State-funded USTAR projects bring the world's best researchers to USU.

USTAR AT USU

As one of Utah’s flagship research institutions, Utah State University’s research success was solidified in 2009 with the significant growth of the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR). In addition to three existing teams, five new USTAR teams were formed in 2008-2009.

“These new teams will expand Utah’s research and commercialization capabilities in some very important markets,” said USTAR governing authority Chair Dr. Dinesh Patel. “What’s also exciting is to see a convergence of activity and collaboration between USU, the University of Utah and other higher education institutions in the state to solve some of the world’s biggest issues.”

USTAR was passed by the Utah Legislature in March 2006 and is designed to help Utah keep pace in scientific research and technological advancement – directly translating to a stronger state economy, high-paying jobs and increased tax revenue. It is an innovative and far-reaching initiative of the Utah State Legislature to bolster Utah’s high-tech economy by investing in recruiting new, high-caliber faculty and university research programs.

USU USTAR TEAMS (http://www.ustar.usu.edu/):

- Center for Advanced Nutrition (CAN) studies how people respond differently to food in order to learn ways to tailor individuals’ diets to reduce risk of obesity, heart disease and other health problems, while isolating healthy properties of certain foods.

- Center for Active Sensing and Imaging (CASI) uses radar-like, laser-based LIDAR technology to measure distances for a variety of industrial applications, including wind farms, controlling emissions and rapid replacement of bridges, runways and other infrastructure.

- Sustainable Energy Research Center’s primary goal is to maximize biomass production of oil-rich algae for use in alternative fuels.

- Synthetic Bio-manufacturing Center (SBC) focuses on using the chemical makeup present in single-cell organisms to transform raw materials into environmentally friendly products, such as low-cost bioplastics, biodiesel, light energy and pharmaceuticals

- Energy Dynamics Lab (EDL) is charged with creating larger-scale prototypes and methods to implement the technologies that come from USTAR research. EDL will focus its efforts in four main areas: advanced biofuels, intelligent end-use energy systems, clean fossils and energy innovation.

- Institution for Intuitive Buildings (I2B) will create real-time scene measurement and interpretation techniques for electric lighting systems because a considerable amount of energy is wasted in lighting, cooling and ventilating commercial buildings.

- Space Weather Center (SWC) enhances USU’s longtime research on space weather forecasting and helps develop forecast models for Earth’s upper atmosphere and ionosphere.

- Veterinary Diagnostics and Infectious Disease (VDID) draws on the strength of USU’s colleges of Agriculture and Science to tackle a $1 billion per year market in the United States for animal disease screening and diagnostics.