https://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2018/05/28/g-7-meeting-maglab-business-usual-florida-state-university/646288002/
Every year, the news media focuses on the latest G-7 meeting and the political relationships on display. The G-7 summit pulls together the leaders of the seven largest economies in the world to discuss a myriad of issues affecting the international economic landscape.
But as you might suspect, the real work occurs in the months between the meetings.
This past week, Florida State was the venue for one of the key G7 committee meetings — the Group of Senior Officials on Global Research Infrastructures — with more than 30 individuals from 11 nations exploring international cooperation on global research infrastructures, enhancing collaborations and establishing best practices for the scientific community.
It was an honor for the university to host such an esteemed group of scientists and policymakers from around the world. The FSU-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory was selected as the meeting venue for this event due to its important role in supporting scientific endeavors and extensive level of international engagement.
FSU and the MagLab were pleased to be the venue for these important meetings because it was an opportunity to show off our world-class university and our cutting-edge research facilities.
That the U.S. should choose FSU and the MagLab as the venue isn’t really a surprise, though. It is exactly the type of high-level meeting or event that should — and does — occur on our campus and in our city.
Many people refer to FSU as a hidden jewel. They don’t grasp the scope and breadth of our research until they visit the campus.
The MagLab, which will receive $184 million over the next five years from the National Science Foundation, is just one example of the major scientific facilities at FSU.
FSU research routinely brings in more than $200 million from federal, state and local sources annually to fund our many research disciplines across our campus.
One such center is the Center for Advanced Power Systems or CAPS. CAPS received a $35-million award from the U.S. Navy in 2016 to help spur innovation and advance the Navy’s work to build an all-electric ship.
Another center is the High-Performance Materials Institute, which last year joined a multi-university project funded by NASA to develop technologies crucial to human exploration of deep space. In fact, we will be hosting that group on campus this week.
Then there’s the Florida Center for Reading Research, which is part of a $30 million project with Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to improve early childhood literacy.
FSU is full of award-winning researchers. The outstanding research they do propels our society forward, while also enriching the academic lives of our students and inspiring the next generation of scholars.
To serve as the venue for the G-7’s Group of Senior Officials on Global Research Infrastructures illustrates the unique role we play in the scientific community and all that we have to offer in the world of research.
We are grateful we had the opportunity to show off our campus to this international group of scientists and policymakers. We hope that by leveraging our robust research infrastructure and outstanding faculty, Florida State can continue to serve as an international leader in the advancement of science and research.
Gary Ostrander is the vice-president for research for Florida State University.
This discussion has been ongoing for years. Schneider urged the city to find a better way to market Tallahassee's magnetic potential to attract businesses. After Danfoss finished its first expansion in 2015, he realized a big-picture approach was missing.
He was convinced an orchestrated approach, one driven by the public and private sectors, would make a difference. Evidence of that can be seen in Boston, where an automotive ecosystem is anchored by clustered technology and in Silicon Valley, a software hub of tens of thousands of techies and culture-shifting companies like Apple, Facebook, Netflix and Tesla.
Tallahassee has the MagLab technology without the high cost of living associated with those other locations.
"We need to create in Tallahassee our ecosystem around magnetic technologies,” said Schneider. "Vision, strategy and execution is what is needed."
https://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2018/04/03/opinion-leverage-maglabs-success-bring-fsu-vp-lets-build-maglab-success-bring-high-tech-business-flo/474142002/
Just this week, we learned the National Science Foundation has awarded the MagLab just over $184 million to continue its operation at FSU for another five years. This money supports more than 400 researchers, technicians and other employees who live in Tallahassee, own or rent homes here, buy groceries, pay taxes and are integral to our community. It also supports about 1,700 scientists from around the world who visit Tallahassee every year to conduct cutting–edge research.According to a report from the Center for Economic Forecasting and Analysis, the MagLab generates more than $121 million in economic output, $51 million in income and more than 1,200 jobs. That is expected to grow over the next 20 years, with a projected $2.4 billion economic output, $1 billion in income and more than 25,000 jobs.
Expanding the MagLab and attracting more researchers to FSU is one of our goals. The overall expected output of the MagLab is an even bigger focus.
The MagLab is pioneering exciting technologies with world record-breaking magnets. Our researchers are developing technique
es to evaluate the efficacy of cancer treatments on the cellular level by using the most powerful MRI technology available. They are developing new optoelectronic devices, demagnetization technologies and synthetic crystals that will make our electronics work better and faster.
As a university and community, we must connect these world-class researchers and their technologies with businesses and entrepreneurs who will invest in this research, in our community and in the state of Florida.
The burgeoning relationship Tallahassee and FSU have with Danfoss Turbocor, which recently expanded its operations in the capital city, serves as an excellent example of the potential. A decade ago, Danfoss opened a facility with only 20 employees. They’ve since bolstered their Tallahassee operations to nearly 200 employees, partly because they’ve been able to utilize FSU researchers’ expertise when faced with technological questions.
FSU and Danfoss recently filed a patent application based on joint discovery of a new technology. Danfoss regularly provides internships to students at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. And perhaps more significantly, they’ve provided employment opportunities that help to reverse the Tallahassee “brain drain.”
We need to replicate the success we’ve had with Danfoss with other companies.
Researchers at the MagLab — and in many other FSU programs — conduct research that will form the basis for products and technologies companies will sell in the coming decades. We need to encourage the companies to consider operations in Tallahassee. It only makes sense that a GE or Boeing have at least a small presence close to where the technology they need is developed.
As we celebrate the MagLab’s success and the renewed commitment from the National Science Foundation, we must keep moving ahead, striving for greater outcomes.
The technologies developed at our universities have and will continue to change the world. As a community, we need to grow that potential so we can bring even greater change and prosperity to Tallahassee and the Big Bend region.
Gary Ostrander is the vice-president for research for Florida State University.
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