Industry, academia seeking contracts: Effort seeks to snare government work

Oct. 16--Earlier this month, a Wisconsin company submitted a white paper to the U.S. Army pitching an electricity distribution technology that it would develop with a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher.

Jack Heinemann isn't revealing the names of the company and the researcher because of the competitive nature of the effort, one that would power a classified project.

But the company and the researcher are among several organizations and individuals that the Wisconsin Security Research Consortium is bringing together in an effort to get more lucrative, classified defense contract work into Wisconsin, said Heinemann, the consortium's director.

Heinemann discussed the consortium's mission Monday with a group that included John Wiley, chancellor at UW, and the marketing manager for defense programs at Oshkosh Truck. The occasion was a Wisconsin Innovation Network lunch Monday at the Brookfield Suites Hotel & Convention Center. It was the first public presentation in southeastern Wisconsin about the young consortium and its aims.

"We're trying to increase collaborations between academia and industry and strengthening relationships with government agencies," Heinemann said.

If the white paper meets the Army's requirements and is cost-effective, officials will ask the company to submit a full-blown proposal, said Heinemann, who said he brought the company and researcher together and helped craft the proposal.

The white paper details one of several proposals the consortium has in various stages of submission. Others are for an engine technology being developed by a UW researcher and an entrepreneur, and a high-voltage distribution system for base camps that Heinemann is assembling a team for, he said.

The consortium was developed by the Wisconsin Technology Council with money from a federal grant approved in late 2005. Heinemann was hired as the consortium's director in March.

Getting big government contracts would help the state immensely in economic development, said Tom Hefty, president of the Waukesha-based Kern Family Foundation. He studied such issues when he was co-chairman of the Governor's Economic Growth Council.

"It's Wisconsin's biggest single strategic weakness -- the inability to get these contracts, and therefore the jobs that go with them," said Hefty, who participated in a panel discussion following Heinemann's presentation.

Wisconsin, Minnesota and Colorado rank 20th, 21st and 22nd, respectively, in terms of population among the states. Colorado has strong defense research grants; Minnesota has moderate levels; and Wisconsin is near the bottom in defense research, Hefty said.

Because of the natural technology transfer and Defense Department restrictions on production, Defense and Homeland Security products tend to be manufactured near the research, he said.

"When you compare per capita incomes, you can see the result," Hefty said. "Colorado is ninth in per-capita income, Minnesota is tenth in per-capita income and Wisconsin is twenty-second in per-capita income."

David Linz, southeastern director for the Wisconsin Entrepreneurial Network, said he was trying to engage several people in defense contract work, including experts in robotics and high voltage.

He asked Heinemann how to get them connected with the right people.

Heinemann's answer was short and to the point.

"Call me," he said.

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