This is a guest post by ITN’s Faculty Liaison, Malcolm Furman
Greetings All! Over the past couple months we all have been pretty busy with the website, a few events, and meeting new people. If you haven’t yet done so, have a look at my new grant highlights page, “Mal’s Picks.” If you don’t see your particular interest in that short list, give me a call – I have a reserve in the file.
In my travels around the region, I have renewed contact with Lebanon Valley College – meeting four professors over the summer and meeting their new Dean, Michael Green and a few more faculty for lunch. So far we have seen Chemistry and Biology faculty and recently Jennifer and I had a great meeting with the Digital Communications group. Moving south to Franklin & Marshall College, I met Curtis Hare and Claude Yoder. As it turns out, these folks comprise only a small fraction of the Chemistry talent in the ITN community. I am also working with a few faculty on Requests for Research [RFRs], a pathway to sponsored research for which our Out of Cycle Seed Assistance Grants may be particularly useful.
ITN has received referrals from industry, including Ben Franklin Technology Partners, DCED, and from HACC. These range in purpose from heat sinks, to concrete, materials recovery to computer and electronics applications, and maybe a power plant. I am encouraged by the alternative fuels work being done at Penn State Harrisburg and Dickinson College. There is great opportunity for collaboration among the schools for these and other projects.
The IT and computer science connections I have made so far span Shippensburg Univeristy to Millersville University. The sophistication in gaming and simulation technology in the region is commendable. Jennifer met the guys from VGI Phila (VideoGame Growth Initiative) and they’ll be coming to meet ITN for what we hope will be a lively discussion. Call me (717.948.6455) if you want to join the meeting.
For many of our faculty I am finding links to federal grant solicitations, not only in gaming, but in materials, devices, and human factor developments. As we move forward I believe these grant programs will become important components in the commercialization process – providing sufficient resources to the project partners to reach the critical mass needed to go to market. Having spent three days at the Federal Laboratories Consortium regional meeting gave me a sense of the opportunity that exists in making those connections work. I will be writing about that in more detail later.
In addition to my activities with faculty, I’ve also met with Fred Botterbusch of MANTEC, our regional IRC. Being able to expose our faculty to the wider connections in the business community, and vice versa will be a great advantage. While I haven’t listed all of the meetings, calls and letters fielded from my cubicle over the past couple months; please know that one way or another, I have made some connection with all of the schools. I do enjoy projects that “stink, glow or burn” but I am also involved and excited about the many opportunities I find here. In addition, when I have spoken of our activities to the business community or organizations, like the FLC, there is much interest in what we are doing – and usually a request to become involved or stay informed. Until next time….
