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Friday, March 27, 2009
UMass Dartmouth technology center lands $1M in DOE funds
By Efrain Viscarolasaga
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As the region’s clean energy sector awaits the allocation of President Obama’s stimulus plan, the omnibus bill signed two weeks ago is already contributing to the cause. As part of the bill, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s Advanced Technology Manufacturing Center in Fall River was granted nearly $1 million through the U.S. Department of Energy.
The funding, which brings the center’s total funding over the past year to $1.4 million, will be used to further grow the facility’s Clean Energy Lab and help local startups in the marine energy and clean tech sectors push products closer to commercialization.
The funding comes at a crucial time for local startups. The economic downturn has slowed funding flowing into early stage companies, yet presented an opportunity for small companies with products still in the lab to develop those products without the pressures of growth and revenue generation that come with a booming economy. The Advanced Technology Manufacturing Center is intended to give companies a cost-effective resource to develop new technologies.
“The kind of leverage we can get from the infrastructure here (at the center) as well as in the South Coast region, helps startups make more of the funding they already have,” said John Miller, director of the Marine Renewable Energy Center at the ATMC.
The ATMC, which has been in operation for six years, includes the Marine Renewable Energy Center (MREC) for wave, tidal and wind power research, and the Clean Energy Lab, which provides a steppingstone for technologies aimed at integrating with the power grid. Both centers were launched in the past two years. Over that time, the ATMC has “graduated” eight companies, including Fall River-based Mikel Inc., a maker of underwater defense systems for submarines, and International Compliance Systems Inc., a compliance software developer in New Bedford, both of which were allocated funding through the Department of Defense last year.
According to Miller, the center’s eight graduates represent $30 million in annual revenue for the state.
More recently, the clean tech boom has brought more alternative energy companies to the ATMC, which was the impetus for both MREC and the Clean Energy Lab.
Cambridge-based Great Point Energy Inc., a well-funded maker of coal gasification technologies, recently announced a partnership with UMass Dartmouth and the ATMC after it opened its pilot plant in nearby Somerset. Through the partnership, the company has hired 20 interns from the university and availed itself to the ATMC facilities to help develop a variety of components used in its process.
According to Great Point Energy COO Avi Goldberg, the ATMC has provided the company with a stream of potential employees, but has also provided an epicenter for the technology resources on the South Coast.
Other companies that are working on projects at the ATMC include microbial fuel cell maker Hy-Syence Inc., wave power technology developer Resolute Marine Energy Inc., tidal power developer Ocean Renewable Power Corp. and underwater unmanned vehicle developer Ocean-Server Technology Inc.
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