The National Science Foundation (NSF), West Virginia Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (WVEPSCoR) and West Virginia University Research Corporation are sponsoring a program in December to provide an introduction to and overview of the National Science Foundation, its mission, priorities, budget, and 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 or (304) 558-4128, ext. 244.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Marshall University Recognizes Faculty
Marshall University recognized faculty with awards of distinction for the 2006-07 academic year at the spring general faculty meeting on April 27, 2007.
Among those recognized was Dr. Gary Anderson, professor in the Department of Chemistry. Anderson received a Distinguished Service Award, including a cash prize of $1,000.
Several faculty members received the university’s Distinguished Artists and Scholars Award, including Dr. Hongwei Yu, associate professor in the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine’s Department of Chemistry and Microbiology; Dr. Ralph Oberste-Vorth, professor in the Department of Mathematics; and Dr. Bonita Lawrence, associate professor in the Department of Mathematics.
Among those recognized was Dr. Gary Anderson, professor in the Department of Chemistry. Anderson received a Distinguished Service Award, including a cash prize of $1,000.
Several faculty members received the university’s Distinguished Artists and Scholars Award, including Dr. Hongwei Yu, associate professor in the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine’s Department of Chemistry and Microbiology; Dr. Ralph Oberste-Vorth, professor in the Department of Mathematics; and Dr. Bonita Lawrence, associate professor in the Department of Mathematics.
Charles Vest Elected President of National Academy of Engineering
West Virginia University alumnus Charles Vest has been elected to be the next president of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).A Morgantown native, Vest graduated from WVU in 1963 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He is president emeritus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Vest will begin a six-year term as NAE president, beginning July 1.
NAE members are the nation's premier engineers, elected by their peers for distinguished achievements.
After graduating from WVU, Vest earned both a master’s and doctorate from the University of Michigan in 1964 and 1967, respectively. He later held positions of dean of engineering, provost and vice president for academic affairs at that institution.
Vest served as MIT's president from 1990-2004. During that time, he worked to strengthen federal, university and industry relations and undertook a number of initiatives to bring education and research issues to broader public attention. He also placed special emphasis on enhancing science and engineering in undergraduate education.
Vest was elected to the NAE in 1993 for technical and educational contributions to holographic interferometry and leadership as an educator, and he currently serves on the NAE Council.
Among Vest's career honors is the NAE's Arthur M. Bueche Award in 2000, awarded for his university leadership, commitment and effectiveness in helping mold government policy in support of research and forging linkages between academia and industry.
Vest is the recipient of 10 honorary doctoral degrees, including one from WVU. He is also a member of WVU’s Academy of Distinguished Alumni.
Selected as a member of the bipartisan Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, Vest brought a strong science and engineering background to the analysis. He led a U.S. Department of Energy task force on the future of science programs and chaired a presidential advisory commission on the redesign of the International Space Station.
In addition, Vest was vice chair of the Council on Competitiveness for eight years, is a former chair of the Association of American Universities and serves on the U.S. Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education.
Vest has served on numerous National Academies studies, most recently on the highly cited “Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future,” which highlights the roles of science and engineering in economic growth and competitiveness in the United States.
Established in 1964, the National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies, which also include the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. These independent, nonprofit institutions serve as advisers to government and the public on issues related to science, engineering and medicine.
Robotics Team Competes in World Finals
The Roboteers, a robotics team of middle and high school students sponsored by West Virginia University’s Department of Physics, competed in the FIRST World Festival Lego League robotics championships April 12-14, 2007, in Atlanta.The contest is organized by Lego and FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). FIRST was created to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology.
With a high score of 332 out of a possible 400, the Roboteers’ robot finished in the top half of all teams in the robot performance event.
Ninety-four teams from the United States and other countries including China, Japan, Australia, Germany, Brazil, Peru, Spain, Canada, Denmark, Great Britain and Mexico, competed in the two-day event.
The theme for this year was “Nano Quest,” and Roboteers looked for ideas for the research portion of the competition in WVU’s Department of Physics, meeting with researchers working in nanosciences and taking tours of their labs.
For more information about the competition, visit the FIRST Lego website.
Proteins Power Morgantown Firm
Story by Davin White
Staff Writer
The Charleston Gazette (April 25, 2007)
Charleston, WV
Proteomics — the study of proteins — is hot these days.
The study of proteins kicked open the doors of biomedical research after the Human Genome Project’s completion in 2003, said Stephen Turner, president and chief executive officer of Protea Biosciences in Morgantown.
Proteins and their relationship to human diseases became the next frontier, Turner said.
He’s betting that news about scientists discovering “biomarkers,” or proteins identified in disease, will become more prevalent in the coming years.
Turner’s start-up company grew out of a close relationship with West Virginia University medical researchers.
In four years, Protea invested more than $750,000 in WVU technology, through funding projects and filing patent applications in support of university research. In turn, the patents are exclusively licensed to the company.
In March, Protea, which had leased property from the university, opened a 5,000-square-foot research facility near Morgantown’s regional airport on Hartman Run Road.
Turner said that although the company has a small staff, it brought its first products to market in 2006 and plans on quick expansion.
The company began in 2002 and now has 13 full-time employees, including four with doctoral degrees.
Protea researchers investigate quicker ways to identify disease-specific proteins.
The myriad of products they develop are meant to help pharmaceutical companies target which proteins are more prevalent in certain stages of cancer, osteoarthritis and the gamut of other diseases.
For instance, a specific protein may appear in a later stage of breast cancer, but not the first. That begs the question: “Why is that protein there? What is it doing?” Turner said.
“The drug companies desperately need new targets,” he said. Likewise, he believes they need better tools to identify the data.
Those include a more advanced “gel” machine for researchers to recover proteins and cartridges that break proteins down so they become easily identifiable in a matter of minutes. Processing time is reduced from eight hours to about 20 minutes.
On average, Protea develops four new products a month, Turner said. Its customer base, he said, is global.
Protea has collaborated with Stanford University, Turner’s alma mater, a researcher in the WVU Department of Chemistry to develop a protein “microchip” and has worked with Dr. Daniel Flynn, associate director of the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center in Morgantown.
Flynn and other researchers have identified a protein connected to metastasis of cancer cells.
Staff Writer
The Charleston Gazette (April 25, 2007)
Charleston, WV
Proteomics — the study of proteins — is hot these days.
The study of proteins kicked open the doors of biomedical research after the Human Genome Project’s completion in 2003, said Stephen Turner, president and chief executive officer of Protea Biosciences in Morgantown.
Proteins and their relationship to human diseases became the next frontier, Turner said.
He’s betting that news about scientists discovering “biomarkers,” or proteins identified in disease, will become more prevalent in the coming years.
Turner’s start-up company grew out of a close relationship with West Virginia University medical researchers.
In four years, Protea invested more than $750,000 in WVU technology, through funding projects and filing patent applications in support of university research. In turn, the patents are exclusively licensed to the company.
In March, Protea, which had leased property from the university, opened a 5,000-square-foot research facility near Morgantown’s regional airport on Hartman Run Road.
Turner said that although the company has a small staff, it brought its first products to market in 2006 and plans on quick expansion.
The company began in 2002 and now has 13 full-time employees, including four with doctoral degrees.
Protea researchers investigate quicker ways to identify disease-specific proteins.
The myriad of products they develop are meant to help pharmaceutical companies target which proteins are more prevalent in certain stages of cancer, osteoarthritis and the gamut of other diseases.
For instance, a specific protein may appear in a later stage of breast cancer, but not the first. That begs the question: “Why is that protein there? What is it doing?” Turner said.
“The drug companies desperately need new targets,” he said. Likewise, he believes they need better tools to identify the data.
Those include a more advanced “gel” machine for researchers to recover proteins and cartridges that break proteins down so they become easily identifiable in a matter of minutes. Processing time is reduced from eight hours to about 20 minutes.
On average, Protea develops four new products a month, Turner said. Its customer base, he said, is global.
Protea has collaborated with Stanford University, Turner’s alma mater, a researcher in the WVU Department of Chemistry to develop a protein “microchip” and has worked with Dr. Daniel Flynn, associate director of the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center in Morgantown.
Flynn and other researchers have identified a protein connected to metastasis of cancer cells.
WVU to Build Addition to Engineering Sciences Building
In a major project scheduled to break ground in May 2007, a four-story addition to the Engineering Sciences Building will be built for West Virginia University’s College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.The 28,000-square-foot addition will be located on the southeast corner of the building, adjacent to Parking Lot 40 and Evansdale Drive. A two-story atrium will provide a new entryway to the building, a gathering place for students and faculty and additional space for special events.
Also included in the addition will be a high-tech theater-style lecture hall that will seat 150, a student learning center, state-of-the-art teaching and research laboratories and office space for professors and graduate assistants.
Construction is scheduled to be completed by summer 2008.
For more information visit WVU's website. Check out the construction via a live webcam at http://www.cemr.wvu.edu/camera.php.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Technology-Based Economic Development—The Brightest Star in West Virginia’s Future
By Paul L. Hill, Ph.D.
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.
This 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.
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.
This 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.
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