Building momentum
BYLINE: Joseph Marks, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.
May 2--Legislators, university officials and industry leaders met in UND's Center for Innovation on Tuesday to watch North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven deliver another $20 million to the state's Centers of Excellence program.
And before the bill even was signed, UND officials were talking about new research and economic development proposals ripe for Centers of Excellence funding.
UND took home $7 million out of the first $20 million installment of Centers of Excellence money, allocated in 2005. That money was paired with significant matching funds to finance construction on the Energy and Environmental Research Center's National Center for Hydrogen Technology and the UND Research Foundation's Center of Excellence in Life Sciences and Advanced Technology, which will anchor the foundation's planned Research and Commercialization Park.
The Centers of Excellence funding also included $1 million for the UND's John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences to help bring unmanned aerial vehicle-related businesses into the state.
Hoeven's long-range plan for the Centers of Excellence program is a $50 million state investment over three biennia, levied with more than three times that much money in federal, local and private sector investment.
He described the second round of funding as a chance to build on the momentum of the first round of projects and draw more private sector investors into the state.
"We've found the right formula in terms of public sector and private sector partnerships in North Dakota," Hoeven said. "This is about empowering and supporting the public sector in creating good paying jobs in the state."
Mark Nisbet, Centers of Excellence commission chairman, said he hopes a good portion of the projects approved this round come from outside the university system's star research programs.
"There are people out there with an idea that they want to become something spectacular," he said. "We can help them take that next step and get that national recognition."
UND President Charles Kupchella echoed Nisbet's statement, saying he expects "some more creative, more unusual projects" this round, "maybe less like what we've seen funded already."
The Centers of Excellence money was included in House Bill 1018, the state's commerce budget. The bill provides $15 million in Centers of Excellence money up front and authorizes the Office of Management and Budget to borrow an additional $5 million to be paid back by the 2009 Legislature.
Here are some Centers of Excellence proposals UND leaders plan to submit:
-- Aerospace Dean Bruce Smith said he plans to request $3 million to develop his school's unmanned aerial vehicles programs and to support federal Department of Defense projects related to northern border security.
-- A coalition of North Dakota nursing programs will seek a grant to help partner with private companies to patent new nursing curriculum, UND Nursing Dean Chandice Covington said. North Dakota nursing schools would use grant money to develop scripts and software for interactive nurse training in obstetrics, mental health and other fields, she said.
-- Construction's not yet complete on UND's new Center of Excellence for Life Sciences and Advanced Technologies building, but UND Research Foundation Executive Director Jim Petell said about five private sector tenants already have expressed interest in partnering with UND faculty and researchers on Centers of Excellence projects.
-- The EERC will seek funding to support research and commercialization efforts with biomass fuels, according to EERC communications manager Derek Walters. UND Engineering Dean John Watson said his school also will submit a proposal for biofuel research.
Marks reports on higher education. Reach him at (701) 780-1105, (800) 477-6572, ext. 105, or jmarks@gfherald.com.
Copyright (c) 2007, Grand Forks Herald, N.D. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.