By Kevin Lavery, WKAR News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-925950.mp3
East Lansing, MI –
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Since 2008, Michigan State University has been planning a new nuclear laboratory designed to help scientists unlock the origins of the universe. The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or "F-RIB," will be operated by MSU and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Now, local manufacturing and information technology companies are starting to learn how they can bring their skills as contractors to the project.
AUDIO:
OK...first, a refresher on what F-RIB is. Imagine a beam of stable atomic particles shot at half the speed of light smacking into a cluster of other atomic particles. In the tiny yet brilliant collision, scientists begin sorting through the chaos to find fleeting, unstable isotopes. It's harder than it sounds. Finding one specific rare isotope is like bumping into your old college roommate on one of 1,000,000,000 Earths. Not even Facebook is that powerful.
These isotopes will let scientists probe deep into the heart of matter. Astronomers will learn more about the birth and death of stars. Closer to home, doctors will better understand how to use radiation to kill tumors.
And F-RIB will be an international talent magnet that will boost our local economy. The project will create some 400 jobs and generate a billion dollars worth of economic activity over 20 years. The construction phase alone will require hundreds of workers.
Local manufacturers are looking for a piece of the action. Capital Area Manufacturing Council executive director Bob Sherer came to an informational meeting on campus on learn more.
"Like most people, the companies in this region see the F-RIB as a black box," explains Sherer. "It's still out there a bit, but we're here to kind of get a jump on it, learn about the procurement process and what might be needed by the F-RIB. So, everyone here is pretty excited."
The main portion of the project will be built 20 feet underground. Unlike Europe's Large Hadron Collider, which is a 17-mile circular tunnel, F-RIB will include a rectangular box 500 feet long and 70 feet wide.
Excavation is still two years away. But project director Thomas Glasmacher says it's not too early to start talking blueprints with the region's skilled workforce.
"We have a large manufacturing base in mid-Michigan, and so we actually need a lot of machine shop work done and a lot of assembly done," says Glasmacher. "And so, talking to the local manufacturing industry seems like the right thing to do, because we'll need them to deliver F-RIB."
Of course, local contractors will be subject to the bidding process. The Department of Energy will consider cost, quality and scheduling demands as it doles out the $600 million F-RIB is estimated to cost. Glasmacher says the fed will look for best value...which means it may turn to other U.S. or even foreign suppliers for specialty parts.
"And when we consider best value, we do consider the competency of the company, we also consider proximity and how the project is best served," Glasmacher says. "In the end, it's the company that best serves the project that gets the contract."
Dan Shangraw hopes to fill that order. He's a licensed professional engineer and the founder of Automated Software Technology in East Lansing. His one-man firm develops custom measurements.
"Anything: pressure, temperature, particles coming off that, whatever...anything that they want to measure, there's probably a sensor out there for it," Shangraw says.
Shangraw is excited to see a project of this magnitude come to Michigan State University. He hopes F-RIB will give him a steadier stream of work right in his hometown.
"I mean, I have to go all over the state; to Grand Rapids, Detroit, I go down to Indiana," Shangraw says. "So having...doing some work in the Lansing area, that would be really, really cool."
Regional business leaders are just as excited about the possibilities. There are some 300 I-T companies alone in mid-Michigan. And while not all will win federal contracts, F-RIB promises to have a huge multiplier effect on the overall economy.
The project has just reached a two-year engineering and design phase. Primary construction is slated to begin in 2013. The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams is expected to be fully operational by late 2018.
reWorking Michigan
For more on job creation and workforce evolution in Michigan, visit WKAR.org/reworkingmichigan