Hoeven Presents $1.5M Check to UAS Center of Excellence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Don Canton or Brandi Pelham (701.328.2200)

May 2, 2008

HOEVEN PRESENTS $1.5 MILLION CHECK TO UAS CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

GRAND FORKS, ND – Gov. John Hoeven today presented a ceremonial $1.5 million state check to the UND Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Center of Excellence to support the Center’s
efforts to commercialize UAS technologies and applications.

Although UAS technology has been a mainstay of military operations for a number of years, the commercialization of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for civilian applications is in its infancy. The UAS industry is expected to expand to a $23 billion industry within the next few years as leading aircraft
manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing (all partners of the UAS Center of Excellence) develop UAVs for commercial use in areas such as homeland security, law enforcement, agricultural operations, forestry, and weather forecasting.

“The UAS Center of Excellence leverages UND’s international reputation in aerospace and positions North Dakota to be a leader in this emerging industry that which significant growth potential,” Gov. John Hoeven said. “The interest in the Center by private sector partners speaks volumes about UND’s credibility and the potential of this building industry.”

The grant will be matched with $3 million in private sector and federal contributions to support an additional 50 high-value UAS industry jobs — 40 private and 10 public sector. It is the Center’s second state grant, bringing total state funding to $2.5 million, and total matching funds to $7.2 million, for a
total of nearly $10 million.

“All private industry partners for the UAS Center of Excellence have approached UND because of our reputation in aviation education excellence,” said Bruce Smith, dean of the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences. “The opportunities are huge. We definitely see the UAS industry as a major growth industry for many years to come.”

The UAS Center of Excellence draws talented researchers from across UND’s campus including the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences, the School of Engineering and Mines, the Northern Plains Center for Behavioral Research, and the Center for Innovation. UND is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to create one of three centers for UAS test and evaluation within the United States.

Private sector partners for the UAS Center of Excellence include: AAI/Aerosonde, American Crystal Sugar Company, Appareo Systems, Boeing, Cirrus Design, Composite Engineering, Diamond Aircraft, Frasca International, General Atomics, General Dynamics, Hamilton Sundtrand, Ideal Aerosmith, Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing, LaserLith Corporation, Lockheed Martin, Mayo Clinic, Microsoft, Micro Systems Technology, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Science Application Int’l Corporation, SEO Precision, Alion.

Highlights of the Center’s work to date include:

– Berkeley, Calif., based Laserlith Corporation has established a presence in Grand Forks because of the UAS Center. Laserlith is projecting the creation of up to 100 manufacturing jobs.

– The Center employs 23 people at $1.7 million total payroll.

– High-tech prototype systems created at the Center have been tested and flown on Lockheed Martin’s Sky Spirit UAS and Raytheon’s Cobra UAS.

– The UAS attended and presented at 11 national and international conferences on UAS industry development.

– The Center submitted a SBIR grant proposal to the USDA to help pursue a UAS deployed biosensor project.

– The United States Air Force Battle Lab funded a $3.76 million contract to research the potential of using gang phased array radar to measure the UAS sense and avoid issue.

BACKGROUND ON CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE PROGRAM

The concept behind a Center of Excellence is to partner our university system with private sector businesses. The Centers are investments in the infrastructure and research capacity
at state colleges and universities in order to stimulate North Dakota’s world-class students and scientists to find ways to commercialize new ideas into products, skills and services. The Centers create and attract new businesses and career-path jobs.

The North Dakota Department of Commerce released a preliminary status report on the Centers in March which indicates that the state’s $23 million investment is being matched by $100 million in private sector and federal investment and contributing to a direct annual payroll of $21 million. A total of 102 private sector companies are participating in the Centers of Excellence program. Sixteen new or expanded businesses have been launched. Total direct, supported and projected job creation is 3,500.

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