THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 6, 1997 TAG: 9702060348
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 47 lines
Old Dominion University officials are feeling good about their chances of getting state funding for a technology hub that they believe could be a boon to Hampton Roads.
A vote on the Virginia Modeling and Simulation Center is expected today. The House of Delegates has earmarked $725,000 for the project. The Senate has approved $250,000.
Last year, the state allocated no money for the center.
``I'm optimistic,'' said Thomas W. Mastaglio, the center's director. ``We are very pleased to see that both the House and the Senate did, in fact, recognize this opportunity to fund it, although at different levels.''
Chris Layton, Suffolk's legislative liaison, said the legislature must come to an agreement today on how much to give ODU.
``They should get, at the very minimum,'' the lower figure, Layton said. ``Normally you'd think they'd even it out. But we're certainly going to press for the higher amount.''
Mastaglio said if the center can get at least $500,000, that would be enough to partially fund some of its projects. ODU set aside $500,000 in startup money last year, after the state failed to allocate funding.
University officials have asked the General Assembly for $1 million to fund the modeling and simulation center. The facility would enable businesses and educators to clone the resources of the military's Joint Training and Analysis Center.
While the military center uses computers, simulators and models to test and train troops, the ODU center would copy such technology for use in the private sector. For instance, a business owner could use a computer modeling program to determine whether a new training method would increase profits. A university could train engineers on a simulation model.
ODU also plans to start a graduate studies program to teach the new technology.
The facility, operating out of rooms at the military center off I-664 just south of the Monitor-Merrimac Bridge-Tunnel, is already working on a simulation of the Hampton Roads port system. The idea is to find out what resources the port needs to handle a traffic flow that is expected to nearly triple by the year 2010.
A similar center in Orlando, Fla., helped that area attract 140 companies and more than $180 million in economic development in eight years, officials said.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY