South Carolina Research Authority
Encyclopedia
The South Carolina Research Authority is a South Carolina-based tax-exempt organization created by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1983. The Research Authority manages federal research projects and collaborates with industry and universities to promote high-tech development.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Operations
• 2 Leadership
• 3 Economic Output
• 4 SCRA Videos
• 5 SCRA History
• 6 References
and commercialization
services markets. SCRA currently manages over 100 national and international applied R&D
programs worth over $1.3B in contract value. Since its 1983 inception, SCRA has generated over $13B in economic output in South Carolina
.
SCRA has a dual mission:
• To deliver technology solutions to complex challenges - SCRA affiliate Advanced Technology International (ATI) leads applied research collaborations that develop technologies to improve the mission effectiveness of Federal agencies and the business execution of Corporation
s. Learn more at www.ati.org.
• To advance the Knowledge Economy - SCRA affiliate SC Launch is an economic development
program that helps early-stage companies to commercialize innovations and create jobs. SC Launch was recognized by Forbes
as one of the Nation's leading state-based economic development programs. Learn more at www.sclaunch.org.
In support of both missions, SCRA builds and manages research facilities that include wet labs
, secure rooms for sensitive work and advanced, high-tech manufacturing shops.
• An SCRA-led team developed an automated inspection tool for fiber optic cable installation on Navy ships that reduces rework, removes human subjectivity and increases process quality by 10%. The technology was used on the overhaul of the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) to inspect over 1800 fiber connections.
• An SCRA-led team conducted testing that proved that the quality of the final ship surface coating systems could be maintained without first removing pre-construction primer. As a result of the team’s work, the Navy made a change to their coatings procedures that will save an estimated $7M per year.
• Procedures for steel welding that use a new tandem torch design improves production rates and reduce distortion. Field testing showed a 50% reduction in material deformation and a two- to three-fold increase in welding speed.
• A mobile, autonomous, robotic welding platform replaces fixed-track devices. The system is capable of near-autonomous welding in horizontal, vertical or inverted planes, and reduces labor associated with welding module-to-module joints by 30%.
• An SCRA-led team developed an affordable method of constructing large composite structures using pultrusion technology, reducing composite construction labor by 60-80% compared to traditional methods.
• Over the last five years, SCRA’s Center for Naval Shipbuilding Technology has executed projects that will reduce the cost of U.S. Navy ship construction programs by more than $285M. This is a return of more than 5-to-1 on the Navy’s $54M investment.
• SCRA engineers played a lead role in the design and implementation of EMALL, DoD’s online purchasing site. Hundreds of thousands of orders of critical supplies have been ordered and delivered to US warfighters worldwide using the system.
• Applied research performed within an SCRA-led Navy Center of Excellence in Shipbuilding has saved over $20M in total “per hull” costs across several U.S. Navy platforms.
Laser imaging and 3-D digital ship design data helps determine the quantity and location of various submarine attachments, resulting in an estimated 85 percent reduction in labor and up to $500,000 cost savings per hull.
• An SCRA-led seabasing program developed an automated process for unloading and readying weapons components that will enable air-capable ships to increase aircrafts, while decreasing the manpower involved in the process by as much as 25%.
• An SCRA-led team developed an auto-tensioning, remote operation device to secure and release cargo on the US Navy’s Landing Craft. Benefits include increased sortie rates, reduced personnel exposure in potential hostile fire zones, and a 50-70% reduction in load time and 30-40% reduction in release time.
• Composites applications developed by an SCRA-led research team will save over $100M in acquisition costs on the Navy’s VIRGINIA Class submarine.
• An SCRA-led team incorporated composite structural armor into the Marines’ expeditionary fighting vehicle troop ramp door, reduced the weight by 20%, reducing the cost, and maintaining the original ballistic protection.
• Investments in large composite structures for the Zumwalt Class Destroyers reduced acquisition and life-cycle costs, realizing a per ship cost avoidance of over $3M to date resulting in a total cost avoidance of over $9M.
• An SCRA-led cast metal applied research team developed new manufacturing techniques for tank track inserts were employed that deliver a high quality product that lasts 500% longer with only four weeks leadtime.
• SCRA leads a team developing new applications based on the unique variety of copper’s physical properties. Forging-like integrity is now being accomplished in copper alloys by die casting in a semi-solid state.
• SCRA leads a team reducing defects during solidification of cast metal parts, with an estimated annual energy savings of 2.44 Trillion BTUs and $14.7 Million.
• Healthcare standards developed by an SCRA-led team have become mandatory for Federal agencies sharing medical information.
• SCRA leads an international team developing product data standards used in the manufacture of hundreds of thousands of products worldwide. Members from over 30 corporate leaders in aerospace, automotive, electronic, and other industries from six countries collaborate to develop these standards.
• SCRA’s SC Launch program helps early-stage companies grow and create jobs in South Carolina. Since the start of operations in 2006, SC Launch has produced an impressive slate of outcomes. Cumulative results include:
Strategic Advisory Group
SCRA’s newly-formed Strategic Advisory Group is composed of strategic thought leader
s who represent the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, as well as large industry, small business and the venture capital investment community. The members’ extensive experience and knowledge of the Federal market assists in execution of SCRA’s long-term strategic business plan.
by supporting early-stage entrepreneurial companies through its SC Launch program, and by building and operating research parks and Innovation Centers.
A study completed in 2005 using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology REMI Model revealed that SCRA’s cumulative economic impact in South Carolina since its 1983 inception had been $6.9 Billion. SCRA’s annual impact using the MIT Model was $1.2 Billion. In 2008, a follow-on University of South Carolina Moore School Study[2] conducted by Dr. Doug Woodward discovered that SCRA’s annual impact had risen to $1.4 Billion. Today, SCRA’s total cumulative economic impact in the state of South Carolina now exceeds $13 Billion.[3]
Delivering Technology Solutions
SC Launch Companies
Advancing the Knowledge Economy
SCRA Facilities
SCRA is exempt from income, sales and property taxes under its enabling legislation.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Operations
• 2 Leadership
• 3 Economic Output
• 4 SCRA Videos
• 5 SCRA History
• 6 References
Operations
SCRA is an emerging global leader in targeted applied researchApplied research
Applied research is a form of systematic inquiry involving the practical application of science. It accesses and uses some part of the research communities' accumulated theories, knowledge, methods, and techniques, for a specific, often state, business, or client driven purpose...
and commercialization
Commercialization
Commercialization is the process or cycle of introducing a new product or production method into the market. The actual launch of a new product is the final stage of new product development, and the one where the most money will have to be spent for advertising, sales promotion, and other marketing...
services markets. SCRA currently manages over 100 national and international applied R&D
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
programs worth over $1.3B in contract value. Since its 1983 inception, SCRA has generated over $13B in economic output in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
.
SCRA has a dual mission:
• To deliver technology solutions to complex challenges - SCRA affiliate Advanced Technology International (ATI) leads applied research collaborations that develop technologies to improve the mission effectiveness of Federal agencies and the business execution of Corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
s. Learn more at www.ati.org.
• To advance the Knowledge Economy - SCRA affiliate SC Launch is an economic development
Economic development
Economic development generally refers to the sustained, concerted actions of policymakers and communities that promote the standard of living and economic health of a specific area...
program that helps early-stage companies to commercialize innovations and create jobs. SC Launch was recognized by Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
as one of the Nation's leading state-based economic development programs. Learn more at www.sclaunch.org.
In support of both missions, SCRA builds and manages research facilities that include wet labs
Wet laboratory
Wet laboratories are laboratories where chemicals, drugs, or other material or biological matter are handled in liquid solutions or volatile phases, requiring direct ventilation, and specialized piped utilities...
, secure rooms for sensitive work and advanced, high-tech manufacturing shops.
Results
• SCRA Systems Engineers designed a multi-agency, multi-jurisdiction command center for a National model port security program.• An SCRA-led team developed an automated inspection tool for fiber optic cable installation on Navy ships that reduces rework, removes human subjectivity and increases process quality by 10%. The technology was used on the overhaul of the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) to inspect over 1800 fiber connections.
• An SCRA-led team conducted testing that proved that the quality of the final ship surface coating systems could be maintained without first removing pre-construction primer. As a result of the team’s work, the Navy made a change to their coatings procedures that will save an estimated $7M per year.
• Procedures for steel welding that use a new tandem torch design improves production rates and reduce distortion. Field testing showed a 50% reduction in material deformation and a two- to three-fold increase in welding speed.
• A mobile, autonomous, robotic welding platform replaces fixed-track devices. The system is capable of near-autonomous welding in horizontal, vertical or inverted planes, and reduces labor associated with welding module-to-module joints by 30%.
• An SCRA-led team developed an affordable method of constructing large composite structures using pultrusion technology, reducing composite construction labor by 60-80% compared to traditional methods.
• Over the last five years, SCRA’s Center for Naval Shipbuilding Technology has executed projects that will reduce the cost of U.S. Navy ship construction programs by more than $285M. This is a return of more than 5-to-1 on the Navy’s $54M investment.
• SCRA engineers played a lead role in the design and implementation of EMALL, DoD’s online purchasing site. Hundreds of thousands of orders of critical supplies have been ordered and delivered to US warfighters worldwide using the system.
• Applied research performed within an SCRA-led Navy Center of Excellence in Shipbuilding has saved over $20M in total “per hull” costs across several U.S. Navy platforms.
Laser imaging and 3-D digital ship design data helps determine the quantity and location of various submarine attachments, resulting in an estimated 85 percent reduction in labor and up to $500,000 cost savings per hull.
• An SCRA-led seabasing program developed an automated process for unloading and readying weapons components that will enable air-capable ships to increase aircrafts, while decreasing the manpower involved in the process by as much as 25%.
• An SCRA-led team developed an auto-tensioning, remote operation device to secure and release cargo on the US Navy’s Landing Craft. Benefits include increased sortie rates, reduced personnel exposure in potential hostile fire zones, and a 50-70% reduction in load time and 30-40% reduction in release time.
• Composites applications developed by an SCRA-led research team will save over $100M in acquisition costs on the Navy’s VIRGINIA Class submarine.
• An SCRA-led team incorporated composite structural armor into the Marines’ expeditionary fighting vehicle troop ramp door, reduced the weight by 20%, reducing the cost, and maintaining the original ballistic protection.
• Investments in large composite structures for the Zumwalt Class Destroyers reduced acquisition and life-cycle costs, realizing a per ship cost avoidance of over $3M to date resulting in a total cost avoidance of over $9M.
• An SCRA-led cast metal applied research team developed new manufacturing techniques for tank track inserts were employed that deliver a high quality product that lasts 500% longer with only four weeks leadtime.
• SCRA leads a team developing new applications based on the unique variety of copper’s physical properties. Forging-like integrity is now being accomplished in copper alloys by die casting in a semi-solid state.
• SCRA leads a team reducing defects during solidification of cast metal parts, with an estimated annual energy savings of 2.44 Trillion BTUs and $14.7 Million.
• Healthcare standards developed by an SCRA-led team have become mandatory for Federal agencies sharing medical information.
• SCRA leads an international team developing product data standards used in the manufacture of hundreds of thousands of products worldwide. Members from over 30 corporate leaders in aerospace, automotive, electronic, and other industries from six countries collaborate to develop these standards.
• SCRA’s SC Launch program helps early-stage companies grow and create jobs in South Carolina. Since the start of operations in 2006, SC Launch has produced an impressive slate of outcomes. Cumulative results include:
- • 143,000,000 Dollars in follow-on capital secured by SC Launch Portfolio Companies
- • 68,000 Average salary (in dollars) of the jobs created
- • 184 Companies have received funding
- • 48 Innovation prizes have been awarded to inventors
- • 36 Federal grants from Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs have been matched by SC Launch
- • 11 Established companies have relocated to South Carolina with SC Launch assistance
- • 4 SCRA Innovation Centers have been built to commercialize research discoveries
- • 3 US-based operational awards have been won by the SC Launch program
- • 1 International recognition award from the International Economic Development Council
Leadership
- Bill Mahoney - Chief Executive Officer
- Ambrose Schwallie - Executive Vice President of Corporate Development
- Julia Martin - Chief Financial Officer
- Rick Self - President, ATI
- John Gregg - Executive Vice President and General Manager – Corporate Development
- Dave McNamara - Executive Vice President, SCRA; SCLaunch Director
- Natalie Corella - Executive Vice President of Contracts and Compliance
Strategic Advisory Group
SCRA’s newly-formed Strategic Advisory Group is composed of strategic thought leader
Thought leader
Thought leader is business jargon for an entity that is recognized for having innovative ideas.The term was coined in 1994 by Joel Kurtzman, editor-in-chief of the Booz Allen Hamilton magazine, Strategy & Business. "Thought leader" was used to designate interview subjects for that magazine who had...
s who represent the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, as well as large industry, small business and the venture capital investment community. The members’ extensive experience and knowledge of the Federal market assists in execution of SCRA’s long-term strategic business plan.
Economic Output
SCRA conducts applied research and delivers technology solutions to mission-oriented Federal and corporate clients. SCRA also advances South Carolina's Knowledge EconomyKnowledge economy
The knowledge economy is a term that refers either to an economy of knowledge focused on the production and management of knowledge in the frame of economic constraints, or to a knowledge-based economy. In the second meaning, more frequently used, it refers to the use of knowledge technologies to...
by supporting early-stage entrepreneurial companies through its SC Launch program, and by building and operating research parks and Innovation Centers.
A study completed in 2005 using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology REMI Model revealed that SCRA’s cumulative economic impact in South Carolina since its 1983 inception had been $6.9 Billion. SCRA’s annual impact using the MIT Model was $1.2 Billion. In 2008, a follow-on University of South Carolina Moore School Study[2] conducted by Dr. Doug Woodward discovered that SCRA’s annual impact had risen to $1.4 Billion. Today, SCRA’s total cumulative economic impact in the state of South Carolina now exceeds $13 Billion.[3]
SCRA Videos
SCRA Executive Videos- SCRA Overview
- Bill Mahoney, Chief Executive Officer
- Ambrose Schwallie, Executive VP of Corporate Development
- Julia Martin, Chief Financial Officer
- Rick Self, ATI President
- John Gregg, Chief Information Officer
- Dave McNamara, Executive VP of Public Interest Sector
- Natalie Corella, Chief Contracting & Compliance Officer
Delivering Technology Solutions
- Portable Bulkhead Straightener
- Climbing Robot Welder
- Wall Street Journal Workplace Award
- Automated Cargo Mover
- In-Field Parts Manufacturing
- STAR Program
SC Launch Companies
- Immunologix 2011
- Immunologix 2010
- FirstString Research
- CharlestonPharma
- KIYATEC
- Zipit
- Lab21
- SensorTech
- Hoowaki
- Tetramer
Advancing the Knowledge Economy
- SCRA Economic Impact
- SCETV Forum
- Building the Knowledge Economy
- Greg Hillman Speaks at Chamber of Commerce Event
- Proterra Announcement at CU-ICAR
- Carolina Business Review Episode 1736
- Carolina Business Review Episode 1706
- South Carolina Business Review June 2009
- South Carolina Business Review May 2008
- CRDA Testimonial on Immunologix
- Hydrogen Bus Program
SCRA Facilities
- SCRA MUSC Innovation Center Tour
- SCRA MUSC Innovation Center Grand Opening
- SCRA USC Innovation Center Grand Opening
SCRA History
In 1983 the South Carolina General Assembly made a one-time grant of $500,000 and 1,400 acres of undeveloped land to form SCRA. SCRA has been self-sustaining since inception, relying on mostly on fees earned on the applied research programs it creates and leads. SCRA affiliate SC Launch receives $6 million annually under the Industry Partners Fund, which provides the working capital seed grants to new technology companies in accordance with SCRA's economic development mission. Donations to the Industry Partners Fund are good for a 100 percent, dollar-for-dollar credit against state taxes.SCRA is exempt from income, sales and property taxes under its enabling legislation.