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One Utah group set out to make Utah a hot spot for technology development, but this year's budget shortfall from the state could make the job a little harder.
Hollywood crime dramas seem to love a new little tool made out of Utah.
Cindy Dayton, administrative manager for Aribex, said, "CSI: New York" owns one of our units, and I think we've been on five or six episodes. We're on "House." We're on "Bones."
It's called the Nomad. It's a portable x-ray machine that can work hundreds of miles away from electricity. It was meant to be used in poor countries where x-rays are not easy to make.
"When people use it for humanitarian purposes, they will take either film that they could develop there or a digital sensor with a laptop," Dayton said.
Aribex got a lot of support from the USTAR program, or the Utah Science, Technology and Research Initiative, and it's not the only company to get the program's backing.
Marketing and Communications Director Michael O' Malley said, "Right now, as of this month, our tech outreach directors have 32 significant projects under way."
The program was founded by the state two years ago to look for long term investments for developing technology in Utah. O'Malley says one company under the USTAR initiative created pressurized portable water systems and another is working to treat cancer patients.
"TheraTarget is building products that will allow for targeted delivery of drugs to tumors [or] to sites of infection," he explained.
USTAR normally gets roughly $19 million per year for research and tech outreach programs, but with this year's budget shortfall, it's ready to work with less money.
"We're tightening our belts, and we're being as flexible and creative [as we can] in solving our individual budgeting problems," O'Malley said.
He says they've helped seven companies do patent research or product testing, and have helped five companies with making their presentations to investors in just the last month.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
