Communities Team with Federal Labs to Promote Tech-based ED

With more than 700 facilities around the country, federal laboratories and research centers can provide many resources for communities to tap as they strive to develop tech-based economies: technologies available for transfer and commercialization; facilities and technical staff available to partner with companies and universities for research; and, connections to funding and procurement opportunities.

Below are two recent announcements that demonstrate just a couple of the approaches that can be used to nurture a stronger partnership with nearby federal laboratories.

Hampton Motorsports Technology Alliance

The Hampton Motorsports Technology Alliance is a strategic partnership formed in August 2002 to promote Hampton, VA, and the region's expertise and technology resources to the automotive industry. The Hampton Department of Development, NASA Langley Research Center's Office of Technology Commercialization, Old Dominion University's (ODU) Langley Full Scale Tunnel (LFST) and the Peninsula Alliance for Economic Development comprise the alliance.

The alliance saw its beginnings in the mid-1990s when NASA closed LFST. At that time, the city's economic development department supported ODU's quest to reopen and operate the tunnel as a commercial testing facility. From the start, NASCAR teams showed the most interest in testing at the Hampton tunnel due to the independent operation by ODU, reasonable pricing structure, excellent data correlation, large test section and central East Coast location.

"Largely, as a result of revenue derived from the motorsports industry, the Langley Full Scale Tunnel was successful in recouping all startup costs and generating surplus revenue within two and one half years of its operation by Old Dominion University," said Eric Koster, Director of Motorsports Operations of LFST, which is one of two facilities of its kind in the U.S.

Encouraged by these initial successes, Hampton and LFST officials stepped up their efforts to co-market the facility at industry tradeshows around the late-1990s. During the fall of 2001, numerous meetings were held with NASA's Office of Technology Commercialization, which joined the partnership shortly afterward, and the Peninsula Alliance of Economic Development became the last member to join.

Exhibiting at the tradeshows and using joint marketing materials, the Hampton Motorsports Technology Alliance already has begun taking steps to increase awareness of the Hampton region's motorsports assets. A Spring 2002 visit by eight executives representing elite motorsports companies in the United Kingdom may provide evidence of increased awareness. The UK delegation was looking to explore potential collaborations and assess technologies.

The alliance continues to provide LFST an opportunity to develop industry partnerships, new intellectual properties that can lend themselves into aeronautics applications, and the transfer of existing NASA technology into the motorsports industry. Discussions are underway with other entities such as private industry partners to join the alliance.

Automation Alley and National Automotive Center

Also announced in August 2002, was Automation Alley, an industry group based in Oakland County, MI, joining forces with the National Automotive Center (NAC) of the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC). The Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) formed by the two groups is expected to yield better military and civilian vehicles.

Most of Automation Alley's members had not previously worked with the Army or the rest of the federal government. Roughly 90 percent of the consortium's 450 high tech companies were considered "non-traditional" contractors. The companies represent numerous industries, including computer software/hardware and information systems, telecommunications, consumer products, industrial processes, automotive suppliers, automotive R&D, design and engineering, healthcare, and non-automotive manufacturers.

NAC was founded in 1992 for the very purpose of developing collaborations between business, academia and the Department of Defense (DoD). Located at the Army's National Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) in Warren, MI, NAC is the DoD focal point for developing dual-use vehicle technology. NAC employs several key mechanisms to leverage investments in automotive technology R&D and for initiating shared technology programs, including collaborative automotive technology contracts, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts, Cooperative Agreements, and CRADAs.

Responsible for the CRADA between Automation Alley and NAC was the Automation Alley Education Committee, who recognized much potential in NAC and its parent organization TACOM. The committee established a subcommittee to raise the awareness of NAC's existence amongst members, a move to help foster collaborative efforts between the organizations. Under the agreement, the consortium's members are able to use state-of-the-art computers and technology at NAC, while NAC is able to tap the technology and expertise of companies and universities in southeast Michigan.