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Catherine Renault, director of the Maine Office of Innovation, toured selected facilities at the University of Maine and visited an economics class Thursday.
Renault’s visit was part of a series run by the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center. The Distinguished Maine Policy Fellows Program is designed to provide students with access to high-level public officials and to provide the officials with information about UMaine.
Renault joined the Maine Office of Innovation in January of 2007. The Office of Innovation is part of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development (MDECD). According to Maine.gov/decd, the MDECD is “dedicated to positioning Maine for growth in a global economy, while maintaining the quality of life that Maine is known for.”
Renault earned her doctorate in public policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her 16 years in the field of economic development include work in the well-known Research Triangle Park at the University of North Carolina. Renault was a senior research associate in the Office of Economic Development at Chapel Hill.
Renault visited the Advanced Manufacturing Center for a tour first. The AMC program began in 2000 and received a $6 million bond in 2002. The building was completed in 2004.
“People bring in their intellectual property and we help them improve it,” said AMC Director John Belding. “We’re not trying to take their business. We’re trying to complement it.”
Belding added the AMC is “getting ready to start a large engine development project.”
The program has a full-time staff of four and employs 10 engineering students from UMaine. In 2009, the AMC program completed more than 200 projects for 50 customers.
The AMC building offers students majoring in engineering a chance to get hands-on experience while providing class credits. AMC employs mostly mechanical engineers and electrical engineers.
Belding made a brief presentation to Renault before taking her on a tour of the facility. He talked about the work that the AMC program has done with Falcon Performance Footwear, a Maine company known worldwide for its boots. Falcon has a contract with the U.S. Military to provide boots for soldiers.
The boots need to have composite toes, and the only country in the world that produced the material needed is China. The U.S. government did not want to buy a Chinese-made toe for its boots. Falcon came to the AMC program, and together the two have designed a manufacturing mechanism to create the composite toes in the state of Maine so the boots are entirely American-made, enabling the company to accept the government contract.
“It’s a great story all the way around,” Renault said. “I’m really glad [AMC] was involved.” Renault said a program that is able to come in and help a Maine company shows the usefulness of such programs and is always a success story.
The tour included a visit in the main lobby of the building. In the lobby there are multiple ice drill bits that AMC helped develop. Belding showed the lab area and highlighted the area with an ice drill demonstration. Renault took time to talk to students working in the lab. Belding said 50 percent of what the AMC program does is “on-campus support.”
Following her visit to the AMC building, Renault made a quick visit to the Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology in Barrows Hall.
“When this opportunity came up I said, ‘Who haven’t I visited?’” Renault said, adding that she had not visited the laboratory in years.
Bob Lad, the director of the LASST, provided a tour of the facility. Lad said the laboratory produces “all next generation stuff.” The facility works primarily in the field of nano-technology, and the laboratory works primarily with “sensors and other micro devices,” according to Lad.
Lad took time to highlight a government contract the laboratory has with the U.S. Air Force. The Air Force contracted the LASST to develop an engine sensor to detect problems in jet engines for fighter planes that can withstand a temperature of 1000 degrees Fahrenheit.
According to Lad, such a sensor could help detect the severity of the engine problem and the length of time until the part will break. A sensor like this could save the Air Force a great deal of money in repair factors, Lad added.
Renault was also shown the building’s “big shiny machine.” The machine is used for thin film technology and applies atoms down one atom at a time onto a surface. The atoms form a protective covering on microchips, semiconductors and other sensitive electronics. Lad said the laboratory is also becoming involved in solutions for the energy crisis due to lucrative research opportunities.
Renault spoke at a lecture in the economics department following her tour and concluded her visit at Fogler Library where the Distinguished Maine Policy Fellows Program held a reception for her.
