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Purdue Officials Report Double-Digit Increases for 2nd Consecutive Year in Research Funding, Technology Commercialization

Joseph B. Hornett, senior vice president, treasurer and COO of Purdue Research Foundation, and Richard O. Buckius, Purdue's vice president for research, presented a report about the impact Purdue's research, technology and economic development initiatives have on the state's economic and educational base.

Buckius reported a record $438 million in sponsored research programs for fiscal year 2009-10. That represents a 28 percent increase over the previous fiscal year when the university received $342 million in research awards.

Hornett said that every $1 million in research funding supports employment for seven full-time employees and leads to new patents and startups that support Indiana's economy. The foundation's Office of Technology Commercialization doubled the number of issued patents for Purdue discoveries for calendar year 2009. Purdue received 48 issued patents for 2009, compared to 24 for 2008.

"The substantial increase in issued patents is a strong indication of the exemplary research that Purdue faculty conducts and the expedience with which these important discoveries are moving to the public," Hornett said. "Just as important is that the discoveries address global challenges such as providing advanced treatments for diseases, finding renewable fuel resources and mitigating damage in times of natural disasters."

Hornett also reported that the Purdue Research Park, which the foundation manages, now has four business incubators across Indiana where more than 200 companies employ about 4,000 people. The average annual wage of employees in the park network is $54,000.

"Sixty-four of our park-based companies are a direct result of discoveries from Purdue and another 25 companies in our park network work with Purdue faculty to advance new technologies," Hornett said. "Many of these companies were formed from research that faculty advanced through federal and state grants that Purdue received."

A significant amount of funding Purdue received was awarded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and a major factor in attracting research dollars has been the university's focus in five key areas: life and health sciences; cyberinfrastructure and information technology; defense, security and space sciences; energy and environment; and science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, or STEM.

In 2010 Purdue announced a $105 million National Science Foundation-funded George E. Brown Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation and a $23.5 million Center for High Performance Buildings, funded in part by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

"Purdue is a recognized international leader for education and research, and a main reason for this is because we are constantly advancing new discoveries and supporting high-tech facilities for research," Buckius said. "Developing dedicated centers of research is important because it allows us to tackle major interdisciplinary projects like the earthquake engineering simulation network, and it provides our outstanding faculty researchers with the most current technologies available to conduct research."

Buckius added that as part of a 10-year plan Purdue is proposing a "life sciences quadrangle" that would be anchored by a drug discovery building and a health and human sciences facility.

"The life sciences quadrangle will focus on interdisciplinary research among Purdue faculty and includes an addition to the Bindley Bioscience Center and a new ag and life sciences building and an animal care facility," he said.

Purdue Research Foundation
Cynthia Sequin, 765-588-3340
casequin@prf.org
or
Purdue University
Elizabeth Gardner, 765-494-2081
ekgardner@purdue.edu