Nuclear technology

Center draws second defense corporation

By Raed Battah, rbattah@bgdailynews.com — 270-783-3246

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Commercial recruitment at the Western Kentucky University Center for Research and Developments Small Business Accelerator got another boost to its hi-tech-focused marketing plan.

A second company is planning to locate in the renovated old Bowling Green mall on Nashville Road.

Only weeks after Electronic Warfare Associates announced its plans of moving in to the accelerator, the first of what is intended to be a community of new-economy industries specializing in research, engineering and light manufacturing, Northwest Nuclear has decided to move some of its operations to the facility to co-habitate with WKUs Applied Physics Institute.

They are right on the cutting edge of technology, Northwest Nuclear Vice President Fred Schultz said. The work theyre doing is world class.

Schultz is a former adjunct professor at Western and former Oak Ridge, Tenn., research workmate of Phil Womble, director of the Applied Physics Institute.

Theyre particularly interested in some of our wireless device technology, Womble explained, holding one of several small sensors used for triangulation mapping and material location. The technology can be used for several applications, including military and humanitarian needs. Womble and Alex Barzilov, associate director for API, hope the migration of more companies like Northwest Nuclear and the completion of a material combustion laboratory adjacent to the API, currently under construction, will further elevate the universitys engineering department status as a major contributor to new sciences.

Our facility here was essentially copied by some much larger and better-funded research institutes that were very impressed with our design, Womble said. This will hopefully serve to attract potential students who are considering engineering that would otherwise have to leave the state, or perhaps attract students from other states.

Schultzs company has been funding various research projects with the institute including wireless sensor networks and materials characterization for possible armament detection. The decision to locate at the accelerator is essentially a reunion of minds.

Weve got ongoing projects with the institute looking at coal analysis and with chemical weapons detection. Its research based on technology we started developing in the late 80s, Schultz said. I see this as a continuation of work thats been ongoing for years. The institutes affiliation with the university allows us to utilize application surrogates that are difficult to obtain outside the university framework.

Northwest Nuclear specializes in three main areas of expertise, according to Schultz.

We do wireless applications related to tracking assets and locating assets and displaying them in different media; nuclear non-proliferation with some contracts with the United States government helping Russia secure their nuclear material; and nuclear or material characterization, he said.

Schultz said Northwest Nuclear will likely set up operations in a 600-square-foot space in the accelerator. He expects that an expansion will be likely but can not say when.

Wed like to expand our role and move into a bigger space at the center, he said. If some of our proposed contracts are accepted, then well have to expand rather quickly.

In all likelihood, it will be March before Northwest Nuclears operations are up and running, said Schultz, whos planning a trip to Russia in February. Once the office is in order, he said, further staffing decisions can be made.

We will definitely consider the personnel associated with the institute, he said. Wed prefer Western graduates because of the quality of personnel Dr. Womble attracts, and we will look there first.

The companys move further legitimizes the commercial plan for the center, Executive Director Buddy Steen said.

We have built the center to facilitate the creation and growth of science and technology-based companies in the region, Steen said. The accelerator is designed to create bottom-line business reasons for companies to locate in Bowling Green.

The Applied Physics Institute, in conjunction with the accelerator, help to promote this concept. Its a perfect example of why it makes good business sense to locate in Bowling Green with this advanced infrastructure.

Steen indicated that more company reviews for slots at the accelerator are under way. A deal that would bring in an e-logistics firm specializing in finance systems, information technology and logistics is at the head of those currently on the table.

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