Media report on MTI funds awarded to UMaine Composites Center

Mainebiz and Morning Sentinel reported on the Maine Technology Institute’s four new awards from its Cluster Initiative Program. The grants, totaling $1.2 million, were awarded to collaborative projects that boost Maine’s high-potential, technology-enabled clusters — the Agriculture, Aquaculture, Fisheries and Food Production cluster and Maine’s Composites and Advanced Materials cluster. The awards leveraged $1.42 million in private sector matching contributions to the projects, according to the reports. The University of Maine Composites Center was awarded $438,046 to establish a Smart Materials Industry Consortium and Smart Materials Lab in Orono. Other award recipients were the Maine Grain Alliance of Skowhegan; FocusMaine, in partnership with Gulf of Maine Research Institute and the Maine Aquaculture Association; and the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority of Brunswick.