Charleston Area Alliance Project Continues to Have Impact
Charleston Gazette
December 28, 2004
Charleston, W.Va. – The Mid-Atlantic Technology Research and Innovation Center (MATRIC) is one of the most significant start-up projects ever undertaken by the Charleston Area Alliance. With much community input, former BIDCO chair Thomas Potter and several BIDCO Board members, such as Dr. George Keller and Dr. Dwight Sherman, led a yearlong assessment of the opportunities created by the recent down-sizing of chemical research activities in the Kanawha Valley. This analysis indicated that the Charleston area could become a world leader in research and development by creating a multidisciplinary non-profit research organization which was incorporated as MATRIC in August 2003.
Keith Pauley, a Saint Albans native and former technology development program manager for the Space Shuttle Program in Houston, Texas, joined MATRIC in April 2004 as President and Chief Executive Officer. In five months, Pauley has been joined by seven other employees; many are former Dow Chemical researchers, including Dr. Parvez Wadia, former Vice President of R&D for both Union Carbide and Dow Chemical.
MATRIC has developed relationships with five universities throughout the state of West Virginia, including West Virginia University, Marshall University, West Virginia State University, University of Charleston, and WVU Institute of Technology. The presidents of these universities serve on MATRIC's board of directors and have encouraged collaboration between MATRIC and teams of university researchers.
MATRIC is focusing its R&D thrusts in three areas: chemical processes and products, biosystems, and software systems. To date, MATRIC has submitted 27 proposals worth more than $21 million to create such technologies for a variety of commercial and government customers, including the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Other MATRIC inventions, such as advanced medical devices, are being directly developed and patented.
As technologies are created, each innovation will be commercialized to produce manufacturing and service jobs in West Virginia. Relationships with local companies are being established in order to accelerate bringing these products to our industries, patients and consumers.