JVIC gets $10.5M for second phase, projects

Roy Blunt, 7th District congressman, announced Oct. 4 that $2.6 million has been approved for JVIC’s second phase – a three-story building alongside the seven-story $12.4 million facility that’s now under construction as part of Phase I. The funding is included in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2007.

The smaller building is estimated to cost between $8 million and $9 million, according to JVIC Director Ryan Giedd. The space will be used to do prototype manufacturing, he said.

Aside from federal dollars, Giedd said additional funding for Phase II is expected to come from the distribution of funds from the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority; that initiative was approved by the MOHELA board Sept. 27 and will be considered by the Missouri General Assembly next year.

Other funding announced Oct. 4 was $5.9 million for Missouri State University’s Center for Applied Science and Engineering to develop high-performance radiation-hardened carbon nanotube-based memory hardware. The use of that hardware will allow U.S. space facilities to guard against radiation bombardment and battlefield electronics.

The appropriations act also earmarks $2 million for MSU, Carbon Nanotechnologies Inc. and Brewer Science at JVIC to produce electronic type-specific Buckytubes, which are electronics resistant to operational failures and are less vulnerable than conventional electronics. The funding will increase the pace of Buckytube synthesis and make those facilities available to the U.S. military.

Defense Appropriations Earmarks

• $5.9 million for Missouri State University’s Center for Applied Science and Engineering to develop carbon nanotube-based memory hardware.

• $2.6 million for Jordan Valley Innovation Center’s Phase II three-story building.

• $2 million for MSU, Carbon Nanotechnologies Inc. and Brewer Science at JVIC to produce electronics resistant to operational failures.

• $10.5 million – total earmarked for JVIC’s Phase II and research programs

This story originally appeared in SBJ’s Oct. 4 free e-news Daily Update. Click here to register.