The University of Rhode Island Ocean Technology Center has been inventing cutting-edge marine equipment and supporting local industry for the last five years, but it wasn’t a true ‘center’ until recently.
The marine resource is no longer scattered throughout URI’s Bay Campus, but instead has a new 9,500-square-foot home by the sea. The $1 million facility, dedicated last month, now has plans to extend its services and expertise.
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“With the new building we actually have a place people can identify us with. We can have seminars, meetings or whatever helps make us more successful,” said Dr. Jeffrey Callahan, the center’s director.
The center also has space to be used as an incubator, where new companies can develop their products for a short time.
Even more important the center plans on doing what it has always done. Equipment development, low-interest loans and grants to small marine related businesses are some of the ongoing resources they offer.
The building’s construction was completed in the spring using funds from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration and the state. Other public agencies have also been critical in keeping the center strong.
The Rhode Island Economic Policy Council (RIEPC) will continue to provide money for a grant program at the center.
“The center has a long history of working with the area industries, which is a vital role for a university,” said Martin Grubber of the (RIEPC). The state estimates that there are over 300 marine-related high tech companies in Rhode Island.
Grubber’s organization in 1996 selected the center as one of two Research Centers of Excellence in the state. The other is the Rhode Island Center for Cellular Medicine, which is affiliated with Brown University and Lifespan.
The URI center has received $550,000 in the past two years, which the center in turn uses mainly to fund private research projects.
There are three projects being funded by the grant. One company is using the money to develop a submersible chemical analyzer that could be used to measure pollutants in the water almost immediately. Another company is using the grant to help its aquaculture business.
The third company is working on developing a low-cost version of a Navy obstacle avoidance sonar that could be used readily by yachts and commercial vessels. That company is also the first to take advantage of the incubator space at the center.
“We have enough space for two companies to locate here as they start out. It’s not a huge amount of space, but we thought it was important to try the concept out,” said Callahan.
The U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration, which paid for the building, also funds the center’s small business loan program.
There is one company that is now using the low-interest loan to expand its operation.
“Going to the bank would have made this impossible for us to do. I was just surprised that this program was out there,” said Fred A. Pestana, president of VR Industries of Warwick.
The company makes electronic devices for a variety of fields, including the marine industry. With a $250,000 loan, at 6 percent interest, the company moved to a 35,000-square-foot space, which is twice the size of its former plant.
Pestana said that with the additional space the company will be able to get more work from the marine field.
“Right now 20 percent of the work we do is related to the ocean. I see that number doubling over the next year,” he said.
URI’s new center will also see continued growth in the equipment development laboratory, which has been a part of the university for the last 20 years.
University staff build customized marine equipment used for the school’s researchers and for the business community. Any partnership with local business is a vital one for the center, Callahan said.
“Marine technology lends itself to a lot of high tech companies in the state. One of our goals is to do as much as possible to help that industry grow,” Callahan said.
