
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, November 18, 1995                   TAG: 9511200011
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Short

TECH CENTER TO HELP DEVELOP AUTO BRAKES

Virginia Tech's Center for Transportation Research will work with a Rocky Mount company to develop an automotive product involving braking systems.

The partnership between the university and Omega Technologies is the result of a challenge award from the Virginia Center for Innovative Technology, a program started by the Virginia General Assembly to stimulate economic growth and competition through technology. The innovative technology center provides money toward a Virginia college or university's research while the company, in this case Omega Technologies, also helps fund the research.

How much money the innovative technology center will contribute to Tech will be decided after Omega Technologies completes its industrial agreement and determines how much it will contribute, said Ray Pethtel, Center for Transportation Research interim director. The company and university have a confidentiality agreement, meaning they cannot release any information about the braking product they are developing.

Ultimately, the product would be tested on the "smart" highway, if the road project goes through.

by CNB