MU would get defense money

Two research centers at the MU College of Engineering together would receive nearly $4 million if the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives approve the $377.6 billion 2007 defense appropriations bill.

Of the $50 million that would go to Missouri defense projects, $1.625 million would go to MU’s Center for Geospatial Intelligence and $2.3 million to the International Center for Nano/Micro Systems and Nanotechnology.

Shana Marchio, a spokeswoman for Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., said the senator’s office expects the defense bill, which was passed by the joint congressional appropriations committee Monday, to be passed by Congress this week.

“We’re definitely expecting it to get passed,” Marchio said. “Since it’s a conference agreement bill, House and Senate members have already talked about it, and all the wrinkles have been worked out.”

The Center for Geospatial Intelligence researches ways to develop automated means to process satellite and airborne imagery, said Curt Davis, director of the two-year-old center.

Shubhra Gangopadhyay, one of two directors at the International Center for Nano/Micro Systems and Nanotechnology, said the center researches the uses of nanotechnology in energy, explosive materials and lightweight warheads.

She said the center’s research can be applied in multiple ways. For example, the microsensors the center is developing could detect cancerous cells in the human body as well as detect a biothreat.

“It’s using cells like using a canary in a coal mine to detect toxic agents,” said Kevin Gillis, also a director at the nanotechnology center.

Gillis said the 5-month-old center is rare in the Midwest — within the region, a similar center only exists at the University of Illinois — and could help boost the engineering college’s national ranking.

“It won’t (do so) within a year, but in the longer term it will, with growing research in this area,” he said.

Gillis said defense programs and centers are becoming more prevalent at MU and offer students a new, important area of study — homeland security and national defense.

“Certainly there’s an increased awareness of Sept. 11 with a need for research in homeland security and defense purposes,” he said.

Bond is a senior member on the Senate Appropriations Committee and specifically requested funding for 21 Missouri defense projects.

“All the projects Senator Bond secured funds for are vital to making sure our war fighters have the best technology and equipment,” Marchio said.

The engineering research centers are currently funded by MU, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other government agencies.