For Immediate Release: August 7, 1998

Seattle - Washington Technology Center (WTC) recently awarded more than $1 million in R&D grant funding to 13 Washington high tech companies teamed with state university researchers. The successful projects were selected from a pool of 40 proposals, and will be administered through WTC's Research and Technology Development (RTD) grant program. The goal of the RTD program is to provide research funding to industry/university research collaborations to develop commercially promising technology that will create jobs in Washington. The companies are located on both sides of the Cascades with funding almost evenly divided between researchers at Washington State University and the University of Washington.

The projects are awarded in four technology areas: Microelectronics, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, Biotech/Biomedical Instruments, and Computer Systems. A sampling of projects includes:

Bloodless Surgery Becoming a Reality: Develop a prototype of a hand-held high intensity focused ultrasound device which can be used to stop internal bleeding in a non-invasive manner. Initial applications for this product include prevention of bleeding during liver surgery, and catheter wound closure following angioplasty, angiography and stent placement.

Boeing Receives Grant for Flywheel Energy Storage System: Boeing Information, Space & Defense Systems has been working to develop a flywheel storage system that can be used by the electric power industry. The WTC project will focus on growing high temperature superconducting crystals for use as a frictionless magnetic bearing in the flywheel.

Developments in the Fight Against Clotting Disorders: Study the efficiency of using ultrasound, in conjunction with existing drugs, to dissolve blood clots.

WTC, a state funded agency that connects Washington companies with state university researchers and research funding, places emphasis on technology projects that will produce viable new products or enhance existing ones. The successful companies must demonstrate that they possess the capability to bring these products to market, and that enough demand exists to stimulate growth of the company, thereby creating more jobs for the people of Washington state.

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Labels: Company_and_Client_News, Funding, RTD, WTC_News

For Immediate Release: August 4, 1998

Seattle - R. Lee Cheatham, president of The Strategic Projects Group, a start-up software company located in Sandy, Utah, will become executive director of the Washington Technology Center (WTC) effective August 24, 1998. He will succeed Robert Center who retired following six years as director.

Cheatham comes to the WTC with 20 years of experience in technology collaboration and high-tech research. He has a proven track record ranging from running a software start-up, to managing a large textiles industry consortium involving software developments that transfer applications to the marketplace. Cheatham has global experience in fostering interactions of industrial research and development laboratories under a variety of government, consortial and university sponsorships. He's a member of Who's Who in Optical Science and Engineering, and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

"We are delighted that Lee has agreed to be the next executive director of the WTC," said Pat Quarles, chairman of WTC's board of directors. "He follows Bob Center, who has been a major contributor to the current success and direction of the WTC. Dr. Cheatham is an excellent choice with comprehensive consortia experience, a solid industrial background and strong management skills. It is especially appropriate for the WTC that he is particularly interested in identifying and developing research with start-ups and small business that have direct applicability to Washington's economic vitality and diversity."

Cheatham has B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering (1978, 1981), and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering (1984) from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pennsylvania. From 1985 to 1995 he was an adjunct professor in communications theory and systems analysis at Washington State University – Tri-Cities. Over that same period, Lee held several senior management positions at Battelle-Pacific Northwest Laboratories. Before founding The Strategic Projects Group, Lee was Vice President of Ameritech Library Services, a software division of the $14 billion Ameritech Corp., with key library accounts at Indiana University, The University of Chicago and 14 countries around the world.

Washington Technology Center was established by the Legislature in 1983. WTC is a cooperative industry-university enterprise designed to foster private and federal investment for commercially-promising research and technology development in the state. WTC has groups in advanced materials and manufacturing systems, biotechnology, computer systems, microelectronics, and a new initiative in mico-electro-mechanical-systems.

Besides encouraging the long-term economic growth of Washington state through high-technology development, WTC provides educational opportunities for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in high technology research. WTC projects offer students exceptional experience in working with industry leaders in research and development.

In a two-year funding cycle, the state appropriates approximately $7 million to the WTC for commercially promising research and technology development stemming from research universities of the state. In the past, each state dollar has been matched externally by Washington industry, the federal government, foundations and other organizations at a ratio of over $6 for each $1 from the state.

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Labels: Cheatham, WTC_News