Washington, DC, July 15, 2002 -- United States Senator Jean Carnahan has announced the first Science and Technology Conference at the U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The event, to be held August 7 and 8, will provide a forum for business and university researchers to display and discuss ideas that could eventually evolve into the weapons American troops use in future wars or into tools used to aid homeland defense and force protection.
The Department of Defense (DoD) and other government agencies are sending 50 program mangers and directorate heads to meet with their civilian counterparts. The government hopes inventors with futuristic technologies will help the DoD transition ideas for high-tech weapons off of the drawing board and onto the battlefield faster.
"Many businesses might not be aware that they could be fostering within their walls a high-tech solution to the military's needs," said Carnahan, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Subcommittee on Emerging Threats. "This conference will provide an open interface between the government and researchers from universities and businesses who might be able to assist them."
Carnahan said that recent events have shown the government's particularly urgent need for some of these technologies, such as the Electro-Static Decontamination System, produced by Clean Earth Technologies in St. Louis, Missouri. This product is being developed to defeat the effects of bio-terrorism by killing airborne pathogens like Anthrax. Carnahan's Senate office building fell victim to last October's Anthrax attack. Although no one on her staff was harmed, they were forced to evacuate their office for four months.
"It took months to decontaminate our facility using a chlorine gas spray to kill the Anthrax, " said Carnahan. "When fully developed, Clean Earth Technology promises to do the same task in just hours, using non-hazardous methods." Electrostatic decontamination uses electric particles to surround the Anthrax spores and helps contain them for detection and clean up.
Addressing the Conference are a number of representatives of government science and technology agencies, including Dr. Ronald M. Sega, Director of Defense Research and Engineering and Dr. Anna Johnson-Winegar, Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Chemical and Biological Defense. "It is a great honor to have the Defense Department's top research officials participating in this conference," said Carnahan.
In addition, nearly 50 program managers from over twelve government agencies will address conferees, providing detailed information about their specific requirements for Research and Development. Business and university researchers will then have the opportunity to sign up for one or more "side-bar," one-on-one discussions with the DoD's financial decision-makers in closed sessions, where they will be able to share proprietary information with any program manager of their choosing.
The conference organizers are still accepting participants to the event. Business and university researchers interested in participating in this unique conference may register or learn more by calling 1-800-956-2682 or visiting www.missourienterprise.org.
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