RD107 - Annual Report on the Status and Progress of Technology Innovative Centers and the Report on the Technology Awards Programs and the Technology Growth Fund


Executive Summary:
[This report reflects the requirements of Chapter 4 (2004 Special Session I), Item 462 E.2 and E.3]

Status and Progress of Technology Innovative Centers (2004 Special Session I, Item 462 E.3. -Executive Summary)

In order to advance technology development and commercialization in Virginia, in 1998Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) seed funded three Technology Innovation Centers:

• Center for Plasma and Photon Processing (CP3)
• Internet Technology Innovation Center (ITIC)
• Virginia Manufacturing Innovation Center (VMIC)

The Centers were selected, following a rigorous competitive process, to serve the Commonwealth's small, medium, and large businesses.

Between FY 99 and FY 04, CIT invested a total of $3,575,000 in the Centers. This investment is unchanged from the amount cited in the November 2003 report.

Two of the three Centers received funding from CIT in FY 04 through "no cost extensions" and are discussed in this report. The third center, VMIC, expended all CIT funds in FY 03and provided its final report at that time. As a result, VMIC's FY 04 activity is not detailed in this report, but the Center's performance is reflected in the leverage and investment summaries.

The Technology Innovation Centers generated a total of $54,540,804, for a return of $15.26 for each CIT dollar invested. The table below summarizes CIT's investments and the return, excluding general funds, generated by each Center. This report also contains a detailed table describing leverage and a map that depicts where CIT has disbursed funds.

FY 1999 - FY2004

Center..............................CIT Funding.......Leverage (less...............Return on
............................................Support.........General Funds)..............Investment

Center for Plasma
and Photon Processing........$1.550 M.............$19.09 M.......................12.8

Internet Technology
Innovation Center.................$1.450 M.............$34.28 M.......................17.06

Virginia Manufacturing
Innovation Center...................$.575 M...............$1.16 M.........................2.02

Total....................................$3.575 M.............$54.54 M.......................15.26

Each TIC will continue with a mission that reflects the goals of its current and future funding sources.

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Report on the Technology Awards Programs and the Technology Growth Fund (2004 Special Session I, Item 462 E.2. - Executive Summary)

The Technology Innovation Center for Plasma and Photon Processing (CP3) at the Applied Research Center (ARC) advances processing technologies to create materials, structures and devices. Light and plasma processing play an increasingly important role for aerospace, automotive, electronics, and marine manufacturing. These methods are critical for high value-added manufacturing of computer and communications equipment, physical and chemical sensors, biomedical instruments and applications, semiconductors, thin films, photovoltaics, electronic components, and optical instruments. Although basic innovation ("technology push") is important to advanced materials development, the dominating driver today is primarily application-driven("market pull") that is the end user's demand for a product with a competitive advantage (for example better, faster, lighter, cheaper) or simply the need to satisfy the functional requirements of the application. Because CP3 can access multi-disciplinary expertise and equipment from five universities and a federal lab, it can offer a competitive advantage to small and large businesses.CP3 provides a full-complement of advanced materials processing methods and tools along with access to the world's most powerful tunable laser. CP3 as the first major center within the ARC has been the catalyst to forming three other major centers including the NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center For Lasers and Plasmas for Advanced Manufacturing, the Office of Naval Research Center For Piezoelectrics By Design, and the Office of Naval Research High Brightness Electron Source Program. CP3 is lead by Dr. Dennis M. Manos, College of William and Mary and Dr. Mool C. Gupta, Old Dominion University. They are supported by their partners Dr. H. Fred Dylla, Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Dr. Martin Broncristiani, Christopher Newport University, and Dr. Kang Seo, Norfolk State University.

CP3 received a five-year $2 million technology innovation award from the Virginia Center for Innovative Technology in September of 1998. Total Commonwealth funds committed to CP3through June 30, 2004 was $1,550,000. For this period, July 1, 2003 - June 30, 2004 (Table 1), CP3 has a portfolio of projects including technical alliances, rapid responses, analytical services, business services, short courses state and federal grants valued at $9,069,963 exceeding our goal for year 6 of $1,023,000. CP3 activities and its associated spin-off centers are currently attracting approximately $7,982,767 in federal and private funds or $23.83 for every $1.00 invested this year ($335,000) by Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology TIC program. This clearly demonstrates the return on investment that can be accomplished when a long term commitment is made to a university(s) lead research program particularly with respect to attracting federally sponsored research. More specifically during year 4 (Table 1), CP3 has

• assisted 6 Virginia companies;
• developed 5 technical alliance contracts lasting 6 months or longer valued at $3,138,926;
• provided analytical services to 9 universities and 1 federal lab in exchange for other services;
• responded to 15 business assistance/economic development requests;
• conducted 4 technical & business short courses, and workshops;
• submitted 13 proposals to federal agencies receiving 6 awards (2 proposals are pending) valued at $5,931,037;
• generated 5 intellectual property disclosure;
• filed for 4 patents; and
• acquired equipment and software valued at over $1,049,255.

Federal and State Grants Proposed/Awarded In Year 6CTRF Industry Inducement Program Grant

This project now represents an expanded partnership since its inception to include the College of William and Mary, INCOGEN, the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech, and the Eastern Virginia Medical School. The purpose of the partnership was to attract INCOGEN located in Clemson, South Carolina to Williamsburg, Virginia, and then to leverage the partners' considerable bioinformatics capabilities to strengthen the Commonwealth's bioinformatics infrastructure.

CP3/W&M at the ARC provides a variety of imaging and molecular analysis tools for the pursuit of "soft materials" including biopolymer proteins and lipids. These tools, and others in the planning stage, extend the use of the Jefferson Lab Free Electron Laser (FEL) for biological applications. An upgrade to the FEL will soon render it the world's most powerful widely-tunable, ultraviolet laser, broadening its capabilities for studying molecular behavior of living tissue in vivo. A proposed superconducting synchrotron will link its pulses to the pulses of the FEL further broadening the capabilities for soft material experiments (see proposed Virginia Photonics Facility).The total project cost over three years is approximately $7 million, including $3.25 million from CTRF. During year 3 of the grant, the following proposals were awarded and/or submitted:

1) NIH SBIR Phase II, "Proteornics Software for Cancer Diagnostics," $1.6 million awarded to INCOGEN in April 2004.

2) NIH Early Detection Research Network renewal for lead EVMS now including participation by W&M and INCOGEN awarded July 2004 for $2,788,912.

3) NIH Bioengineering Partnership Program, "Integrated Analysis Environment for Cancer Diagnostics," for $9,987.471 first submitted July 2003 by INCOGEN, but not awarded. Proposal revised and resubmitted July 2004.

4) NIH R21 Technology Development For Biomedical Applications Program, "LDI-TOF Detector To Discover Disease Biomarkers," first submitted October 2003 by W&M, but not awarded. Proposal revised and resubmitted June 2004 for $520,000.

High Brightness Electron Source Development

Brian Holloway and Dennis Manos at the College of William and Mary with the International Technology Center and the University of Florida have received $4.4 million from the Office of Naval Research to develop high brightness electron sources. High current electron sources are required in a number of technologies that are of strategic importance to the Department of Defense (DOD) community and in many dual-use applications. The research may help to increase the power of radar, sonar, and x-ray equipment by a factor of 100 or more. Since a myriad of today's technologies depend on electromagnet radiation

including radar, sonar, and communications systems integral to military operations; television, radio and cellular signals enjoyed by civilians everyday; and x-ray, CAT scan and other diagnostic technologies used by doctors - the research's potential applications are almost innumerable. The most pressing application of the research, especially in the context of the current war against terrorism, is it potential to revolutionize the way soldiers and pilots communicate with one another, monitor the enemy and conduct electronic warfare. The Department of Defense currently uses 170,000 microwave tubes in more than 260 field-deployed systems. Improving the efficiency of these systems will help troops do their jobs. The High Brightness Electron Source Program's potential applications all depend on an innovation invisible to the naked eye, one-tenth the width of a human hair. By manipulating the type and amount of materials used to launch electromagnetic waves, the researchers can improve their efficiency and power. It has been demonstrated that certain materials, such as carbides and nitrides, have a low work function that allows electron to be extracted more easily. By integrating these materials into the high-brightness electron device the emission current could be increased by a factor of 100 or more. The program has already generated disclosures, patent applications, several papers, and presentations at international conferences.