Dear Stakeholders:

North Dakota State University is in an exhilarating time of transformation, and the NDSU Research and Technology Park is an exciting piece of our development. The park's growth and success have been remarkable since the cornerstone tenant, Phoenix International, occupied its new facility in 2001. The Research I building was the second building to be completed, housing a wide array of offices and programs.

Recently, in March 2004, researchers and staff started moving into the new Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering building. The project includes $17 million in construction costs and $13 million in equipment. The 76,000-square-foot facility contains cleanrooms, electronics fabrication tools, state-of-the-art synthesis and characterization equipment and space for more than 125 researchers and support staff. CNSE researchers are working on such projects as Department of Defense-sponsored microsensors, wireless electronics miniaturization, advanced marine coatings for Navy ships, hybrid coatings for aircraft systems, superhybred coatings and spin electronics in polymer materials. More excitement lies ahead for the park and for NDSU.

Alien Technology Corp., Morgan Hill, Calif., will build a research and manufacturing plant in the park. The first plant of its type in the world will produce "Radio Frequency Identification" tags for retail and supply-chain uses. The tags consist of a small integrated circuit attached to a metallic antenna printed on a label. The tiny tags are going to revolutionize warehouses and the retailing industry, not only in this country but around the world. They are expected to eventually supplement or replace the extensively-used bar codes that now track inventories of all types of commercial products.
With its high tech jobs, the Alien facility will attract quality people to our community, and it will, undoubtedly, become a hub for spin-off businesses.

To help in that regard, a business incubator is on the park's drawing board. It will be a place where start-up technology-related businesses can be nurtured, giving them the opportunity for dramatic futures of their own.

Through projects such as these, NDSU demonstrates its strong commitment to the people of our state and region. By creating close collaborations and partnerships with the private sector, NDSU researchers are using their expertise to help create new, high-paying jobs in North Dakota.

NDSU is emerging as a model of the contemporary metropolitan land-grant university. The Research and Technology Park is clearly one of the reasons that the campus is a leader among our peers.

I believe that there are many success stories yet to come.

Joseph A. Chapman
NDSU President