MSU, city break JVIC ground

The school Nov. 29 broke ground at the Jordan Valley Innovation Center, in the 500 block of Boonville Avenue at the site of the former MFA mill.

The groundbreaking begins a $12 million renovation project for two of the buildings on the site, which will be paid for with federal money and is scheduled for a 2007 completion.

University and city officials say the facility will serve as a center for research in nanotechnology, the study and creation of organic machines so small that they’re measured on the molecular level.

Three companies – Brewer Science of Rolla, Crosslink Polymer Research of St. Louis and Nantero of Massachusetts – already have signed on for space in the facility, which will house laboratories for companies working on cutting edge scientific techniques, including nanotechnology, for commercial and defense use.

Brewer Science, which has worked with the university on research projects for nearly 10 years, was one of the first companies to sign on, agreeing to a 10-year, $1 million lease.

Robin van der Wel, Brewer director of external research and development programs, said the setup of JVIC is very attractive to companies in the technology industry.

“In the past, (intellectual property) has been held by the universities,” van der Wel said. “What MSU has done is develop a program where (intellectual property) is housed by the businesses. It’s a unique way of combining university know-how with the technological understanding of businesses such as ours.”

Click here for the full story from Dec. 5.