, which allows us to capitalize in the 2015 plan," he said. He said it would be difficult for Marshall to get into biotechnology and nanotechnology fields without the center.

Rogerson said the STEM faculty members are driving the movement. He said the College of Science is going to hire six new professors this year and they are all researchers as well as excellent teachers.

"One of the goals is to increase faculty number by at least 20 percent by the year 2015, to stimulate business development and to increase these types of science jobs," Rogerson said. "If you're going to have more faculty doing research, then students will be exposed to more of it."

Hill said W.V. EPSCoR is currently working with businesses to create alliances between the universities and industries. He said the plan's advisory council will review the progress of Vision 2015 before July 1, the end of the state's fiscal year.

WVEPSCoR Awards Grants for Research Proposal Preparation

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 9, 2007

Contact:
Ginny Painter
Communications Program Manager
304.558.4128 ext. 6
ginny.painter@wvepscor.org

The West Virginia Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (WVEPSCoR) today announced it has awarded $38,000 in grants to eight researchers from five West Virginia colleges and universities.

The grants, which were awarded through WVEPSCoR's mini-grant program, are intended to assist faculty members with the preparation of research or research equipment proposals for submission to external funding agencies or foundations. The grant recipients will be applying for funding opportunities available later this year from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes for Health.

"These mini-grants help provide researchers with the resources they need to develop stronger, more competitive proposals for funding their work," said Paul L. Hill, Ph.D., WVEPSCoR executive director. "In the past, seed money from this program has enabled a number of West Virginia scientists to prepare grant applications that ultimately were funded for hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Hill added that the goal of the WVEPSCoR program is to increase West Virginia's competitive research infrastructure, and that a relatively modest investment of state funds can lead to large awards from federal or private sources.

"Everyone in West Virginia wins when we are able to increase the amount of research going on at our colleges and universities. Studies show that regions of the country with more research offer an overall better quality of life, including higher wages and more jobs," he said.

A complete list of grant recipients is below. For more information about WVEPSCoR’s programs or its Vision 2015 strategic plan for growing the state's research enterprise, call (304) 558-4128 or visit http://www.wvepscor.org/.


2007 WVEPSCoR Mini-Grant Recipients


Dr. Tesfaye Belay
Bluefield State College
$5,000

Dr. Christopher Butt
WV School of Osteopathic Medicine
$4,500

Dr. Xin Li
West Virginia University
$4,500

Dr. Huong Nguyen
Marshall University
$4,500

Dr. F. Robin O'Keefe
Marshall University
$5,000

Dr. William Price
Marshall University
$5,000

Dr. Guofen Yu
WVU Institute of Technology
$5,000

Dr. Guo-Zhang Zhu
Marshall University
$4,500


-end-

CURE Website Launched

The West Virginia Consortium on Undergraduate Research and Engineering (CURE) has launched a website to facilitate the sharing of information about West Virginia's STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) programs.

The objectives of the CURE initiative are:

To meet the legislative mandate (WV Code §18B-1C-3) to develop a Collaborative Engineering Strategic Plan to (i) increase West Virginia's capacity for high quality engineering instruction and research, (ii) increase access to high quality STEM instruction and research opportunities throughout the state and (iii) stimulate West Virginia's economic development throughout the state by increasing the number of professional engineers available to business and industry. The plan may address, but is not limited to, consideration of faculty issues, libraries and technology resources, research collaboration and coordination with K-12 education.

To respond to a request from the Office of the Governor to develop the state's response to "Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future," a report published in 2006 by the National Academies.

Visit the CURE website for more information.

Spring 2007 Issue of The Neuron Released

The West Virginia Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (WVEPSCoR) has released the spring 2007 issue of The Neuron, West Virginia's quarterly journal of science and research.

From The Governor’s Desk: A weekly column by Gov. Joe Manchin

Governor Joe Manchin's weekly column for March 23, 2007, focused on the benefits of investing in the research enterprise.

Contact: Lara Ramsburg at (304) 558-2000

Research Is A Good Investment For West Virginia

I was pleased to learn the National Trust for Historic Preservation recently named Morgantown one of its Dozen Distinctive Destinations for 2007. This prestigious annual designation recognizes communities in which residents have worked to preserve the historic and scenic assets of their towns. Morgantown was selected for the national honor in part because, in addition to having beautiful scenery, it boasts one of the nation’s top research centers—West Virginia University. There is a great deal of exciting research being done at the university, and the quality of life in Morgantown and the surrounding region has been markedly enhanced by these initiatives.

Although Morgantown received this most recent recognition, it is not the only area of our state benefiting from university research. There is also an exciting buzz surrounding Huntington, where Marshall University is focusing on research and commercializing discoveries made in its labs, too.

Read the entire column here.

Plenty of Room in the Research Pool

This article appeared in the March 24, 2007, edition of the Charleston Gazette.

By Dawn Miller
Staff writer
Charleston Gazette

The more I write about research, the more people seem to want to talk about it.

After I wrote about the increasing amount of competitive research grants at WVU, and after I wrote about Marshall University President Stephen Kopp’s plan to establish an endowed biomedical research institute, more than one person contacted me about EPSCoR.

This awkwardly named effort stands for Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. It is an effort of Congress to build up research efforts between the coasts, said Paul Hill, the state’s EPSCoR director. Congress saw that most of its research and development money was going to five states, with very little flowing into the middle of the country, the South or Appalachia, Hill said. West Virginia was one of the first states to get involved in the effort 26 years ago.

Hill’s office works with WVU and Marshall and channels money there to support all kinds of scientific inquiry in chemistry, physics, biology and computer science, for example.

Just as WVU’s Dr. Bob D’Alessandri is eager to tell people that the amount of competitive grants from the National Institutes of Health has been increasing, Hill is eager to share a similar story.

“We’re doing the very same thing with the physical sciences,” Hill said. In 2006, West Virginia’s EPSCoR office received $70 million in competitive grants, both from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

Those grants are routed to the universities. In addition, the state’s EPSCoR office gets about $3 million a year to spend. Sometimes, a piece of equipment at one school or another costs $1 million, so that money can go pretty fast. As further evidence of the gaining momentum, Gov. Joe Manchin asked for $7.5 million in new research spending at the two universities, but the Legislature upped it to $10 million.

This is one field where people are excited and enthusiastic about the future. Hill’s office has a strategic plan that literally says, “By 2015, research and innovation will be the number one driver of West Virginia’s new, diverse and prosperous economy.”

That’s less than eight years away. That’s a couple of election cycles. That’s the time it takes for today’s middle schoolers to finish their first college degrees. In that time, today’s infants will have finished preschool and gone halfway through elementary school. That’s no time at all.

In that time, there’s a list of 16 tasks to be done. The universities must develop more research-friendly personnel policies, for example. The state must create community and technical college programs to train technicians to work in these fields. The state must increase the number of doctoral degrees awarded in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and retain the students it does have. The state must develop policies to improve how intellectual property is managed, to name a few.

This 24-page report is a good read, full of clear deadlines, measurable goals and even the office who is responsible for making sure the work gets done. You can read it at www.wvepscor.org/downloads/Vision2015.pdf.

When the EPSCoR Advisory Council wrote the plan back in 2005, they calculated that stepping up West Virginia’s research capabilities would draw $1.4 billion in federal and other outside funding. That funding would help to create 33,000 jobs. All that activity would generate about $3.3 billion in economic impact.

All it requires is a $250 million investment and steady support.

“The great thing to me is we’re beginning to talk about it seriously,” Hill said.

For example, some people are talking about retooling the old Union Carbide Tech Center, now owned by Dow.

“That’s exactly what that research and development park did for years,” Hill said. “They created intellectual property. The good ideas they took down to the manufacturing floor and made them.”

Hill is undaunted by the fact that West Virginia’s immediate neighbors already spend hundreds of millions more on research each year.

“It’s never too late to get in the game,” he said.

Unlike building a pizza restaurant or a gambling parlor, you’re not in danger of glutting the market. There’s always another question to investigate and to answer.

“Knowledge creation is just up to the limits of the human mind,” Hill said.

Miller, the Gazette’s editorial page editor, can be reached at dawn@wvgazette.com, or at 348-5117.

WVEPSCoR Featured in National Publication

The West Virginia Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (WVEPSCoR) is featured in the February issue of State News, the monthly magazine of The Council of State Governments. The article, “Learning to Compete: The EPSCoR Experience in West Virginia,” was co-authored by Governor Joe Manchin III and West Virginia Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin.

The article focuses on how West Virginia has benefited from its participation in the national EPSCoR program and provides an overview of the role the program has played in the state’s efforts to carve out a niche in today’s knowledge-driven economy. The magazine is available on The Council of State Governments website.

WVEPSCoR 2006 Annual Report

WVEPSCoR has released its 2006 annual report. The report is available at http://www.wvepscor.org/.

Vision 2015: The West Virginia Science and Technology Strategic Plan

Vision 2015: The West Virginia Science and Technology Strategic Plan, calls for the state to grow the research enterprise by investing $250 million over 10 years to recruit scientists and engineers, construct state-of-the-art science and engineering facilities, increase the production of West Virginia scientists and engineers with advanced degrees, and develop new technology-based businesses.

It is projected this investment would result in a cumulative economic impact through 2015 of $3.3 billion and 33,000 new jobs.

For more information or to download a copy of the plan, visit the WVEPSCoR website at www.wvepscor.org.

Governor Presents Grants and Recognizes Young Scientists During Undergraduate Research Day

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 8, 2007

Contact:
Ginny Painter

Communications Program Manager
304.558.4128 ext. 6
ginny.painter@wvepscor.org

Gov. Joe Manchin today presented grants to help advance scientific research at West Virginia colleges and universities. The grants, which total more than $1.2 million, were funded primarily through the state’s Research Challenge Fund (RCF).

The event was held in conjunction with Undergraduate Research Day, an annual event at the State Capitol designed to highlight research projects conducted by college and university students from around the state.

Presenting the grants, Manchin noted that the state’s investments in research infrastructure are beginning to pay off.

“In just a few years, these Research Challenge Fund grants have generated more than $18 million in corporate and federal grants, and several million dollars more in venture capital,” he added. “In fact, just a couple of weeks ago, the fifth startup company to result from the Research Challenge Fund program was announced. Technology-based economic development is indeed the brightest star in West Virginia’s future.”

The West Virginia Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (WVEPSCoR) administers both the RCF and grants for research from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Dr. Paul L. Hill, WVEPSCoR director, said he is pleased his program can be a catalyst for growing the research enterprise in West Virginia.

“We need to continue to lay the groundwork for technology-based economic development initiatives,” he said. “Research is the foundation for that effort, and our Vision 2015 plan can help us achieve our goals.”

Vision 2015: The West Virginia Science and Technology Strategic Plan calls for the state to invest $250 million over 10 years to recruit scientists and engineers, build state-of-the-art research facilities, increase the production of West Virginia scientists and engineers with advanced degrees, and develop new technology-based businesses. The returns on this investment are projected to be a cumulative economic impact of $3.3 billion and 33,000 new jobs.

Grants presented by the governor today included Instrumentation Grants to fund scientific equipment for advanced undergraduate laboratories; Innovation Grants for creative improvements in scientific equipment and facilities, curriculum, classroom instruction or delivery; International Innovation Grants to support development of an international component in science, technology, engineering or mathematics programs; SURE research stipends for undergraduates and STEM fellowships for graduate students;and grants for the Governor’s Schools for Math and Science. A complete list of recipients is included below.

In addition to presenting the grants, Manchin recognized two outstanding students, Adam Richardson and Alex Jones of South Charleston Middle School, and their teacher Dan Cosgrove. Richardson and Jones have received scholarships to attend NASA Space Camp. The governor presented Richardson, who recently won the People’s Choice award in a NASA-sponsored podcast contest, with an official Space Camp flight suit.

Manchin also acknowledged the work of Dr. Tina Cartwright, who has been selected to lead the NSF ADVANCE program at Marshall University (MU). Dr. Marcia Harrison of the MU Department of Biological Sciences, the primary investigator on the grant, obtained the three-year, $1.2 million award. With the grant, MU joins a prestigious community of NSF-funded institutions working to develop new strategies to increase the participation of women in the science and engineering fields. Cartwright also is the recipient of two other recent NSF grants for science education totaling nearly $1 million.

Sponsors of the Undergraduate Research Day events included WVEPSCoR, the Council on Undergraduate Research, the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium and the West Virginia IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence.

To learn more about WVEPSCoR’s programs or the Vision 2015 plan, call (304) 558-4128 or visit http://www.wvepscor.org/.



WVEPSCoR Awards

Instrumentation Grants

Alderson-Broaddus College
$20,000
Dr. John Enz
Dr. Yi “Charlie” Chen

Bethany College
$20,000
Dr. John Burns

Davis & Elkins College
$20,000
Dr. Sharmistha Roy

Fairmont State University
$20,000
Dr. Sarah Dodson
Dr. Mark Flood, Co-Investigator
Dr. Jess Cunnick, Co-Investigator

Fairmont State University
$9,425
Dr. Andreas Baur

West Liberty State College
$20,000
Dr. Bruce Edinger
Zac Loughman

WVU Institute of Technology
$17,000
Dr. Jay Wiedemann

West Virginia Wesleyan College
$19,024
Dr. Luke Huggins


Innovation Grants

Fairmont State University
$40,000
Dr. Mark Flood
Dr. Tadashi Kato, Co-Investigator
Dr. Paul Reneau, Co-Investigator

University of Charleston
$40,000

Dr. Michelle Herdman

Dr. Dennis K. Flaherty

International Innovation Grant

West Virginia University

$40,000 Dr. James Lewis

Dr. David Lederman

Dr. Thomas H. Myers

Dr. Peter Gannett

Dr. Parviz Famouri

STEM Fellowships
Marshall University

$228,276

Dr. Sarah Denman

West Virginia University

$330,116

Dr. Peter Gannett

SURE Stipends
Marshall University

$71,000

Dr. Sarah Denman

West Liberty State College

$40,500

Dr. Robert Kreisberg

West Virginia University

$69,000

Dr. Keith Garbutt

Governor’s Schools for Math and Science Grants

National Youth Science Foundation

$115,000

Dr. Andrew Blackwood

West Virginia University

$115,000

Dr. Keith Garbutt

WVEPSCoR director applauds today’s announcement of a partnership between WVU Research Corporation and Datacaster Corporation

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2007

Contact:
Ginny Painter
Communications Program Manager
304.558.4128 ext. 6
ginny.painter@wvepscor.org


The head of the West Virginia Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (WVEPSCoR) today applauded an announcement from West Virginia University (WVU) Research Corporation and Datacaster Corporation that they are forming a partnership to market the Reality Computing(TM) platform developed at WVU’s GeoVirtual Lab.

Paul L. Hill, Ph.D., WVEPSCoR director, said the announcement is evidence West Virginia’s fledgling research grant program, the Research Challenge Fund (RCF), is starting to achieve some of its goals. According to Hill, WVU has received approximately $1.6 million over five years from the RCF for the GeoVirtual Lab project.

“Today’s announcement is indeed good economic development news for West Virginia. This partnership is the fifth new startup company to result from research conducted through our Research Challenge Fund grants,” Hill said. “One of the goals in our Vision 2015 strategic plan is to advance the research and innovation developed with these grant funds to full commercialization—just as WVU and Datacaster are doing.”

David Levine, chief executive officer of Datacaster, agreed. “This important innovation is a very good example of both public-private partnership and research-driven economic development,” he said. “It should serve as a model for West Virginia’s research strategy.”

Hill said startups such as the one announced today traditionally bring with them the types of high-tech, good-paying jobs needed in West Virginia, and added that although today’s announcement is a positive sign, there is still much work to be done to make the state competitive in the new world economy. He noted that although West Virginia invests approximately $4.3 million annually in academic research through the RCF, the surrounding states of Pennsylvania ($99.1 million), Kentucky ($52.5 million), Ohio ($109.4 million), Maryland ($60.8 million) and Virginia ($85.4 million) invest significantly more.

“If we are to realize our vision of a new, prosperous and diverse economy in West Virginia, we must continue to grow the research enterprise,” he said. “Our Vision 2015 plan is the state’s roadmap for that journey.” Vision 2015: The West Virginia Science and Technology Strategic Plan, calls for the state to grow the research enterprise by investing $250 million over 10 years to recruit scientists and engineers, construct state-of-the-art science and engineering facilities, increase the production of West Virginia scientists and engineers with advanced degrees, and develop new technology-based businesses. It is projected this investment would result in a cumulative economic impact through 2015 of $3.3 billion and 33,000 new jobs.

For more information about today’s announcement, visit WVU's website. To learn more about WVEPSCoR’s programs or the Vision 2015 plan, call (304) 558-4128 or visit http://www.wvepscor.org/.


Media Note: Dr. Hill is available to discuss technology-based economic development initiatives in the state, the Vision 2015 strategic plan and other academic research topics. He can be reached by calling (304) 558-4128 or e-mailing hill@wvepscor.org.