BOZEMAN -- The decision to house a $4.5-million technology transfer and commercialization center at Montana State University-Bozeman is a great opportunity, MSU Vice President for Research and Creative Activities Robert Swenson said Monday.
Montana Sen. Conrad Burns announced Monday that MSU-Bozeman and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have signed an agreement to locate a NASA-funded technology transfer and commercialization center at Bozeman. The facility will be called the MSU NASA TechLink Center, and will be the seventh such center in the nation. None of the others are located near Montana.
"We felt very comfortable and confident that this was the kind of activity and facility desperately needed in the Northern Plains Rockies Area," Swenson said. "We are very appreciative of the important support given this concept by Senator Burns."
Montana researchers and companies have had to work so far with a facility in Texas, the closest transfer and commercialization center to Montana until now. These centers make it easier to transfer technology from the NASA laboratories to the commercial level.
Not surprised by Sen. Burns' announcement, Swenson added, "Our proposal had a positive enough reaction from NASA that we have been confident for a number of months that it would be approved."
NASA Administrator Dan Goldin and Sen. Conrad Burns visited Bozeman and MSU in November, Swenson said.
"He (Goldin) was very struck by the high quality of both the research and our small high-tech business community and their level of expertise," Swenson said. "After that visit, we had the opportunity to work with NASA, with the cooperation of the senator, to develop the seventh program in the country supported by NASA for the specific purpose of serving as a link and conduit between companies in the state and the region that have technical needs and know-how, and expertise at the university and NASA and other federal laboratories."
The MSU NASA TechLink Center will be housed in the Advanced Technology Park as soon as appropriate space becomes available, Swenson said.
Swenson said he expects the MSU NASA TechLink Center to have five employees, with most of the $4.5-million used for program support. A variety of the center's activities will be subcontracted out to experts at other universities and organizations.
The Center for Economic Renewal and Technology Transfer (CERTT) will serve as the umbrella organization for the MSU NASA TechLink Center, and Dr. Peter Perna will be executive director, Swenson said. Perna is already serving as director of CERTT, whose formation was approved in 1993 by the Board of Regents. CERTT was organized to assist businesses to become more competitive in the global market place, particularly in the area of transferring appropriate technologies.
"The bottom line is new jobs for Montana students in our state," Swenson said.
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