Incubating
New Businesses
WVU has taken another step forward in its efforts to link research
to economic development with the opening of a business incubator
at the Chestnut Ridge Research Building off Milan Puskar Boulevard.
Already three promising businesses have located in the incubator on CRRB's newly remodeled sixth floor, along with four "virtual" tenants.
"The link between research and economic development is entrepreneurship," said John Weete, vice president for research and economic development at WVU. "We see the role of the WVU Business Incubator as providing nurturing services for a young business . . . services that it can't afford, or doesn't know how to do, to get it off the ground."
A one-year $169,000 Benedum Foundation grant is enabling WVU's Office of Technology Transfer—under the direction of Bill Pollock—to offer various services to start-up businesses through the incubator.
Some of those services deal with legal and financial issues; others with marketing and information technology.
"The grant helps pay for some of the equipment needed like computers, fax machines, and copiers. It also helps to offset the costs of professional consultants who might be brought in to assist the businesses in the various service areas," Weete said.
The focus of the incubator is to assist businesses spawned by new technologies discovered primarily at WVU, Weete said. However, the incubator is not restricted to that.
The concept behind one of the tenants, Abilities Personnel, was developed at WVU in partnership with its founder, Weete noted.
Abilities Personnel was formed to address employment difficulties faced by people with disabilities and facilitate linking them to satisfying career opportunities.
The tenants aren't the only ones benefitting from the new business incubator. Student interns are gaining experience working in the incubator while supporting the businesses.
"It's a great learning experience for the students," Weete said. "They come from the law, business and economics, and computer science. The students can help a business when it comes to making sure a contract is legally sound, or even developing a Web site."
Eventually, the business incubator will be relocated to the new WVU Research Park off Route 705.
"These businesses employ people and pay taxes. They are bona fide business entities. Through the WVU Business Incubator effort, we hope to contribute to boosting and diversifying the economy," Weete said.
Research Park
Construction Under Way
Governor Bob Wise joined WVU officials in October in breaking
ground for a research park that will draw high technology businesses
interested in locating near a major research university.
The park, which will be constructed on the old WVU poultry farm just off Route 705, is expected to spur economic development in the region, including the creation of 240 new jobs in the first three years.
"If we invest in research, companies and investors will come to West Virginia," Wise said. "They'll locate here because of access to cutting-edge researchers and state-of-the-art facilities like this one."
The project builds on a national trend of tying research at major universities to economic development through research parks.
"By making it easier for companies to team with the University by way of a research park, WVU is taking another step forward in its mission to be a catalyst for economic development in this state and region," said WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr.
The project will reflect the University's research strengths in biometrics, energy, advanced materials sciences, environmental sciences, information technologies, and homeland security, among others.
The initial 60,000-square-foot structure—expected to be completed in summer 2006—will house the WVU Business Incubator and provide about 40,000 square feet of leasable space.
WVU's long-term goal for the park includes a 650,000-square-foot expansion over several years to accommodate a total of 2,600 jobs.
Marking History
Researchers at WVU are restoring
West Virginia's share of mile markers along the National Road,
America's first quintessential highway that winds 750 miles through
six states.
The mile markers—which date to the 1830s—are squat, four-foot tall, cast-iron obelisks that look like miniature Washington Monuments and are painted to resemble stone. Mother Nature, vandals, and auto crashes have taken a toll on the markers over the past century.
WVU's Institute for the History of Technology and Industrial Archaeology is overseeing the meticulous project to refurbish 15 of them between Wheeling Hill and the Pennsylvania state line.
And they are using both new and old technology to accomplish the task, IHTIA chair Dan Bonenberger said. Researchers first had a laser scan of a marker made in WVU's Virtual Environments Lab, then converted the data into computer-aided design drawings.
Casting
Technologies Inc., of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, created a mold
of the marker based on the drawings, and then poured duplicate
castings. John Milner Associates of Philadelphia completed a
paint sample analysis and determined the original paint scheme.
Carboline, a St. Louis paint company, matched the historic paint
color—then kicked in the paint for free.
Because of the markers' age, great care has been taken with the iron casting and painting processes critical to a restoration that's true to the history, Bonenberger said.
As the markers are refurbished, they go back in the ground in their rightful spots along the highway.
Going After
Computer Criminals
Bill Gates has joined forces with WVU and other area institutions
to fight computer crime and prepare tomorrow's cyber sleuths.
Gates' software company, Microsoft, has donated $46,000 in software and provided a full-time analyst to the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance. WVU, Carnegie Mellon University, the FBI, and the National White Collar Crime Center formed the alliance two years ago to investigate online offenses such as identity theft and to study computer criminals' MOs. It is based in Morgantown and Pittsburgh.
"Cyber crime is a problem that's going to be around for a while, and it's going to be a hard problem to solve," said George Trapp, a WVU computer science professor involved in the project.
"The University's role in this is to produce more computer forensic experts who understand the problem and can help with solutions," Trapp added. "We will also bring existing professionals up to speed as well."
Computer forensics consists of examining computer software, servers, and other digital devices for hidden evidence of a crime; preserving the evidence; and various legal issues.
WVU's Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering plans to offer a five-course, graduate certificate program in computer forensics.
Geographers
Helping Police
Two WVU geographers are using the latest mapping technology to
help police predict where marijuana growers might cultivate their
plants to escape the long arm of the law.
Trevor Harris, chairman of the Department of Geology and Geography, and Briane Turley, a two-time Fulbright scholar, are using known data about marijuana sites across West Virginia, then applying geographic information system technology and fine-tuning it to project those areas favorable for growing the plant that began its life in the tropics.
"We're working on gridding out the places that are attractive to growers just because the conditions are right," Turley said.
A geographic information system, or GIS, is a computer-based mapping system that combines layers of information about a place so users have a better understanding of an area. The data include elevation, hydrology, roads, cultural features, vegetation, and soils.
Using GIS to forecast potential marijuana-growing regions is critical in a state topped by hard-to-get-to mountaintops and slashed by rugged ravines and isolated valleys.
And the Oscar
Goes to . . .
WVU's Department of Mining Engineering and two industry partners
have won acclaim for a research and development project.
The department, in partnership with CONSOL Energy and Stolar Research Corp., received a prestigious R&D100 Award from R&D Magazine.
Labeled the "Oscars of Invention" by the Chicago Tribune, the R&D 100 Awards are evaluated individually according to their technological significance.
The team's technology, the Radio Imaging Method, or RIM-IV, was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Industries of the Future program and is designed to identify and locate geological anomalies or hazards in the advance of mining.