TECHNOLOGY RESOURCE CENTER PLANNED

Southeast Missouri State University plans to establish a Manufacturing Technology Resource Center. Union Electric Co. will coordinate establishment of the center.

It is being designed to serve students and area industries in an effort to help them better understand technologies in manufacturing. There is a void in supporting industries toward the latest process technologies, school officials said.

Manufacturing accounts for 34 percent of Missouri's economy.

Union Electric is coordinating selection of equipment with an emphasis on energy from industry leaders. The center will include energy management systems, motor efficiency software, motor cross-sectional display, and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) tech application briefs. In the near future, state-of-the-art process technologies will be identified and installed.

The center will be in the Serena Building, which houses the university's industrial technology department. Long-range plans call for relocating the center to a polytechnic institute building.

A polytechnic building remains the school's top construction priority. The Board of Regents regents approved establishment of a Polytechnic Institute at Southeast.

"This initiative fits into the university's mission enhancement philosophy to better serve the region," said Dr. Randy Shaw, assistant provost and director of the Polytechnic Institute.

"It is important that we develop these linkages and provide outreach efforts. We want to be able to have space for companies that want to come in, for those that want to conduct ongoing research and for our own students and faculty. We want this to be a flexible type of facility to accommodate a variety of needs for business and industry."

The center will serve as an outlet for manufacturing information. The Polytechnic Institute will coordinate periodic seminars for vendors and area manufacturers. Dr. Ralph Pittman, chairman of the industrial technology department, said the center also will be used for undergraduate study and faculty research.

Last fall, Union Electric donated $10,000 to Southeast to launch a quantity food preparation teaching kitchen for students in the food service and hospitality management program. The facility is in the Dearmont kitchen on campus.