UMaine Receives $6.8 Million in R&D Awards

Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571; Aimee Dolloff at (207) 581-3777

ORONO, Maine – The Maine Technology Institute (MTI) has selected four University of Maine projects to receive a total of $6.8 million from the Maine Technology Asset Fund. That fund, administered by MTI, was established when the Maine Legislature and voters approved a $50 million research and development bond in 2007.  Research institutions are required to use the money for capital and related expenditures supporting research, development and commercialization projects that will lead to significant economic benefits for Maine.

In addition to direct funding for the four projects, UMaine is a partner in seven other projects awarded more than $9 million in MTAF funding.

Gov. John Baldacci announced a total of 16 awards in Augusta earlier this afternoon.  MTI funded 14 projects last year. with six of the 2008 awards going directly to UMaine projects.  UMaine’s two-year total of 10 awards is the largest number to any Maine research institution. 

“At UMaine, we are proud and gratified that Maine’s science and technology experts have placed such a high degree of faith in our researchers’ abilities to lead the way to accomplishing the goals associated with the Maine Technology Asset Fund,” says UMaine President Robert Kennedy.

The UMaine proposals were chosen from a pool of 22 applicants from throughout the state who were invited last month to present their projects to the MTAF Interview Panel to compete for 2009 MTAF awards.

“When Maine voters approved the R&D bond in 2007, they did so with the hope that it would inspire creative approaches to fostering economic development in our state,” Kennedy says. “That promise has been fulfilled and Maine has a brighter future because our research institutions and businesses are working together to optimize the use of these funds to create new knowledge, new businesses and new jobs.”

The new UMaine proposals receiving awards are:

The University of Maine Innovative Industries Initiative, $3.69 million

Prof. Owen Smith

The award will fund the construction the New Media Innovation, Research, and Development Center at UMaine, which will support expanded innovation and development in new media for the entire state.

The center’s goal is to develop a new culture of innovation and creativity for Maine by establishing needed technical facilities for continued and new training, research, development and commercialization; pursuing collaborative research and development initiatives with potential for beneficial economic and social impact; and working directly with individuals and businesses to take ideas and prototypes through the stages of development to commercialization.

To accomplish this, Director and new media Professor Owen Smith will be working with UMaine’s ASAP Media Services, and at least eight independent Maine-based new media companies.

Maine Center for Autonomous Marine Survey (MCAMS), $1.2 million

Prof. Neal Pettigrew

Funding will be used to establish a coordinated technical center for autonomous survey vehicles that will make new technologies for measuring crucial ocean properties in the Gulf of Maine easily accessible to Maine researchers, aquaculturists, resources managers, wind and wave energy companies, and the marine construction industry. At the center, they will be able to conduct experiments and marine surveys without the high cost and logistical complications of shipboard operations, and without having to maintain a dedicated technical group and fleet of autonomous survey vehicles.

By creating the center, the state will be better positioned to compete for federal funding, and it also will allow for the commercialization of the marine survey service that will support several new externally-funded technical jobs within UMaine.

Partners in the project include, NavOceanLLC of South Portland, GoMOOS of Portland, and Autonomous Undersea Systems Institute (AUSI) of Kittery.

University of Maine Process Development Center, $1,083,000

Michael Bilodeau

The UMaine PDC offers its facility, equipment, and expertise for cooperative research and development projects to businesses that are just beginning all the way up to established global companies, but after 25 years the pulp and paper pilot plant is in need of an upgrade.

As a supporter of public-private partnerships, particularly with the forest products industry, the center assists with all stages of projects, from concept development and innovation, to demonstration and validation, to successful commercialization. The updates will help keep the facility competitive at the national and international level.

Community partners in the project include, Honeywell Process Solutions of Westbrook, OsiSoft Inc., Fraser Papers of Madawaska, Sappi Fine Paper of Westbrook, Verso Paper of Bucksport, Cerealus Holdings of Waterville, Zeomatrix Inc. of Orono, and MeadWestvaco of Raleigh N.C.

Strengthening Biotechnology & Supporting the STEM Education Initiative in Maine, $883,000

Prof. Susan McKay and Prof. Sam Hess

Scientists at the University of Maine have developed a new way of looking at the molecular organization of cells by creating a microscope system they call FPALM (Fluorescence Photoactivation Localization Microscopy).

They already have used FPALM to image living cells with membranes that contain a protein that enables infection by the influenza virus. They also have used the system to image a variety of other biological and some non-biological systems.

The MTAF funding will be used to renovate and expand Bennett Hall to include an image processing laboratory, equipment to enhance FPLAM capabilities, an office suite for visitors, collaborators and graduate students, an incubator space for commercialization, and a business and communication laboratory for multimedia presentations and internet video conferencing.

The upgrades will enhance the types and number of samples which can be imaged by FPALM and will increase new technology development.

Project collaborators include, Cancer Care of Maine, the Eastern Maine Medical Center, Jackson Laboratory, and the Center for Science and Mathematics Education Research.

Other MTAF award recipients with which UMaine will partner on the research total $9,363,900.

Ascendant Energy, Owls’s Head, $575,000 (working with Professors Rosemary Smith and Robert Lad) “A Solar Center of Excellence: Advanced Photovoltaic Production Facility” (APPF)

Aquaculture Innovation Center, Orono, $213,900 (working with UMaine’s Professor Paul Rawson and Darling Marine Center Director Kevin Eckleberger) “Expansion of the Shellfish Aquaculture Business Incubation Space at the Darling Marine Center”

Dielectric Communications Corporation, Raymond – a division of SPX Corp., $2.2 million (working with UMaine’s Professors Mohamad Musavi and Ali Abedi) “A New Design for Universal Rural Wireless Connectivity to Fixed and Mobile Users”

Hodgdon Defense Composites, Portland, $3.8 million (working with UMaine’s Robert Lindyberg) “A World Class Composite Materials Shipyard & 21st Century Manufacturing Complex”

Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health, $1.2 million (working with UMaine’s Professor Robert Wheeler) “Maine Regional Flow Cytometry Consortium,.”
 
ORPC Maine, Eastport, $800,000 (working with UMaine’s Professor Michael “Mick” Peterson) “OCGen Turbine Unit Commercialization Project”

Seldon Technologies Inc., Old Town, $575,000 (working with
UMaine’s Michael Bilodeau) “Manufacturing Nanocomposite Material for Structural and Filtration Applications”

The full listing of awards is online at  http://www.mainetechnology.org/.