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2002 News Releases 11.22.02 11.11.02 10.17.02 09.30.02 08.05.02 08.05.02 07.09.02 06.01.02 MRI Opens National Capital Region Lab 05.15.02 05.01.02 02.05.02 01.23.02 01.18.02 Scientific
American Magazine Recognizes NREL “The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is extremely proud to be honored by a leading publication such as Scientific American,” NREL Directory Richard Truly said. NREL, along with Spectrolab Inc.., was selected by the magazine for work in increasing the efficiency of photovoltaic solar cells. Scientific American was founded in 1845. Editorial contributors have included more than 100 Nobel laureates, among them Albert Einstein, Neils Bohr, Francis Crik, and Harold Varmus. The complete list of Scientific American 50 is online at www.sciam.com. MRI and
XenoTech Announce Alliance The MRI-XenoTech alliance already has been awarded a significant integrated project from the National Institute for Drug Addicition (NIDA). The multi-million dollar project calls for combining XenoTech’s expertise in drug metabolism with MRI’s vast analytical capabilities. NIDA selected the organizations to perform an array of analytical and metabolism studies. In addition to the integrated services portfolio, many clients, particularly international companies, enjoy the convenience of working with companies located in the same city. Both organizations work extensively with international clients who can now greatly reduce travel time and expense – adding simplicity to a traditionally complex and costly process. With
NREL Director Richard Truly looking on, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham
addresses an All-Hands Meeting at NREL. "NREL and its sister facilities are truly the crown jewels of the Energy Department and, I think, of the federal government," said Abraham, speaking to an audience of about 1,000 NREL staff members, as well as MRI representatives Jim Spigarelli, president and CEO; Rick Green, vice chairman of the Board of Directors; and Bob San Martin, chief science officer. "The cutting edge work that is done in this laboratory to bring about some of the remarkable R&D breakthroughs we've had is to be commended. So, Jim (Spigarelli), thank you for the leadership you have provided. We are truly appreciative of it." In addition to speaking to the staff, Abraham toured NREL's new National Wind Technology Center and was briefed by technical staff on other research areas, including photovoltaics, bioenergy, distributed power, and hydrogen research. NREL Sponsors Solar Decathlon "The Solar Decathlon will inspire these students to continue to search for new ways to design and build homes," said Assistant Secretary of Energy for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy David Garman. "They are proving that we can have homes that are attractive and comfortable and still use energy wisely." For the competition, the solar decathletes had to use the power of the sun to supply all the energy for an entire household, including a home-based business, along with transportation needs. Experts from DOE and NREL measured each home's energy production and use. Other sponsors of the event besides the Department of Energy and NREL included BP Solar, The Home Depot, EDS, and the American Institute of Architects. The event is open to the public with exhibits on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., between 4th Street and 7th Street and between the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum and the west building of the National Gallery of Art. Sceptor
Industries Appoints New V.P. Sceptor Industries and Midwest Research Institute have a strategic alliance to bring MRI's advanced products for air monitoring to the marketplace. "Tom's an important addition to our team," said Richard Jarman, chief executive officer of Sceptor. "With 32 years in sales—and a history of producing results and adding value—he's well-positioned to help us expand our customer base and develop the alliances that are so important to a new company like Sceptor." Groff has held senior sales management positions with technology and manufacturing companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations. Most recently, he was vice president of sales for North and South America at PowerQuest, a storage resource management company in Orem, Utah. New Software Simulates Energy
Usage in New Buildings NREL, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, is managed and operated by Midwest Research Institute. The new software—Energy-10 Version 1.5—is an upgrade to the original program and contains a discounted cash-flow evaluation of a building over its lifetime and a more powerful graphing package. The cash-flow evaluation of a building is determined and discounted to the present value taking into consideration such factors as the initial cost of construction, mortgage payments, annual electric costs, and annual tax benefits. Costs can be estimated using simple scaling laws or users can supply their own cost estimates. "Energy-10 allows the user to play 'what if' games while designing a building or home," said Energy-10 author Doug Balcomb, research fellow at NREL. "What if I change the windows? What if I add energy efficient equipment? What if I let the daylight in and turn down the lights?" Energy-10 Version 1.5 is the result of collaboration among NREL, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the Berkeley Solar Group. Sceptor Industries Attends Security
Expo MRI Opens National Capital Region
Lab "MRI has been serving the government in the area of biological and chemical defense for many years from our Kansas City and Palm Bay, Florida, offices," said Andrea Hall, Ph.D., senior vice president for MRI. "This new facility will bring our capabilities literally to the front door of our clients." MRI has experienced a dramatic increase in demand at a national level for the Institute's expertise in biological and chemical defense since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The new lab was opened primarily to assist two key government labs in meeting an increased sample analysis workload since September 11. The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Frederick, Maryland, and the Navy Medical Research Center (NMRC) in Silver Springs, Maryland, had been responsible for providing around-the-clock sample analysis for government clients. Contracting with MRI allows the USAMRIID and NMRC to return to their primary mission areas. "With this new facility, we will be better able to make a significant contribution in defending against biological and chemical terrorism in our nation's capital," Hall said. Three R&D Awards Honor NREL "Our scientists are truly building the future, and we are thrilled their work is recognized in such an important competition," said James L Spigarelli, Ph.D., MRI's president and chief executive officer. NREL's newest awards were for a solar cell that has shattered world efficiency records, an antenna that reconfigures itself to direct its power at selected subscribers, and a battery charger capable of extending the cycle life of lead-acid batteries. The sole criterion for winning an R&D 100 is "technological significance" compared with competing products and technologies, but issues such as smaller size, faster speed, greater efficiency, and higher environmental consciousness are important factors. Past R&D 100 Awards have recognized technologies that later became household names, including the automated teller machine, the fax machine, the Nicoderm anti-smoking patch, lab on a chip, and HDTV. MRI Introduces
Sceptor Industries to Bring Products to Marketplace "Our strategy is to develop MRI's SpinCon air
sampler into our lead product, but add other products that are being
developed by scientists and engineers at MRI," said Dick Jarman,
Sceptor's chief executive officer. "We intend to be a value-added
partner for MRI—and bring important new technologies to the world." "Based on the level of interest we have already seen in the marketplace, we are confident that there is substantial demand for SpinCon in both the government and commercial sectors," said Jeff Jonas, Sceptor Chairman and CTO. "But SpinCon is just the tip of the iceberg for developing MRI's potential and the broader potential of the chemical and biological safety markets." Sceptor also plans to market other devices for detection of pathogens, laboratory analysis, and consulting services related to biodefense. It also intends to acquire rights to market technologies that are developed from sources other than MRI. Top Scientists Honor Midwest
Research Institute Staff Members Alice Clark, section manager in MRI's Life Sciences Division, received the Professional Award, in recognition of her contributions to the advancement of the research profession. Clark heads the Institute's long-running chemical repository program for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and serves as co-principal investigator on the Environmental Toxicology Program funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and NCI. Gil Radolovich, senior advisor in the Chemical Sciences Division, received the Science Award in recognition of his contributions to the advancement of scientific knowledge. Radolovich was honored for conceiving and promoting a novel air sampling idea that led to a multimillion-dollar government program to develop, test, and produce technically innovative samplers. Through work such as this, Radolovich has brought MRI to the forefront of the field of passive air samplers and significantly advanced the state of the art. His unique passive and active air samplers have been recognized at the highest government levels, and he is now leading MRI's investigations into the use of "electronic nose" detectors for crucial defense work. Linda Siemann, senior program manager in Life Sciences Division, received the Enterprise Award in recognition of her contributions to the betterment of MRI. Siemann is group leader for MRI's long-running contract for the Environmental Toxicology Program and oversees analyses for industrial clients seeking to register new products under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Most recently, Siemann opened a new arena of industrial testing to MRI: the analysis of pet food products. She has coordinated product quality analyses for several leading pet food manufacturers. Charmel C. Grisham, Staff Chemist in Chemical Sciences, received the Achievement Award in recognition of her creativity in pursuing solutions to scientific challenges. Among her other accomplishments, Grisham conducted MRI's original work in applying solid-phase extraction to the cleanup of environmental samples. She coupled this work with the development of GC/MS trace analysis methods, resulting in a much-improved process for handling environmental samples. She used this experience to propose and lead a successful project to clean extracts from air sampling cartridges. She then applied solid-phase extraction in conducting targeted demonstration experiments that led to MRI's being awarded a large project task to develop, test, and produce innovative water samplers. Steve Poandl, an instrument services engineer at MRI, received the Service to Research Award in recognition of his exceptional work in ensuring the operation of MRI's Pharmaceutical Stability Storage Facility. Poandl's ability to repair and troubleshoot instruments in the liquid and gas chromatography facilities has led to improved efficiency over the past two years. Midwest Research Institute is a not-for-profit, independent organization that conducts contract research for government and industrial clients. It is based in Kansas City. New Research Partnership Promises
Improved Health Care "We have worked together in a less formal way for many years, developing devices and techniques to further the treatment of those suffering from heart disease," said Ben McCallister, M.D. and Endowed Chair and Director of the Mid America Heart Institute (MAHI). "With this agreement, we now formally align the strengths of both organizations to enhance and expand that work." Illustrating McCallister's comment is a project currently underway to determine whether or not fish oil capsules are medically beneficial to people who have had a heart attack. MRI and MAHI-SLH researchers are working together on this 8-month project, which involves gathering data, running specialized clinical tests, and analyzing results. Both organizations expect this project and future ones associated with the Alliance to result in better research and eventually better healthcare. Andrea Hall, Ph.D. and Senior Vice President of Midwest Research Institute, says the MRI/MAHI-SLH Alliance for Research optimizes opportunities for garnering more and larger research grants. "As with the fish oil study, by combining our capabilities and resources, we will be able to apply for grants and propose on projects that we could not have applied for individually. The end result will be exciting new research and clinical testing into disease diagnosis, treatment, and cure with advances being made right here in Kansas City." Initial goals of the agreement are to share capability information to promote collaboration, share equipment and services, and conduct joint marketing and proposal activities. Each institution is committing $20,000 toward pilot grants for collaborative research projects in the year 2002, and each is contributing $5,000 toward a series of seminars and conferences through 2002 to encourage collaboration. During the first year, Ben McCallister, M.D., will serve as Director of the Strategic Alliance, and Andrea Hall, Ph.D., will act as Deputy Director. From MAHI-SLH, William Harris, Ph.D., will serve as the Chairman of the Steering Committee; along with Marilyn Rymer, M.D.; John Spertus, M.D.; Don Campbell, M.D.; Carlos Poston, Ph.D.; Keith Haddock, Ph.D.; and David Robinson. M.D. From MRI, Richard Brown, Director of MRI's Life Sciences Division; Teresa Keimig, Ph.D., Antonio Sastre, Ph.D., and John Phillip, BVSc, Ph.D., will join Hall on the Committee. The MRI/MAHI-SLH Alliance for Research further expands the working partnerships among Kansas City area institutions involved in life sciences research and the promotion of the area as a national center of excellence in life sciences research. Midwest Research Institute Submits
Major Proposal for Central Protein Database Consequently, MRI recently lead a strong team of local organizations in submitting a major proposal to the National Institute of Environmental Health Services for a multimillion-dollar project to establish just such a database and to use proteomics technology to identify critical proteins affected by certain chemicals. Proteomics is the study of protein structure and function. For MRI, this proposal comes right on the heels of two significant events. First, MRI recently inaugurated a new Proteomics Center under the direction of Dr. Thomas Sack. The Proteomics Center features a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer for identifying proteins and will soon add another mass spectrometer with sophisticated protein preparation and separation equipment. Second, MRI is a key participant in the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute, an organization established to coordinate and facilitate Kansas City's efforts in the life sciences. Other stakeholders in KCALSI are Saint Luke's Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, University of Kansas, University of Kansas Medical Center, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, and University of Missouri-Kansas City. MRI's proteomics project team includes chemists, biologists, and data management specialists from MRI and bioinformatics experts from a major computer company. The team also draws on consultants from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of Kansas-Lawrence, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. |
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