Visitors see W.Va. high tech
By Eric Bowen
Michael Yura, senior vice president of the National Biometric Security Project, leaned toward a spherical camera at his office Monday, letting a laser scan his eye.
A robotic woman's voice declared "identify confirmed," and with a click the door in from of him opened, granting entrance into a laboratory.
Inside that room and the rest of the building are retinal scanners, fingerprint identification reader, hand geometry scanners and other high-technology devices designed to make building more secure.
The National Biometric Security Project is located in the Wharf District. THe nonprofit organization doesn't sell products, Yura said, but performs consulting to help companies design security plans and buy appropriate equipment.
Yura demonstrated the machines Monday for a group of representatives from international companies who came to WVU and Morgantown as part of a trade mission to find out about homeland security devices in West Virginia.
The mission was put on by WVU and the Discover the REAL West Virginia Foundation, a nonprofit group founded by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.
Yura said that he hopes that by showing some of the capabilities of Morgantown companies, larger firms will invest in local companies. He said that he hopes the trade mission will show off some of West Virginia's high-tech possibilities.
The trade mission is a way to introduce business leaders to what West Virginia has to offer, said DRWVF Executive Director Sara Dearing. Before heading to the Wharf District, the visitors first toured WVU's Research Park construction site and Nanosystem Engineering Shared Cleanroom Facility among other campus sites.
There they got a taste of the type of research WVU is doing into biometric identification.
She said the foundation hopes that national and international companies will look to West Virginia when it comes time to invest in technology, or partner with smaller companies with particular expertise.
"We try to showcase a particular industry or sector that West Virginia has a competitive advantage in, " Dearing said. "Ideally you look for investment from companies or building relationships between these companies and our existing industries."
Robert Fisher, president and chief executive officer of Secure Infrastructure Solutions Corp., said he was impressed with the technology he saw at the Biometric Security Project. He said he thinks the trade mission will help expand his Virginia-based business that specializes in security for computer networks.
"I think what they're doing from a biometric standpoint is state of the art," Fisher said.
Maren Cattunar, manager of technology strategy at Northrop Grumman, said she hopes to find new West Virginia-based partners for larger-scale projects. Northrop Grumman already works with several smaller companies in north-central West Virginia, she said.
Cattunar said that her company is trying to develop new products related to homeland security, and she hopes that by coming on the trade mission she can bring in new businesses into their network.
"We're interested in expanding on our homeland security expertise," Cattunar said. "My goal for coming out here is to expand upon the relationships with WVU and West Virginia as well."
