The 14 scientific and service-oriented centers and institutes that are part of the ARTP will have displays and activities set up at WKU’s Center for Research and Development on Nashville Road. The Expo is scheduled from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

“Since 1999, the ARTP has put the expertise available at WKU together to solve problems in our region and around the globe,” said Dr. Blaine Ferrell, dean of WKU’s Ogden College of Science and Engineering and director of the ARTP. “We’re using the Expo to show people what our program and our students are capable of doing.”

Students work with WKU faculty researchers as well as with representatives of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, other government agencies and businesses. Research areas include coal combustion and clean coal technologies, homeland security projects, animal waste management, a robotic telescope network, weather and climate data, rural water issues, water and air quality in China, illegal poaching in Kenya, biotechnology and other projects at Mammoth Cave National Park, and the emerging field of bioinformatics.

In 2005-06, the ARTP involved 102 faculty members in collaborative research and teaching along with 35 full-time and 35 part-time staff. The multidisciplinary program engaged 340 undergraduate and 61 graduate students in hands-on applied research and technology projects.

Since the ARTP was established in 1999, Ogden College has seen the amount of grants and contracts awarded rise from a yearly average of $1.5 million to just under $15 million last year.

The ARTP also has enhanced economic development in the region. The Center for Research and Development houses three ARTP centers as well as a Small Business Accelerator and the Central Region Innovation and Commercialization Center. The facility has attracted more than a dozen high-tech companies to Bowling Green.

“Economic development and job creation are key components of the ARTP,” Dr. Ferrell said. “We want to keep our talented young people in Kentucky but they need to be able to find jobs in their chosen fields. We’d like guidance counselors, principals and superintendents from middle and high schools in the region to see what entrepreneurial students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines are capable of achieving.”

The Technology in Action Expo is open to anyone who wants to learn more about the ARTP, including business leaders, school counselors and administrators, and government officials. WKU students and faculty members will be on hand to discuss their projects and provide demonstrations, photos or other displays.

The ARTP includes the Agriculture Research and Education Complex, Applied Physics Institute, Architectural and Manufacturing Science Institute, Center for Biodiversity Studies, Biotechnology Center, Bioinformatics & Information Science Center, Center for Cave and Karst Studies, Center for Water Resource Studies, Hoffman Environmental Research Institute, Engineering Services Center, Institute for Astrophysics and Space Science, Institute for Combustion Science and Environmental Technology, Kentucky Climate Center and Materials Characterization Center.

The ARTP is supported by the Council on Postsecondary Education and is one of two Programs of Distinction at WKU. Information about the ARTP is available online at http://artp.wku.edu/

For information, contact Blaine Ferrell or Shivendra Sahi at (270) 745-4448.