UMaine to Celebrate Economic Development Benefits of New Manufacturing and Student Innovation Facilities
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO– Laying groundwork for Maine’s future economy, the University of Maine will celebrate two new facilities that will spur innovation among manufacturers and budding student entrepreneurs on April 22. The university has invited legislators, business leaders and other officials to celebrate the grand opening of the Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMC) and the groundbreaking of the Student Innovation Center.
Activities get under way at 2 p.m. in a special tent set up beside the AMC which is located just north of the Memorial Union. Maine Governor John Baldacci is scheduled to give a keynote presentation, stressing the partnership between the university, state government and Maine’s businesses and manufacturers.
“We are delighted that Gov. Baldacci will join us for this important event on Friday,” says UMaine President Robert Kennedy. “The support we have received from the governor and the legislature in recent years is a key reason that UMaine has been able to make such significant progress in developing the new knowledge that is critical to Maine’s economic future. The AMC is a wonderful example of a UMaine facility that has a real and positive impact on current Maine businesses. The Innovation Center will be a place where our student and faculty entrepreneurs can maximize the power of their ideas in a way that will no doubt lead to great things in the future.”
Students, faculty members and staff members have been at work in the AMC building since last fall. AMC was created as the result of a $6 million economic development bond issue approved by Maine voters in 2002 to support job creation and development in Maine. Using state-of-the-art manufacturing and testing equipment, the AMC staff works to support the Maine manufacturing industry, to encourage entrepreneurs by developing their ideas through the prototype stage and by providing design/build engineering support for research laboratories involved in UMaine’s research and development work.
“In addition to providing much-needed and valuable technical assistance in support of statewide economic development, the center creates outstanding opportunities for the students who supplement their studies by working here,” says AMC Director Scott Dunning, a UMaine professor of Electrical Engineering Technology. “Those students get real-world experience solving problems typical in a manufacturing setting. They apply the skills they have learned in our programs while using up-to-date equipment to get a full work experience before they graduate.” Seventeen students currently work in AMC; as programs expand that number will grow to 35 or 40.
AMC students and staff have completed 175 projects to date, with about half involving clients within Maine and half involving UMaine research facilities.
“Maine manufacturers and others can really benefit from the services we can offer through the AMC,” says Larryl Matthews, dean of the UMaine College of Engineering. “Because we can help them through that critical stage where they are developing a new idea or improving on an existing process, the manufacturer can continue to concentrate resources on production. With the AMC’s help, Maine manufacturers can simultaneously solve problems and increase their competitiveness.”
Friday’s event will also include a “virtual groundbreaking” for UMaine’s Innovation Center, which is in the final design stages with a planned opening in January 2006. To be located near Jenness Hall, the facility will be funded by an economic development bond that was passed by Maine voters two years ago. The center, which will be unique in Maine, will give students and faculty members the knowledge and tools they need to become entrepreneurs and innovators.
“The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in our community,” says Jake Ward, UMaine’s executive director of research and economic development. “The Innovation Center will allow us to take a critical next step in helping individuals harness their creativity and develop the workable products and services that will help shape our future economy.”
The Innovation Center will encourage entrepreneurship by creating an environment where new ideas and approaches to business can be developed in a supportive community where the necessary resources to facilitate innovation are readily available. The center’s programming will include courses, workshops and seminars, some of which are already being taught through existing UMaine programs. It will also provide access to business development assistance and business-related resources both at UMaine and statewide. In addition, the building’s design will facilitate creative thinking and the innovative thought processes that will lead to business success.
“Because this program will be interdisciplinary, it will lead to new ways of considering and solving problems,” Kennedy says. “We will intentionally mix students from various academic disciplines, so that they can work together to develop ideas and relationships that will benefit from input from people with differing backgrounds and points of view.