May 02, 2001

Conference Will Focus On Kentucky's New Economy

Bowling Green, Ky. - State leaders, university administrators, researchers and entrepreneurs will be in Bowling Green next week for a conference on Kentucky's new economy.

On Monday afternoon, Gov. Paul Patton and House Speaker Jody Richards will open a joint session of the Kentucky Innovation Commission and the seventh annual EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Research) Conference at the University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center.

"Growing Kentucky's New Economy" is the theme of the conference, which begins at 1 p.m. Monday. Speakers include William Brundage, Kentucky's commissioner of the New Economy, at 1:15 p.m. Monday; Western Kentucky University President Gary Ransdell at 2:25 p.m. Monday; and Dr. Lee Todd Jr., president-elect of the University of Kentucky and chair of the statewide EPSCoR committee, at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.

"The conference will include a number of activities to highlight what role universities and others play in the new economy," said Dr. Blaine Ferrell, associate dean of WKU's Ogden College of Science, Technology and Health.

Dr. Ransdell will discuss new economy initiatives involving Western and the Bowling Green area, including a plan to convert part of the old Bowling Green Mall into an Innovation and Commercialization Center.

Western hopes to attract and incubate high-tech companies at the center on Nashville Road, Dr. Ferrell said.

Four or five companies already have contacted Western about opportunities at center because the Kentucky Innovation Act includes a provision that industries partner with universities to build and sustain the new economy, he said.

"If we can get science and engineering companies to move into the state, it not only helps the economy, it also gives students - particularly in target counties - a reason to go to higher education and they won't have to leave the state to get a high-tech education," Dr. Ferrell said.

Growing Kentucky's new economy isn't a project that one university or one agency can do alone, he said. "No one group is going to do this," Dr. Ferrell said. "It has to involve everyone."

The conference is open to researchers, university personnel, business and industry leaders, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, he said. Results of research projects funded through EPSCoR will be exhibited during the conference.

EPSCoR, a national program launched in 1979 by the National Science Foundation, is designed to help states compete for research and development funding and includes the U.S. departments of Energy, Defense and Agriculture, NASA, Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institutes of Health.

Kentucky EPSCoR, which began in 1985, promotes the creation and expansion of industry-university partnerships, provides millions of dollars to fund projects and supports student learning through research.

"Involving students has really been a great way to reach out and not only helps the industries and the companies, it helps the students' education and gives them jobs," Dr. Ferrell said. "It has been a win-win situation all around. And faculty have been very active in this outreach effort and we have more joining the effort each year."

Among the projects funded by EPSCoR is research by Dr. George Vourvopoulos, director of WKU's Applied Physics Institute, to develop a pulsed-neutron emitting probe to nonintrusively analyze elemental composition. He will speak at 2:20 p.m. Monday.

The program also includes an update on Kentucky's participation in an international biotechnology conference this summer in San Diego.

Dr. Ferrell will be part of a panel discussion on "Building Capacity and Infrastructure" at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday.

More information on the EPSCoR conference is available on the Internet at http://www.kyepscor.org/

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