FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Officials at the University of Arkansas will host a topping out ceremony at 3 p.m. Friday, Dec. 19, at the Arkansas Research and Technology Park, 525 W. Research Center Blvd., to put the topmost beam on the park’s new Innovation Center. This building will house an initiative to nurture research-based innovations in Northwest Arkansas.

"In today’s complex economy, staying ahead of the curve will require a concerted effort to evaluate, incubate, finance and integrate the next generation of innovative ideas," said Phillip Stafford, president of the University of Arkansas Technology Development Foundation (UATDF). To meet this challenge, the University of Arkansas, in partnership with the City of Fayetteville and the local region, has begun development of the Arkansas Research and Technology Park (ARTP) to serve as a catalyst in the formation of a knowledge-based economy in Arkansas. The Innovation Center is the cornerstone for the ARTP.

The 35,500 square-foot center is scheduled to open on June 4, 2004. It will provide resources for research and development (R&D) as the University develops partnerships with private industries, local and regional groups and government entities.

UATDF was created by the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees and charged with management and oversight responsibilities for the Innovation Center and the Research and Technology Park. In addition, it is authorized to initiate technology transfer activities and work on the commercialization of some intellectual property developed at the University of Arkansas. John Lewis, president of the Bank of Fayetteville, serves as the chairman of UATDF.

"The Innovation Center can provide an R&D environment for private companies that want to locate here to partner with the University, for example, or lease office space to technology companies working with University faculty," Stafford said.

The University has identified several areas of innovation as the primary focus for partnerships, including:

• next-generation electronic and photonic devices,
• biotechnology and related chemical, biological and food sciences
• materials and advanced manufacturing,
• database, software and telecommunications,
• environmental and ecosystem analysis
• transportation and logistics.

The Innovation Center will expand the existing University resources at the Research and Technology Park. It is adjacent to the award-winning GENESIS Technology Incubator and the Engineering Research Center, which houses 173,000 square feet of multidisciplinary laboratories and equipment, including the High Density Electronics Center (HiDEC). In addition to materials analysis, fabrication and reliability testing facilities, HiDEC has a $3 million, 4,000 square-foot, clean-room facility that allows researchers to build and test micro- and nano-scale devices in an atmosphere that is 10,000 times cleaner than a hospital operating room.

Financed through a bond issue authorized by the Board of Trustees in November 2002, total cost for the Innovation Center is estimated to be $6.2 million.

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