10 Tech projects receive research funding
The
Pittsburgh
Digital Greenhouse
has awarded $1.5 million in its latest round of research funding to
10 university and business projects in areas related to
system-on-a-chip technology in the digital multimedia and networking
markets.
Greenhouse
president and CEO David Ruppersberger said the response to the
organization's research program continued to grow, making the
proposal-review process extremely competitive. The Greenhouse said
it received 37 proposals for this round, which represents one of the
largest responses to date. Each proposal submitted was required to
include a 25 percent cost share.
"Our goal is
to continue funding projects that present the best opportunities for
commercialization and support the economic stability and job
creation potential for this industry in southwestern Pennsylvania,"
Mr. Ruppersberger said.
For
this round, the Greenhouse gave five funding awards to
Carnegie Mellon
University,
three to
Pennsylvania
State University
and one each to Pittsburgh-based Xactix Inc. and Wexford-based
Accipiter
Systems Inc.
Mr.
Ruppersberger said people shouldn't read too much into the fact that
a larger-than-normal amount of funding went to university research.
He said award winners are chosen based on technical merit, the
project team, budget and commercialization potential.
"We like to
get a mix, and sometimes it's more skewed one way or the other," he
said. "This time the members thought the university proposals we got
were largely more deserving."
He said the
Greenhouse requires that all proposals have industry sponsors.
"So even
though the recipient may be a university, it's not awarded without
multiple commercial members expressing interest in commercializing
the results," he said.
Since late
1999, 285 proposals have been submitted to the research program.
Including this round, the Digital Greenhouse has funded 74 projects
totaling $12.9 million.
- Pittsburgh Business Times
