17 research projects in Utah notch state funding

Seventeen research projects at three universities in Utah will receive state funding during the upcoming fiscal year through the Centers of Excellence program.

Three more will have business experts help as they try to commercialize their technologies.

The Utah Board of Business and Economic Development approved the funding Friday.

The Centers program is designed to accelerate university research and technology and commercialize it. Recipients need a 2-to-1 match of money from outside sources.

"It’s a jewel of the state’s economic development policy," board member Richard Nelson said Friday in noting that the legislative appropriation for the Centers program had increased from $2 million to $3 million for the upcoming fiscal year. "It has been for years, and now it’s being reinvented, and we see in future years it being much more important."

Nicole Toomey Davis, director of the program, said 34 applications were received, including 17 for renewal. Among those receiving funding are 12 renewals.

Centers receiving funding for the 2005-06 fiscal year are:

By Brice Wallace
Deseret Morning News

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