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ContentsThis paper describes several of the activities at the University of Alabama in Huntsville which support the economic development of the region and the state.
The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) has grown into one of the nation's leading research universities. At UAH, research is more than the pursuit of basic knowledge. UAH's research strives to enhance industry and business competitiveness by training and educating students and by applying and transferring technology that enables the development of new products and improved manufacturing processes and, subsequently, new industries (UAH, 1996).
UAH has made a major commitment to foster economic development in the region and the state by activities in the following areas:
Huntsville and the surrounding area in North Alabama have evolved into a national center for advanced technology and its application in the defense, space, and information technology sectors. The United States missile and space programs were initiated in Huntsville. Today, Huntsville is home to the U. S. Army Missile Command (MICOM), the U.S. Army Space and Strategic Defense Command (SSDC) and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Defense and space related activities in these organizations and the related support industries have spawned excellent capabilities in computer and information technology systems.
Since the 1950's Huntsville's economy has been dominated by the presence of the U.S. Army and NASA. A recent survey conducted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville for the City of Huntsville indicates that the direct local economic impact from Huntsville's defense and space sectors is over three billion dollars annually (Schoening and Spann 1994). The survey indicated that fifty-one percent of the region's jobs depend upon federal spending. This federal funding has resulted in the workforce of Huntsville/Madison County being highly technical with over forty-seven percent being engineers and scientists compared to the national average of twelve percent.
The large concentration of engineers and scientists has resulted in Huntsville becoming "a major center for research, development, engineering and manufacturing. It is this flow of dollars and resources that provide the foundation for continued technological development and economic diversification" (Schoening and Spann, 1994).
The presence of a large, federally funded economy is both a blessing and a curse. As long as the nation's space and defense programs were growing, the Huntsville economy was growing and vibrant. In recent years, the downsizing of the national space and defense programs has resulted in large revenue declines in Huntsville of more than $130 million in a three-year period and a loss of more than 3,000 jobs in the Madison County region during a four-year period.
As UAH developed into a major research university, a significant portion of its budget (from thirty-five to forty percent) came from federally sponsored research contracts and grants. Research awards grew from $13 million in 1987 to $29 million in 1991 and then slowly increased to $30 million in 1993. A slight decline occurred in 1994. In 1996 the awards were $32M. In 1996 the awards bY research area at UAH were:
It became apparent in 1991 that UAH should examine its research and technology transfer programs in terms of their competitiveness and how the university could better serve the Huntsville high technology community.
Since its establishment as a separate campus of The University of Alabama System in 1969, The University of Alabama in Huntsville has been actively involved in fostering economic development and growth in the region and the state. UAH, in partnership with industry, local government, and federal laboratories, has been involved in numerous technical assistance and technology transfer activities which have benefitted the economic vitality of the Huntsville region. UAH has performed a unique role in transferring technology from federal laboratories in Huntsville and North Alabama.
This paper describes several of the activities at UAH which support the economic development of the region and state. The paper outlines how UAH transfers technology through its instruction, student projects, specialized instruction, research and technical assistance programs. Examples of UAH's extensive partnerships and alliances with industrial, governmental, and university organizations will be presented to illustrate how UAH is assisting the Huntsville economy.
This paper briefly describes several specific examples of alliances, consortia and partnerships including:
The Consortium for Materials Development in Space (CMDS) is one of eleven Centers for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) sponsored by NASA. The CMDS at UAH is funded by a grant from the NASA Office of Space Access and Technology, member companies and the State of Alabama.
The CMDS embraces commercial ventures in materials development that benefit from the unique attributes of space. Some activities focus on development of specific materials, others address generic processes or equipment for product development, and still others pursue space investigations that generate knowledge having economic value to earth-based materials processes.
The benef1ts of participating in the CMDS include:
The following concepts characterize the discipline focus of the Consortium:
Current Consortium members and the joint research projects are:
The Alliance for Optical Technology has been established to provide advanced education and training in applied optical technology and manufacturing, seek funds for cooperative projects, identify common technical and manufacturing deficiencies, provide links to new market sectors, and provide a shared electronic design system for project support. Alliance members are:
The most recent accomplishment of the Alliance has been the establishment of the graduate MS/MSE degree program with concentration in optics and photonics technology. The program is offered by UAH and Alabama A&M University with funding from the Technology Reinvestment Project. Several of the Alliance members have been very helpful in teaching classes and offering summer support for students on their theses. The program offers a balance of fundamental optics science and engineering, optical and photonics system design, optomechanical design and manufacturing, fabrication and testing, and industrial engineering and management. The program currently has eleven students.
The undergraduate manufacturing education program is a joint program between UAH's College of Engineering and Alabama A&M University's (AAMU) School of Engineering and Technology. The program is being funded by the Technology Reinvestment Project.
The objective of the program is to provide more hands-on experiences to undergraduate engineering and engineering technology students. The Alabama Industrial Development Training (AIDT) Huntsville Center is being used as the off-campus manufacturing teaching and learning laboratory. The NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's Productivity Enhancement Complex is available for student projects.
The program plan is as follows. UAH and AAMU are developing undergraduate labs based on the resources at AIDT. These labs are being integrated into existing engineering and engineering technology courses at both institutions. AIDT is assisting in the development and review of the lab, providing lab instructors and facilities, and cosponsoring the Summer Engineering Residency Program to field test the labs.
The following industrial partners provide input to the program and review the labs:
Significant accomplishments to date are:
The lab materials are also being used in the selected topics courses in the College of Engineering, such as ISE439 and MAE459. The selected topics vary based on student interest. Two examples of the use of some of the lab materials in these courses follow.
During the Spring 95 term, a student in ISE439 used the foam lab to evaluate the use of various fillers in rigid polyurethane foam. The fillers included cellulose fibers, sawdust, and fly ash. The Marshall Space Flight Center Productivity Enhancement Complex was used to analyze the foam samples.
Beginning the Spring 94 term, students in MAE459 began the design and fabrication of a human powered submarine for the international human powered submarine design competition sponsored by the Perry Foundation. At the end of the term, the students had completed the design. A four foot section of the submarine was fabricated. First, a two foot diameter by four foot cylinder foam mold was made in the foam lab. MSFC then turned the foam mold to the desired contour. All the voids were filled and composites wrapped over the mold using MSFC equipment. The part was cured at MSFC and the foam mold removed leaving the completed four foot composite section of the submarine.
During the Spring 95 term, additional experiments were conducted by a new group of students in MAE459 to determine the desired polyurethane foam formulation. During the Summer 95 term, a new group of UAH and AAMU students constructed a wooden frame and poured polyurethane foam around the frame. The two foot diameter by ten foot foam cylinder was then transported to the MSFC Productivity Enhancement Complex.
During the Spring 96 term, MSFC machined the foam to the desired contour, wrapped the composites around the foam and cured the structure. Students assisted in filling the voids. During the Spring 97 term, the students will complete the propulsion and guidance and control systems. The submarine should he completed by Summer 97.
In 1992 the federal laboratories in North Alabama, UAH, and the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce established a joint program:
"to promote the efficient transfer of technology from area and local federal agencies to appropriate members of the Huntsville business community with particular emphasis on improving competitiveness, fostering business growth, and encouraging employment expansion."
The Technology Transfer Committee was established within the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce. The initial members of the Committee were:
UAH chairs the Committee which meets monthly at 7:00 AM at the Chamber. The Committee sends teams from universities, federal laboratories and industry to visit firms in the region. These teams generally tour the firm and discuss areas of assistance. Requests for assistance are submitted to the Committee which assigns the requests to the appropriate organization for follow-up. The Committee monitors the progress of the responses and conducts a client follow-up within six months.
Over 600 requests for assistance have been received from 400 firms in the region. A 1996 survey of clients of the technology transfer program revealed that the assistance helped client firms in North Alabama create and save jobs, develop new products, and cut costs (Spann, 1997). The University of Alabama's Manufacturing Extension Program was one of the key Committee participants that visited firms and provided assistance to firms.
Clients of requests for assistance that had been closed positive from June 1995 to August 1996 were sent a one-page questionnaire. A closed positive is an assessment made by the organization assigned to the client firm that the request has been satisfied. Of the 104 mailed surveys, three were returned as undeliverable and sixty surveys were completed for a response rate of 59%.
Of the sixty responding firms:
Client firms came from a cross section of industries with metal fabricators and electronic and electrical equipment manufacturers making up the largest percentages.
Respondents reported a high level of satisfaction with the services provided:
Client firms were provided a wide variety of assistance. Some of the more common types of assistance included help with improving process, prototyping, improving quality, starting new businesses and adopting new materials.
Of the sixty respondents:
Those firms indicating a positive economic impact reported:
Direct jobs create indirect jobs in other industrial sectors. Also, capital investments create indirect jobs in other industries as well. The Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Statistics' multipliers that are specific to each of the industries in which the direct jobs are created or investments are made were used to estimate the overall economic impact of the assistance.
In summary, the assistance provided by the Committees from June 1995 to August 1996 resulted in:
Alabama joined the U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) in late 1995. The goal of the MEP is to help manufacturers improve their competitiveness through the adoption of modern manufacturing technologies and business practices.
The Manufacturing Extension Program in Alabama is being administered by the Alabama Technology Network, Inc. which is a not-for-profit corporation headquarters in Birmingham. Ten regional centers that have been established to provide assistance to over 6,500 manufacturers in the state. This case study provides one example of the role of a university in helping a manufacturer improve further and then in transferring that technology to other area manufacturers.
The University of Alabama in Huntsville is the Region 1 Center and serves over 1000 manufacturers in six counties in North Alabama. Services provided by the UAH center include:
Manufacturing and business assistance is being provided by UAH staff, faculty and students. In addition, a number of consultants are being used to provide specific expertise in such areas as quality, software, materials, and sensors. Also, the following service providers are available to provide assistance:
The following federal laboratories in Huntsville are providing advanced technology assistance:
The Alabama affiliate of the NASA Southeast Regional Technology Transfer Center is located at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and assists in the linkage to federal technology. The federal laboratories along with UAH participate in the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce's Technology Transfer Program (Adams, et.al., 1996).
The Alabama Industrial Development Training (AIDT) is a state organization providing worker training to new and expanding companies. The AIDT Huntsville Center also has extensive laboratories, such as a 3D Systems stereolithography unit, for assisting companies in rapid prototyping. The community colleges in the region also provide technical training.
Since the start of the program, UAH has visited over 250 firms in the region. Over seventy projects have either been completed or are on-going. For example, the manufacturing projects have been:
In summary, UAH faculty and researchers are involved in cutting-edge research projects that are leading to economic development in the state and region. Because of UAH's location, the majority of these research projects are being sponsored by the federal laboratories in Huntsville, namely MICOM's Research, Development and Engineering Center, the U.S. Army Space and Strategic Defense Command and the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
As a result of this close cooperation of the federal laboratories, UAH science and engineering graduates have unique hands-on practical experience. For example, UAH students build and fly space hardware. Most space shuttle flights have UAH flight hardware on board. Consequently, UAH students join industry with firsthand knowledge of actual space and defense systems and hardware.
Several examples of student projects are:
Some of the lessons learned that make government-industry-university partnerships successful are:
In summary, these lessons learned amount to a new entrepreneurial model for university researchers.