MTI Announces Second Round of Awards for $20 Million From the Maine Technology Asset Fund

October 23, 2008

For Immediate Release
Contact: Hal Norvell

October 17, 2008
Maine Technology Institute
(207) 582-4790, x208
hnorvell@mainetechnology.org

MTI Announces the Second Round of Awards for $20 Million from the Maine Technology Asset Fund

Workshops Take Place in All Counties Beginning October 28


Gardiner, ME. The Maine Technology Institute (MTI) has released a new request for applications (RFA) for the second round of awards for a total of $20 million from the Maine Technology Asset Fund. The fund was financed by $50 million of the research and economic development bond that Maine voters approved in November 2007 and that MTI manages. The MTI Board approved the first round of awards on August 11, 2008, for an award total of almost $30 million.

Awards must be used for capital and infrastructure expenditures, such as facilities and equipment, for research, development and commercialization activities in Maine’s seven technology sectors that lead to the generation of high quality jobs across the state. Universities and colleges, nonprofit organizations and for-profit businesses may all apply. The award criteria are weighted to encourage collaboration among organizations to work together to move new technologies to market.

“The first round of awards was very competitive and we expect that this round will be as well,’ noted MTI President Betsy Biemann, “The 14 award recipients submitted innovative projects to develop new technologies and applications and most were collaborations.” She anticipates seeing many collaborative projects in this round, too. “In these times of finite technology resources, it is especially important for applicants to work together so that assets can be shared and have the greatest bang for the buck.”

Applications will be reviewed competitively according to five criteria: economic impact, scientific merit, project team and institution, relevance to Maine’s innovation economy and collaboration. To oversee the external review of all applications, MTI is contracting with the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, a respected scientific organization that has worked with over 30 states to implement research and technology commercialization programs. Applicants who move forward to the second phase of review will participate in an interview panel with out-of-state and Maine reviewers.

A request for applications for this second round of MTAF awards has been released on the MTI website at www.mainetechnology.org along with information about the program, deadlines and workshops. The required notice of intent to apply is due to be submitted electronically to MTI on December 17, 2008, by noon. The deadline to submit paper applications to MTI for this second and last round of awards is January 21, 2009, at 5 p.m.

Beginning Tuesday, October 28, MTI will conduct a workshop in each Maine county, covering the applications process, the review criteria and process, award amounts and types, and the timeline. Please see the attached list of workshops that is also posted on the MTI website.

MTI is a publicly nonprofit private corporation created by the Legislature in 1999 to stimulate research and development leading to the commercialization of new products, systems and services in the state’s technology-intensive industrial sectors. Programs are designed to enhance the competitive position of those sectors and increase the likelihood that one or more of the sectors will support clusters of industrial activity and create new jobs.

For information on the Maine Technology Asset Fund, this round and its workshops, deadlines and processes, and other MTI programs, visit the Maine Technology Institute at www.mainetechnology.org.

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