alicechauvin
2005-04-22 17:02:01 UTC
HOUMA -- A robot that swims underwater to scan hulls and rudders to enhance
ships performance is an example of newly declassified U.S. Navy technology
that local industry can access through a Houma-based business groups new
Web site.
Officials with the South Central Industrial Association discussed the new
technology and the Web site, www.sciaonline.net, during their regular
meeting Tuesday.
The SCIA and Nicholls State University are working together to compile a
list of more than 600 unclassified patents and provide them online,
complete with descriptions and test summaries.
The Shared Technology Transfer Program is funded by a $1 million grant
from the U.S. Department of Energy. The aim is to make new technology that
had previously been limited to government use accessible to businesses that
might benefit.
Also participating are the Houston Research Center and the Carderock
Division of Naval Sea Systems Command.
John Griffin, an associate professor of petroleum services at Nicholls and
head of the project, gave a presentation at Tuesdays meeting that
explained how information about the technology could be accessed online
and what it can mean to local industry.
"NASA has done things like this before, but this is important because it
is the first time that something like this has focused on the maritime and
offshore industries. It is really for our area," he said.
Griffin said he and Thomas Bryant, a Nicholls professor who holds the
Bollinger Family Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship, are working on the
project to help smaller businesses in south Louisiana compete on a
national scale.
Some of the technologies in the databank that might benefit industry in
the Houma-Thibodaux area deal with hydrogen extraction from seawater,
extremely high-pressure valves and seals, sensors and monitoring systems
and advanced power sources like fuel cells for marine applications,
Griffin said.
"This is a huge opportunity for our industries to expand into new
technologies, and the SCIA is proud to be a part of this aspect of
economic development in our area," SCIA Executive Director Jane Arnette
said.
Arnette said she is also proud of the alliance between the SCIA and
Nicholls that is making it possible.
"It is unique to have a relationship like this between a university and an
industrial organization," she said. "This doesnt happen a lot."
Courier staff writer Tom Bonnette can be reached at 857-2204 or
***@houmatoday.com.
ships performance is an example of newly declassified U.S. Navy technology
that local industry can access through a Houma-based business groups new
Web site.
Officials with the South Central Industrial Association discussed the new
technology and the Web site, www.sciaonline.net, during their regular
meeting Tuesday.
The SCIA and Nicholls State University are working together to compile a
list of more than 600 unclassified patents and provide them online,
complete with descriptions and test summaries.
The Shared Technology Transfer Program is funded by a $1 million grant
from the U.S. Department of Energy. The aim is to make new technology that
had previously been limited to government use accessible to businesses that
might benefit.
Also participating are the Houston Research Center and the Carderock
Division of Naval Sea Systems Command.
John Griffin, an associate professor of petroleum services at Nicholls and
head of the project, gave a presentation at Tuesdays meeting that
explained how information about the technology could be accessed online
and what it can mean to local industry.
"NASA has done things like this before, but this is important because it
is the first time that something like this has focused on the maritime and
offshore industries. It is really for our area," he said.
Griffin said he and Thomas Bryant, a Nicholls professor who holds the
Bollinger Family Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship, are working on the
project to help smaller businesses in south Louisiana compete on a
national scale.
Some of the technologies in the databank that might benefit industry in
the Houma-Thibodaux area deal with hydrogen extraction from seawater,
extremely high-pressure valves and seals, sensors and monitoring systems
and advanced power sources like fuel cells for marine applications,
Griffin said.
"This is a huge opportunity for our industries to expand into new
technologies, and the SCIA is proud to be a part of this aspect of
economic development in our area," SCIA Executive Director Jane Arnette
said.
Arnette said she is also proud of the alliance between the SCIA and
Nicholls that is making it possible.
"It is unique to have a relationship like this between a university and an
industrial organization," she said. "This doesnt happen a lot."
Courier staff writer Tom Bonnette can be reached at 857-2204 or
***@houmatoday.com.