Charles hopes to lead the energetics boom

Friday, Oct. 13, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff Photo by Gary Smith Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes, right,discusses the importance of bringingenergetics technology to Charles Countyduring a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday at Bolton &Associatesin La Plata. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the Bolton & Associates LLC building on Centennial Street in La Plata to celebrate the first step in giving Charles County the leading edge in energetics — the science of explosives, propellants and pyrotechnics, whose uses include rocket fuel and weapons.

The office will serve as a temporary headquarters for a group of five scientists who will be working in the field until a building of 50,000 to 60,000 square feet is built in the Charles County Technology Park near Maryland Airport in Indian Head.

The projected completion of the building is about three years away, said John Reardon, director of the Charles County Economic Development Department.

The office will be ready to occupy Nov. 1, said Richard Nadolink, former director of the science and technology directorate and chief technology officer for the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, who will serve as the director of the Energetics Technology Center.

Nadolink will be in the office as often as necessary to get it up and running, he said Thursday.

‘‘This is a great opportunity for Charles County,” he said. ‘‘It’s an opportunity to make this area a true center of excellence for energetics.”

The center will offer energetics research and development and work force development and training, Nadolink said. Training young people in the field is critically important as today’s scientists reach retirement age, he said.

‘‘The energetics work force is aging; many scientists are at the point of retirement,” he said. ‘‘We need to rejuvenate this niche market.”

The center will partner with the College of Southern Maryland and the University of Maryland to provide such training, Nadolink said.

David Anand of the University of Maryland’s Center for Energetic Concepts Development in College Park will work with the county to develop the technology center in Indian Head, Reardon said. The center’s main projects will be with the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research and the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division.

Anand said it took several years to get the concept of establishing an energetics technology center off the ground.

‘‘My role will be to help get this started and to market it to bring great scientists and engineers into it,” he said. ‘‘Energetics is very important to our nation. It has a major impact in terms of national security.”

He added, ‘‘This will establish Charles County’s reputation, and it will really bring a lot of jobs to the area. It will have a very significant economic impact.”

In time, scientists at the center will seek contracts with the Department of Homeland Security, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, private industry and educational institutions, Reardon said.

The ETC has been a long time coming, said Del. Sally Y. Jameson (D-Charles).

‘‘We’ve talked about it for quite awhile, and we’ve tried everything we could to build the momentum,” she said. ‘‘I’m glad that it’s finally coming together.”

John Bloom heads the Indian Head Defense Alliance — a nonprofit organization that formed several years ago to fight the Base Realignment and Closure panel’s threats to close the Indian Head Navy base.

The construction of the ETC in Indian Head will be boost the county’s economy and provide the type of research and development the U.S. military needs to do its job well, Bloom said.

‘‘This will strengthen Indian Head as a national center for energetics,” he said. ‘‘More broadly, this is the synergistic force that is going to trigger a lot of development in the Charles County Technology Park.”

U.S. Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) and Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Md.) and U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) were instrumental in appropriating $5 million in the 2007 defense spending bill for the technology center.

‘‘This energetics center will enhance national security, the economy and homeland security,” Sarbanes said during Thursday’s ceremony. ‘‘And, it’s a big boost for the presence of the energetics field in Charles County.”

Mikulski said the center would provide the manpower and materials needed to ensure that the U.S. military is able to do its job effectively and keep the homeland protected.

‘‘We’re going to make this country safe. You cannot beat us, because we’re smarter,” she said.

E-mail Nancy Bromley McConaty at nmcconaty@somdnews.com.