Wind-testing at the University of Maryland has helped Quantum Sail Design Group become one of the world's leading sail manufacturers. Photo by Eric Schurr.

Wind Tunnel Gives Loft to Maryland Sail Maker

MIPS grant allows scale-model sails to be precision tested under varying winds

Maryland-based sail manufacturer has built its reputation as a leading innovator in the sport thanks in part to the University of Maryland and a Maryland Industrial Partnerships grant.

The company, Quantum Sail Design Group, designs and makes sails at its Annapolis headquarters for high-end cruising and racing boats, and as the nation's second-largest sail manufacturer caters to some of the world's most competitive sailors. Quantum's sails have powered boats in both the America's Cup and the Volvo Around the World Race.

Before being rigged to the masts of world-class sailboats, however, Quantum's sails must undergo a rigorous set of performance tests, including being subjected to 25-knot winds inside the university's Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel.

As part of a MIPS grant going back to 1996, Quantum places scale models one-fifteenth the size of an actual sail inside the wind tunnel to see how the materials hold up against powerful gusts. "This lends some quantitative accuracy to our tests," says Dave Flynn, Quantum's director of marketing. "It has enabled us to compete at the highest levels in a very technology-driven sport."

The only other testing facility that compares to the Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel is at the University of Aukland in New Zealand, where sails are tested at a maximum wind speed of 10 knots. But Flynn adds that at 10 knots, "the sails don't actually come close to taking the loaded flying shapes that you see in the real world."

The MIPS project also benefits the university, says Robert Razenbach, manager of research and business development for the Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel. The testing has produced a number of academic research papers in the field of wind dynamics, in addition to generating financial support for one graduate assistantship and one post-doctoral position in the field.

Quantum's reputation for quality and innovation has grown dramatically in just six years since the company's founding. Its sales and service network includes nearly 50 affiliates in 14 countries. For more information about Quantum, visit www.quan tumsails.com. --Daniel Cusick

Engineering Research Center Changes Name, Launches New Initiatives

From advanced baby formula to sophisticated wireless communications, MTECH provides collaborative technical partnerships between the University of Maryland and private industry. Photo courtesy of MTECH.

The Engineering Research Center has a new name--the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute, or MTECH (pronounced M-Tech)--reflecting both an expanded focus for the 20-year-old center and its growing stature within the A. James Clark School of Engineering.

With its new name and refined focus, MTECH has launched three new programs to spur technology-based entrepreneurship at the university and support biotech business initiatives across the state. Those programs are VentureAccelerator, a consulting group for university startups; the Technology Ventures Club, a forum for graduate-student entrepreneurs; and the Biotechnology Program, which aims to bolster Maryland's biotechnology community by providing advanced bioprocessing, consulting and training services.

MTECH's new initiatives are designed to build upon the institute's existing programs--including the Technology Advancement Program, the Maryland Industrial Partnerships program, the Maryland Technology Extension Service and Hinman CEOs, an undergraduate program to encourage entrepreneurship.

VentureAccelerator offers comprehensive consulting services for university entrepreneurs, including assistance with business and market planning, executive recruiting and financing. MTECH officials hope to build an environment where university-developed intellectual property can easily be transformed into successful technology-based companies.

The Technology Ventures Club provides a forum where graduate students in technical disciplines can explore opportunities for creating companies around the technologies they develop. The TVC's activities include workshops on key business and technology issues, a speaker series featuring venture capitalists and successful entrepreneurs, and networking mixers.

The third initiative, the Biotechnology Program, provides services to the state's biotech community. Among these are the Bioprocess Scale-Up Facility, or BSF, which helps firms scale-up complex biological products and processes. The BSF is also developing a program to train biotech employees in the latest production techniques. The Biotechnology Program will also help young firms implement "productivity enhancement" techniques to reduce costs and improve workplace efficiencies. --Eric Schurr

New Cockpit Door Reinforces Safety

With technical advice provided by aerospace engineers at the University of Maryland, a Baltimore-based company plans to manufacture a fire-retardant, bulletproof door that should prevent unauthorized entry into an airplane's cockpit. Federal legislation has mandated the need for reinforced cockpit doors on all commercial aircraft by April 9 of this year.

EXXCEL Corp. is currently marketing a reinforced cockpit door and retrofit bulkhead that features the company's patented Z-Bar, a solid steel locking mechanism similar to a deadbolt lock that permits a locked door to be opened no more than four inches and will withstand more than 1,000 pounds of force.

Associate professor of aerospace engineering Anthony Vizzini and department chair Bill Fourney helped EXXCEL identify lightweight and bullet-resistant materials for the door panel that should be impenetrable by handgun bullets, even those as powerful as a .357 magnum load. The cockpit door is made of Micarta fiberglass and contains a clear panel that allows pilots to see into the passenger cabin when the door is completely closed, as well as a horizontal slot so that food trays can be passed into the cockpit.

Assistance to EXXCEL was available through the Technology Extension Service, a branch of the MTECH initiative (see above) that offers free faculty expertise to growing companies in Maryland. --Tom Ventsias

High-priority Data

University-based Company Processes Data for Lexis-Nexis, Congress

If you've ever done research using online systems like Lexis-Nexis, West or Dialog, you may have wondered how such large volumes of information are processed so quickly into a searchable format. Maybe you've wondered how the federal government disseminates the massive amounts of information it generates daily, or how it goes about converting paper documents into a common electronic format.

Enter DataStream Conversion Services, a company in the University's Technology Advancement Program. DataStream converts mountains of data into eXtensible Markup Language, or XML, for online services such as Lexis-Nexis, publishers like Congressional Quarterly and the Bureau of the National Affairs, and even the U.S. Congress. Every bill, every committee report, even the Congressional Record, is converted into XML by DataStream.

The company recently signed a multi-year deal with GuideStar, the nation's largest database of nonprofit organizations, and also does work in the medical, legal and international recording industries.

XML is rapidly becoming the de facto standard for working with data, in part because it is more versatile and more adaptive than the widely used HTML markup language. XML makes data accessible on essentially any computer platform and across a wide variety of software systems, including most web browsers and office software suites. Processing data into XML involves "marking it up" into a defined structure. This means sifting through each data chunk and putting tags around the appropriate pieces so XML-aware programs can recognize them. The tags make the data easily searchable.

DataStream is also developing a software toolkit that will enable virtually any computer user to convert data from one format into another--even if they lack specialized programming skills. --Eric Schurr

People Power University

Movers and Shapers

Corinna Lathan, president and CEO of AnthroTronix, a highly successful startup company in the university's Technology Advancement Program, was selected as one of the world's 100 Top Innovators of 2002 by Technology Review, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's magazine of innovation. AnthroTronix designs, develops and tests systems to optimize human technology interaction, and is perhaps best known for its CosmoBot(TM) robot used by children with developmental disabilities.

Lathan also was named Innovator of the Year 2002 by the Maryland Daily Record, and has received a leadership award from Women in Technology, a local organization devoted to offering women professional development and networking opportunities.

Mathematician James Yorke will share the 2003 Japan Prize in science and technology for his work in the mathematical field of "chaos" theory. His theoretical research can be used to help solve problems as diverse as infectious disease transmission, weather forecasting and population changes in biological systems. Chaos theory attempts to describe "nonlinear" phenomena--those in which small changes, or differences in initial conditions, lead quickly to large differences and seemingly random and unpredictable consequences, such as the weather and the stock markets.

The Japan Prize carries a $412,000 cash award and is an international honor highly regarded by scientists, who rank it just below the Nobel Prize and the Fields Medal in mathematics. Yorke has arranged for a third of his share of the award money to go into a fund that will support academic and research activities in the university's Institute for Physical Science and Technology.

Nariman Farvardin, professor of electrical and computer engineering and dean of the Clark School, was named by the Washington Post's business editors as one of "Five to Watch in 2003." The newspaper profiled Farvardin as a tireless entrepreneur who directs Maryland's engineering program while simultaneously running a successful startup. Farvardin teamed up with three of his Ph.D. students last year to form Zagros Networks Inc., which develops computer chips to help networks run faster and more efficiently. The startup has already raised $16 million from area venture capital firms. Farvardin still finds time to teach one class each semester--a one-credit freshman engineering class called "Dialogue with the Dean," where he delivers his strong entrepreneurial message to some of the university's newest students.