FIU Applied Research Center Recognized in Three Nunn-Perry Award Winner Announcements

MIAMI, FL – March 13, 2006 –  The Department of Defense (DoD) recognized an elite group of companies with their prestigious Nunn-Perry Award for 2006 at a ceremony held in Atlanta, GA. The award is named in honor of former Senator Sam Nunn and former Secretary of Defense William Perry, the founding sponsors of the Department of Defense Mentor-Protégé program. Three of the eleven award-winning partnerships, were supported by expert services of Florida International University and its Applied Research Center. Mentoring assistance was provided to AMEC Earth and Environmental, Inc. in collaboration with ECHOTA Technologies Corp., the Boeing Company and its protégé Precision Manufacturing Services, and Earth Tech Inc. and its protégé ETI Professionals Inc.

FIU’s Applied Research Center (ARC) is a recognized partner in each of these relationships under the DoD’s Mentor-Protégé Program, for which this award is presented. The DoD Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP) began in 1991 and offers substantial assistance to small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs), qualified organizations that employ the severely disabled, women-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned businesses and Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small businesses enterprises. The objective of the program is to provide Protégés with assistance in transitioning from the small business environment by increasing their capabilities through Mentorship from existing prime contractors in order to contribute to the defense of our nation.  This program teams SDBs (Protégés) with large recognized companies (Mentors) under individual, project-based agreements in order to facilitate working relationships between said companies and to help the SDB grow from one with high potential to a business with commercial capabilities and a global orientation. FIU has supported these partnerships by providing technology transfer assistance in the areas of:  environmental services, engineering services, information technology, manufacturing, telecommunications, etc. In addition, FIU has provided business development assistance through training and consultation in business process reengineering, enterprise management and a wide array of managerial and operational objectives.

As a nationally recognized, multi-campus urban University FIU has been a major partner in many DoD MPP relationships focused on expanding the entrepreneurial base of the nation and our community. As a participating minority institution, FIU-ARC acts as a single point of contact for program activities within the University, providing both Mentor and Protégé access to the broad array of intellectual and infrastructure resources. ARC is an applied science and engineering research and development organization at FIU, which offers its clients a full suite of services in waste management, environmental technology, water resources, fossil and renewable energy, and defense strategy and technology.

“It was particularly pleasing for the FIU team to receive public recognition for its long-term participation in the DoD Mentor-Protégé Program. And I’d like to congratulate the outstanding Mentor-Protégé  partners who have received these awards” said Richard Burton, FIU’s Mentor-Protégé Program Manager, who attended the Nunn-Perry Awards Ceremony as a representative of the University.

The first Nunn-Perry Awards were presented by the DoD Office of Small Business Programs in 1995. The purpose of this prestigious award is to highlight outstanding Mentor-Protégé relationships, as well as recognize their success. The 2006 Nunn-Perry award recipients were selected based on credit and reimbursable agreements sponsored by the Military Departments and other Defense Agencies and cover the Fiscal Year 2005 period of performance.

“We hope in the near future to host a special awards ceremony to recognize the team effort needed to consistently provide support to this DoD program, and to pass on my personal thanks to all at the University who have made this a banner year for us,” continued Burton. “The University's overall support of the program, including the keynote address by [FIU] President Maidique at last year’s Mentor-Protégé conference, has made a real difference in raising the institution’s visibility in this important program.”