Maddux Report - Tampa Bay's Business, Finance and Development Magazine

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Forensic Training Done Here
Ever since it became known that St. Petersburg was getting The National Forensic Science Technology Center (NFSTC) at the Young-Rainey STAR Center (see page 71), many people have wondered just what it is they do in there.

Were the workers solving cases, like on TV? Were they figuring out who the murderer was by the scrapings found under the nails of corpse?

Not to burst the bubble, but, this group doesn't work on actual cases. However, they do provide important proper training and systems support needed by forensic experts around the nation to fight crime, says Kevin Lothridge, deputy executive director of the center in Largo.

"We support all the crime labs by providing training and education and quality system support," Lothridge says.

Well, what's it like in there? Is it anything like the TV show, CSI? Not quite.

"CSI uses many real examples of forensic science but they add some things to make it entertainment," says Lothridge."Public crime labs face large backlogs of evidence and, of course, funding issues that you don't see on TV."

Roskamp Earns National Spotlight
Researchers at The Roskamp Institute at the University of South Florida recently demonstrated that antibodies produced in clinical trials might be useful in treating Alzheimer's disease. As reported by Nature Neuroscience, Roskamp researchers observed certain reactions that led them to believe they are on the right trail. The national recognition again spotlighted the importance of having research institutions like Roskamp in the central Florida technology region, says Dr. Michael Mullan, director of The Roskamp Institute and senior author of the Nature Neuroscience paper, which was published on the Internet.

"High-quality science fosters commercial biomedical development in the community," he says. "Also, many research centers spring up in locations that have a specific need for the science being conducted. In our case, Tampa and the surrounding areas have one of the highest per capita rates in the world for Alzheimer's and other elderly-related dementia."

Mullan says the importance of the institute on the commercial side is obvious, as it tends to attract more researchers and more companies interested in the research. But consumers benefit greatly as well.

"The medical, nursing, social and employment costs due to Alzheimer's are considerable, so that reducing or removing this burden on our community is a priority," Mullan says. http://roskamp.hsc.usf.edu

One More Carrot for Biotech Companies
Florida has made specialized incentives and tax credits available to medical device manufacturers and biotech and pharmaceutical companies. The biomedical technology industry is now classified as "high impact" here meaning companies in that sector may apply for investment tax credits and performance incentives. To qualify for tax credits, a company must create at least 100 new jobs and invest a minimum of $25 million in a new facility. For performance incentives, the firm must create 100 new jobs or more over a three-year period and invest at least $100 million.

UCF's Incubator Wins Accolade Since its beginnings in 1999, the University of Central Florida Technology Incubator has set its sights on becoming THE model technology incubator in the United States. It hasn't quite reached that pinnacle, but recently, the center which nurtures promising young firms for up to three years was named among the Top 10 incubator programs in the nation by the National Business Incubation Association in Athens, Ohio.

Carol Ann Dykes, associate director of the UCF center, says she is "pleased" with the accolade "but it falls short of our long-term objectives," she adds. "We plan to be the model technology incubator for the U.S.," Dykes says. "We have amazing resources here Š an exceptionally talented faculty, and a heritage of technology research, development, industry growth and innovation that extends back almost half a century." So, for all those reasons the goal doesn't seem quite so high.

The incubator gets support from UCF, City of Orlando, Orange County, and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council. www.incubator.ucf.edu/ frameset.html

Lightwave Expands
Digital Lightwave Inc., the Clearwater maker of optical testing equipment for the telecommunications industry, has purchased the optical transmission testing line from Oregon-based Tektronix Inc. for $10 million. The purchase, which was completed in November, will create more jobs under the Digital Lightwave umbrella, but in Clemsford, Mass., not locally.

Digital Lightwave has undergone several changes in upper management. Its business has felt the effect of the slowdown in the telecommunications business particularly so in the broad-band network arena. The slowdown is indicated by its stock price, which in 1999 led NASDAQ (DIGL) with a high of about $120 a share, but recently traded under $2. Digital's most successful products are portable test units that help technicians pinpoint optical fiber network problems, remotely.

One of Only Three Such Labs in U.S.
Cognoscenti Health Institute is a new, evidence-based clinical laboratory in the Central Florida Research Park near University of Central Florida in Orlando that offers test results via the Internet. It offers high tech clinical laboratory testing and is one of only three in the country to use a technology called nanochips that can simultaneously detect more than 100 DNA-based diseases. (www.labdoc.com) Its methods help eliminate unnecessary and costly laboratory testing.

Global Energy's Cooling is Hot
Global Energy Group Inc. in Odessa has recently been selected by the Department of Energy as one of two winners in its competition to provide energy-efficient air conditioning units for low-rise commercial buildings. Selections were based on price and annual energy consumption.

The high-tech firm, with 14 employees, has been developing its patented thermodynamic technology for four years and is now in the process of marketing commercial applications in heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigerating units. Its Inventor Series 1400 air conditioning unit has been certified by the Air Conditioning Refrigeration Institute with an energy efficiency rating of 13.5, which compares to typical units rating at 11.0 and 12.0.

"Our new product is roughly 20 percent more energy efficient than the other winner's product," says Joseph E. Richardson, Global Energy's president and chief executive officer. Richardson, formerly president and chief executive officer of Florida Power Corp. until its acquisition by Progress Energy in late 2000, joined Global Energy as its top executive in April.

"Global Energy needed a management team to commercialize its products," Richardson says. Joining the management team are Peter E. Toomey, executive vice president and chief financial officer; Todd Van Hyfte, executive vice president of marketing and product development; and Guy S. Frankenfield, vice president of sales. Thomas Hebert, the company's vice president of research and development, developed the company's heat transfer technology.

"He has developed all of the patents we have, with the exception of one," says Richardson. "We have eight patents and another eight pending."

Armed with its high rating by an independent third-party agency and the accolades from the Department of Energy, the firm is now rolling out its sales program along the Sunbelt. "We've opened sales offices in San Francisco and Phoenix," says Toomey, "and will open another in Texas."

While winning the competition with the DOE doesn't guarantee sales, "it puts us on the list of companies that the arms of the Defense Department order from directly," Richardson says. "What is attractive for us is that the government has energy consumption goals to meet and we hope this will get our product in front of them."

At present the air conditioning units are for commercial applications only. The company has developed technology to retrofit existing commercial units and this has been installed in several schools in Hillsborough County and in a building at MacDill Air Force Base. A unit for new residential construction is on the drawing board as well as a new heat pump for both residential and commercial applications. "The typical complaint about heat pumps is that they cool fine but don't heat very well in climates below 50 degrees," says Richardson. "With our technology the air temperature out of the vent will be higher."