This award is to the University of Southern Mississippi to support the activity described below for 36 months. The proposal was submitted in response to the Partnerships for Innovation Program Solicitation (NSF 02060). The partners include the University of Southern Mississippi (Lead Institution), Mississippi Technology Alliance, Hattiesburg Area Development Partnership, the Society of Mississippi Inventors, and the Mississippi Polymer Institute. The proposed goals are to bolster competitiveness and innovation in Mississippi companies by establishing infrastructure for participating in high throughput screening techniques (HTS) and combinatorial methodologies (CM), and to establish a laboratory for HTS/CM experimentation and a support organization drawn from the University, companies and private/state economic development authorities. A high throughput laboratory for screening of formulations and providing an understanding of its impact on the development of new products to companies is being established. This laboratory provides new HTS methods and equipment for the technology companies and individual inventors in Mississippi.
Currently there are 100 companies in Mississippi involved in producing polymeric formulations, representing approximately 6,000 employees. There are an additional 10,000 employees in other related polymer products manufacturing fields. The effort will make these companies more productive and shorten the development time to market for new products and polymer formulations. The University of Southern Mississippi has several active programs to recruit and retain minority students, e.g., Alliance for Graduate Education in Mississippi, the Mississippi Alliance for Minority Participation, Increasing Minority Access to Graduate Education. Minority students will be involved in this effort. The creation of more jobs combined with the training of workforce for the polymer industry have obvious societal benefits.
