Bowling Green State U. president names new vice president

Bowling Green State University President Sidney Ribeau has announced that James Smith will be the new vice president for economic development and regional expansion at the University.

Smith will continue to carry out his duties as the dean of the Firelands Campus in addition to those that come with his new job.

Linda Dobb, executive vice president of the University, said Smith's new position means he is responsible for creating partnerships between the university faculty and government and corporate organizations in northern Ohio. His goal is to get outside organizations to use the University's knowledge and expertise to promote growth in the region.

An example would be if the local automotive industry wanted to work with hybrid technology. The University has people who could offer their expertise to the industry because of their work in designing the hybrid bus that is now used at Bowling Green.

"We have got to make the most of what we have," says Dobb, "especially if the automotive industry is leaving the area."

Smith says his job may not be as simple as it sounds. He is going to have to make phone calls at set-up meetings between faculty and corporations that he believes could benefit from the experience Bowling Green can offer.

"If I had a professor who worked with plastics I wouldn't put them with someone in the steel industry because the chances of a bond are unrealistic," says Smith.

An idea that Smith is working with right now is "Meet the Researcher." If a professor comes up with an idea that has possible commercialization, he wants to get that professor meeting with some one that could use their idea. There are currently five or six lab-based products that have been developed at the University that he plans to commercialize, but Smith says he is not ready to announce these products yet.

Smith also plans to take products or ideas created by undergraduate students and market them. "Someone's senior project or idea could become their business for the next 20 years," says Smith.

He also wants to create new co-op and internship opportunities by bringing in a business and having them build at the universities research park by Meijer. This is something that Smith feels is not unrealistic giving the examples of California Institute of Technology, Duke University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of North Carolina as schools that have already successfully built businesses in their research parks.

Smith says the knowledge and expertise the University has to offer could promote business growth, create new jobs and promote new technology throughout the region.

(C) 2006 The BG News via U-WIRE