Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 27, 1994 TAG: 9410270092
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
But also Wednesday, Tech moved to fill the void abruptly left by Antoine Hobeika, who temporarily resigned Tuesday as director of the school's Center for Transportation Research. Former state Transportation Commissioner Ray Pethtel was named as his replacement.
State police and a university audit team are investigating whether Hobeika had the right to sell computer software developed at Tech for the federal government. A state police search of his personal bank accounts uncovered a $2,500 check from the Hong Kong Port Authority made out to Hobeika, the state police said.
Asked to comment Wednesday on the allegations against him, Hobeika was brief.
"It's unbelievable," he said.
Hobeika has headed the center since its inception eight years ago and has been one of the highest profile players in its efforts to secure funding for the smart road between Blacksburg and Roanoke, which backers want to use as an experimental test bed for futuristic technologies.
Hobeika, who has not been charged and remains a faculty member, gave no further comment Wednesday except to say, "You'll hear from me sometime."
News of the investigations comes less than three weeks after Tech learned it was part of a winning consortium of companies led by General Motors that won a $150 million federal grant for smart road and smart car research.
Tech stands to gain $15 million to $20 million for its research efforts on the smart road over the next five years, Pethtel has said. Hobeika helped persuade Gov. George Allen to pledge to build a third of the six-mile highway if GM won the grant, and Allen has been urged to make good on a promise that could cost upward of $11 million.
"As far as the state is concerned,... this doesn't do anything that affects [its] efforts" to build the road, said Ken Stroupe, Allen's press secretary.
"It will not have an impact on the smart road project itself," said Secretary of Transportation Robert Martinez. "We are established participants in the consortium. We will still pursue the deepening of the relationship" with GM.
He would not comment on the specifics of the investigations, except to say, "Obviously, it's not something to have a party about."
Still, "there are many people that are good people that are part of the team," Martinez said, listing names such as Virginia Transportation Commissioner David Gehr and Pethtel. "It's a broad team, and I don't really see a slackening of that effort."
Tech president Paul Torgersen concurred.
"The smart road is certainly a significant research venture for the university, but I don't think it's compromised in any way," Torgersen said.
"It does not hinge on any one individual," said Larry Hincker, director of university relations.
A GM spokesman, though just informed of Hobeika's resignation, said he didn't think it would affect Tech's participation in the consortium.
"It doesn't sound like anything that would have a major impact," said Pat Morrissey, who said the consortium was in the early stages of determining its participants' roles.
One question still up in the air, though, is whether Tech, now an associate member of the consortium, will be promoted to one of the top 10 principal partnerships. Pethtel said two weeks ago that he had been told by GM executives that the school would be, but Wednesday both Morrissey and Hincker said they weren't sure whether that decision was final.
Pethtel could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Long interested in the smart road, Pethtel was hired in May as University Transportation Fellow, working with faculty to secure grants and on government relations, said Minnis Ridenour, Tech's executive vice president.
"Ray was brought in because we wanted someone to give some leadership to lots of different [transportation] issues," Hincker said. "We wanted some leadership in a macro sense rather than a micro sense.
"It is simply fortuitous that Ray Pethtel was here" to take over for Hobeika, Hincker said.
Tech also appointed Donald Drew, a civil engineering professor, as interim associate director for research at the center, and named Richard Alvarez interim director for administrative and financial affairs. Those jobs previously had been consolidated by Hobeika, Hincker said.
Alvarez was brought to the center about two months ago to provide "some fiscal oversight," but Hincker did not know whether that move was related to the audit, which began this summer.
University officials downplayed the criminal investigation, choosing to focus on the question of "scholarly conduct." They maintained that Hobeika and Vice Provost for Research Leonard Peters "came to a mutual agreement" about his decision to step aside.
The main issue behind the investigations is whether Hobeika sold "intellectual property" - computer software developed at the university - that belonged to Tech, a corporate or government sponsor, or Hobeika himself.
Neither Hincker nor the state police would say whether the investigations have led to the discovery of any questionable financial transactions other than the $2,500 check discovered by the state police.
"There's only a single one that's yet public," Hincker said.
And, Hincker said Wednesday, "to the best of our knowledge ... we doubt that ownership belongs to us."
It is possible, though, that the software could belong to the sponsor of the research. Lee Bradley, a special agent with the state police Bureau of Criminal Investigation, reasserted that "right now we're conducting a criminal investigation."
Staff writer Allison Blake contributed information to this story.
by CNB