February 22, 2007
Section: Main
Edition: Final
Page: 1A
 

Marshall receives first royalty check
JUSTIN McELROY
The Herald-Dispatch

The Herald-Dispatch
jmcelroy@herald-dispatch.com

After making several steps towards becoming a research powerhouse, Marshall University saw some of the first fruits of its labor on Wednesday.

The university was presented with its first-ever royalty check Wednesday, the return on an investment in lighting technology that was refined at the school.

The technology is known as LECD (light emitting ceramic device), a flat, ceramic, light-emitting bulb or surface that has applications in transportation (helping to make trains and signs more visible), consumer products and in advertising. LECD provides improved durability and visibility and smaller power requirements than traditional lighting.

Examples of the technology are available for purchase at www.fireflylightinginnovations.com.

The technology was developed by Dr. Richard Begley, associate director of the Nick J. Rahall Appalachian Transportation Institute, and Dr. Michael Norton, a Marshall University chemistry professor.

The university has received two royalty checks totaling $292.16 from Ecer Technologies, LLC, of Lewisburg, W.Va., a company that manufactures LECD products.

Though the amount may not be very substantial, Marshall President Stephen J. Kopp emphasized that what the checks symbolized was more important than the figure printed on them.

"It really is a significant day for us," Kopp said. "The dollar value of the check isn't as important as the fact that it's a royalty check for an invention that was initiated right here at Marshall."

The day was especially significant for Kopp, a president who has spent much of his time at the school working to improve its profile as a research center to be reckoned with.

"We are not only succeeding in our mission of educating today's leaders and pioneers, we are preparing tomorrow's innovators and captains of industries that have not yet been invented," Kopp said.

It was an important day for West Virginia in general too though, as U.S. Congressman Nick J. Rahall II pointed out.

"It's crucial," Rahall said. "The type of research that's being done at Marshall is going to keep our state at the forefront when it comes to providing our people with jobs."

Both Rahall and Kopp said that they believed that the announcement of royalty money award to Marshall would be the first of many of its sort.

"We're celebrating a new light," Rahall said. "This time at the beginning of the tunnel instead of at the end."
 
 
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