The funds were awarded as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act by the National Center for Research Resources in support of the Maine INBRE, for which the MDIBL is the lead institution. INBRE (IDeA Network for Biomedical Research Excellence) is a federally funded network that links MDIBL and The Jackson Laboratory with eleven Maine colleges and universities. Its goal is to strengthen Maine’s capacity to conduct biomedical research by supporting junior faculty and research training for Maine undergraduates.

Dr. Patricia Hand, administrative director of MDIBL and principal investigator for INBRE, says that “this grant represents a big step for the state of Maine. It means our scientists and students will no longer be isolated by distance or bandwidth. The effects of this stimulus grant will be felt long after the new equipment is installed and the sequencing project is concluded.”

A portion of the stimulus grant will purchase the optical equipment that allows fiber optic cable to move the large quantities of data involved in bioinformatics – the collection and analysis of complex biological data such as genetic codes. The cable will be laid or “pulled” by a commercial company, with INBRE leasing some of the many strands of optical cable. That means that improved cyberinfrastructure will be available to facilitate internet connectivity for other users in northern and coastal Maine as well.

Jeff Letourneau, Acting Executive Director of Networkmaine for the University of Maine System, says these federally-funded research leases are critical to commercial providers of fiber optic capacity. He likens the leases’ role to that of an anchor store in a mall, increasing the likelihood of a successful return on the developer’s capital investment. Letourneau also notes that the fiber paths themselves are being funded, in part, by an EPSCoR grant from the National Science Foundation. He notes, “It takes all these pieces of funding to try to complete the puzzle of creating a high speed fiber optic network throughout Maine. The challenge in Maine is just too big for any one grant or any one entity to solve.”

Installation of the cyberinfrastructure improvements will occur in two phases over two years. Phase one involves installing specialized networking equipment called Dense Wave Division Multiplexing along the coastal route between Portland and Ellsworth. The following year, during phase two, equipment will be installed on the northern route between Bangor and Presque Isle. Improvements in this northern route will also position Maine to develop a link to the Canadian research and education network.

These additional routes will provide seamless regional access in the Northeastern U.S. to large sets of scientific data and to increased computational capabilities. They will therefore also require substantial data storage capacity. A portion of the grant will fund increased storage capacity at MDIBL to support database, imaging, and microscopy resources available to institutions across Maine. A biostatistician will also be hired at MDIBL to provide additional statistical expertise to help scientists and students analyze these large data sets.

To demonstrate the collaborations and complex research that these improvements make possible, the stimulus grant is supporting a genome sequencing project for the Little Skate. Scientists and students in three small or rural states will be involved in the project. The genetic material will be prepared at MDIBL and sent for sequencing to the University of Delaware Sequencing and Genotyping Center. Bioinformatics specialists at the Vermont Genetics Network and MDIBL will assemble the sequences, and University of Delaware and MDIBL scientists will then coordinate the sequence annotation (discerning the identity and function of genes). A new training program in genomics will allow Maine students and junior investigators to get hands-on experience in bioinformatics and participate in community genome annotation alongside senior scientists and database curators.

These MTI Development Awards totaled up to $1,260,422 and will be matched by over $1.5 million from other sources.

“It’s encouraging to see a breadth of projects, from brand new innovations, to unique configurations of already existing technologies,” said Joe Migliaccio, MTI’s manager of Business Innovation Programs.
“We also have our first investment under the new category of ‘technology transfer’ for Maine universities, colleges and laboratories to find commercial partners for their research.”

MTI Development Awards of up to $500,000 are offered three times a year on a competitive basis to support early activities for product development, commercialization, technology transfer and business planning and development.

Development Award Recipients:

Precision Manufacturing Technology—

Advance Electronic Concepts, located in Portland, provides world-class industrial refrigeration control products to leading case manufacturers and supermarket chains. They are focusing on the design, fabrication, testing and commercialization of an energy-efficient, solid-state lighting system for supermarket refrigeration cases.
Award: $ 124,850 Match: $ 130,850

DM Technologies, LLC, located in Sanford, is an early stage developer and manufacturer of tantalum conformal coated chip capacitors – the only United States manufacturing-based supplier of this type of capacitor commonly used for military and aerospace applications. They are focused on development of a prototype and final product, refining production processes and bringing the finished product to the marketplace.
Award: $ 410,000 Match: $ 568,008

Advanced Technologies for Forestry and Agriculture—

University of Maine, in Orono, will focus on the viability of using wood that has previously undergone hemicellulose extraction, in new composite materials. The project will examine the resulting oriented-strand lumber (OSL) product’s performance, varying extraction methods, environmental impacts, chemical analysis and an engineering study of the system at an industrial level. The findings will then be used to attract a commercial partner and create a new use for Maine’s struggling wood composite mills.
Award: $ 84,808 Match: $ 176,480

Global Protein Products, Inc., operates from Waterville and sells corn-protein (zein) polymer technology that extends the shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables. This project will fund development and testing of two new potato-targeted products that will lead to retention and creation of new jobs in Maine, facilitate collaboration between the University of Maine in Orono and two companies in Auburn and Waterville. Successful development will help to secure the company’s operations base in the state.
Award: $ 170,884 Match: $ 201,160

Information Technology—

Fetch Enterprises, based in Portland, will implement an e-commerce solution, managed and marketed as Direct Vet Marketing (DVM) to provide veterinary clinics with the electronic infrastructure to create and manage an online ordering, direct marketing and fulfillment system for veterinary prescriptions. This project would assist in commercialization of data extraction, mapping and standardization of software to automate operations that would give DVM a competitive market advantage.
Award: $ 469,880 Match: $ 472,373

The application deadline for the next round of awards is February 9, 2010. MTI encourages more technology start-ups, existing businesses and institutions to investigate utilization of its investment funds.

About MTI:
MTI is a publicly financed, private, nonprofit organization created by the Legislature in 1999 to stimulate research and development activity leading to the commercialization of new products, processes and services in the state’s seven technology-intensive sectors. Programs are either loans, equity investments, or grants designed to enhance the competitive position of those sectors and increase the likelihood that one or more of the sectors will support clusters of industrial activity and create quality jobs across Maine. More about MTI at: www.mainetechnology.org.

“These business parks are part of a long term plan to develop a robust biotech industry in the region,” said Congresswoman Chellie Pingree. “This is the kind of investment that leads directly to good paying, high quality jobs. Economic recovery and long term economic growth depend on projects like these.”

The U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that the business parks will lead to the creation of 960 jobs and over $160 million in private investment.

The Five Star Industrial Park in Westbrook is the headquarters of Idexx and the home of a number other companies, and this grant will help make infrastructure improvements so existing companies can expand and to attract new businesses as well.

“This is a project that is going to improve the region’s ability to attract high quality biotech and high-tech business to the region,” said Keith Luke, Economic and Community Development Director for the City of Westbrook. “Idexx is one of the fastest growing biotechs in the country. And receiving this grant now and making the necessary infrastructure improvements will help us bring the next Idexx to the region.”

In Portland, the City of Portland will use the grant money to put in the initial infrastructure necessary to develop several sites at what will become the Rand Road Industrial Park. City officials hope to attract biotech businesses to the Park.

“The timing of this is perfect in terms of positioning the Greater Portland areas as a center for new high tech and biotech businesses, said Greg Mitchell, the Economic Development Director for the City of Portland. “Our goal is to have the park open for business a year from now and be ready to go when the economy improves.”