THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 6, 1995 TAG: 9503040314
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BUSINESS WEEKLY
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Finding commercial uses for technology developed at federal labs in Tidewater will be addressed Thursday at a Norfolk conference.
Obtaining licenses and financing for the commercial development of technology will be among the chief topics of discussion at the seminar scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. in Nauticus.
``We recognize from Plan 2007 that we need to try to transfer technology from CEBAF and NASA Langley. A lot of talk has been put out on the street about this, but no one has followed through and shown how you obtain the licensing for this technology or the financing to develop it,'' said Clyde Hoey, president of the Hampton-based Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce.
Bankers, investment bankers and venture capital representatives will be invited to the seminar, Hoey said.
Plan 2007, an economic development strategy for Hampton Roads, encourages manufacturers to make use of ideas on the shelf at NASA Langely Research Center in Hampton and the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility in Newport News.
However, finding financing from banks or venture capital funds has been considered an obstacle by manufacturers examining technology transfer.
Sponsors of the seminar are the Peninsula chamber, the Plan 2007 organization, the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, and the Williamsburg Chamber of Commerce.
The Virginia Peninsula Economic Development Center intends to follow up with Expotech '95, a fair scheduled April 5-8 to showcase technology on the Peninsula.
Thursday's seminar, Hoey said, was conceived in part as a prelude to Expotech. ``We want to get the banks as well as the manufacturers in the area aware of what's happening'' in the area of technology transfer, he said.
The April fair is being organized in conjunction with technology exhibits at NASA Langley and CEBAF. Langley's TOPS program will highlight 400 technologies ready for transfer to industry. CEBAF will showcase scientific solutions to practical problems in industry.
In May, the Peninsula chamber plans to organize seminars that focus on the transfer of specific technologies from the federal labs to the private sector, Hoey said. by CNB