Chairman of Rocky Mountain Technology Corridor envisions a new

If Michael Semmens, the chairman of the Rocky Mountain Technology Alliance, is granted his wish, Technology Corridor will become a household name similar to Silicon Valley.

Semmens envisions this corridor along the Front Range, from Fort Collins to New Mexico, as opposed to the California hills east of San Francisco.

To create a Technology Corridor, to develop locally for a global economy involves a coordinated effort that combines education, government and business, Semmens said. A large government defense program, programs like the Colorado Institute for Technology Transfer and Implementation and bioengineering programs are included in what Semmens refers to as a vast richness of what the Springs has to offer.

There are these smokestacks - a number of organizations that are trying to do good things largely by themselves, and it's very hard to reach a critical mass in terms of capabilities, finance, market presence, etc., he said. What RMTA wants to provide is an opportunity for cooperation among the organizations.

The RMTA - the Rocky Mountain Technology Alliance - was the feature topic at the April Nanotechnology Business Breakfast at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Semmens shared the mission and goals of the alliance, which was founded last year.

The RMTA is a network of industry, academic and government organizations, working as partners to strengthen and grow our individual communities by expanding the Rocky Mountain Technology Corridor's global leadership in research, education, application and commercialization of technology, Semmens said.

Some key technologies that he is referencing in the mission statement include biotechnology, microtechnology, nanotechnology, communications, software and energy technology.

Enhancing the Springs' presence in the global economy will not only benefit society but also support regional economic development, strengthen the research base and foster entrepreneurship and innovation, Semmens said. For example, CU has a wealth of intellectual property that is not being moved to the extent they would like. Tapping into the region's universities' reservoir of intellectual property would be fantastic.

A collaboration of efforts also would help companies tap into the technology application areas, which Semmens defined as homeland security and defense, system of systems, aerospace and space, medical and health, education and training, advanced manufacturing, customer technical support and logistics, environmental and sustainability engineering and forecasting (all areas).

Membership in the RMTA will stimulate the technology corridor concept and augment mentoring, marketing and networking efforts, support intellectual property at no risk, create education awareness and provide synergism, Semmens said. As things happen here, everyone will benefit.

And things are happening in Pueblo

Colorado State University-Pueblo wants to be the first school in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain area to house a Nanotechnology Resource Center. There is little standing in its way.

The Nanotechnology Research Center was first developed when CSU received federal grants to develop classes and put in the right instrumentation for nanotechnology, said Nebojsa I. Jaksic, Ph.D., an associate professor with the CSU Department of Engineering. A couple grants, including a curriculum lab development grant from the National Science Foundation, allowed CSU to purchase a scanning tunneling microscope and an atomic force microscope - both instruments used in nanotechnology, Jaksic said.

Jaksic also introduced a course in microtechnology and the university received more money, some from the National Institute of Health and an additional grant from the National Science Foundation. The combination of university grants, new curriculums, the merging of two laboratories and cooperative efforts among CSU professors and graduate students were instrumental in the design of the nano-resource center.

Kristina Proctor, Ph.D., dean of the CSU College of Science and Mathematics, and David Lehmpuhl, Ph.D., associate professor and chairman of the chemistry department at CSU, worked with Jaksic to bring the center to fruition.

Another new engineering program at CSU is offering students a degree and specialization in mechatronics, which, Jaksic said, embodies anything that has a mechanical or an electrical device with some form of intelligence, fits with the nanotechnology center.

The nano-center's universal launch is contingent on final approval by the CSU provost, he said.

The nanotechnology center's goal is to educate people about nanotechnology and commit to student research. Jaksic said most of the nanotechnology advancements are still in the hands of the chemists and physicists.

The department of engineering is trying to create a link to the real product coming out of the science, he said. In a couple years, we will have start-up companies, and this will allow us to claim that we are a nanotechnology player in the country. In Colorado, we were crying for a center for the last two or three years. Maybe this first one will prompt more. Maybe the people in Boulder or Fort Collins will say, 'We can't let the school down south lead the way.'

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