When Keith Pauley walks down the empty halls of Building 701 in the South Charleston Technology Park, he doesn't see the empty offices and dark, stripped down labs.

He sees opportunities.

"In a few years, all of these labs will be full," he said, smiling widely, his eyes twinkling. "Over the years, scientists in these labs produced 30,000 patents worth $18 billion for Union Carbide and Dow. There is no reason we can't have that type of research again."

Pauley's optimism may seem strange after several years of steady job losses in the chemical industry in the Kanawha Valley. But his goal is not unattainable, he said.

As the president and CEO of the Mid-Atlantic Technology and Research Innovation Center (MATRIC), Pauley is playing a vital role in the state's efforts to rebuild the chemical industry in South Charleston and in the state as a whole, as well as create new high-tech jobs in software development and biotechnology.

And in just 10 months, he's making progress.

Seeking Work

MATRIC, which recently moved to its new office in Building 701, currently has 14 employees, seven of which have doctoral degrees. They have written 38 research proposals worth $22 million and have won four of the 12 proposals that already have been decided. Those four projects alone have been worth $420,000.

"We are doing what we said we would do when I came on board in April 2004. We said we would get the Ph.Ds in the valley back in research and development, and we are doing that," he said.

Hughes Booher of the West Virginia Technology Association said MATRIC is filling a need in the state that many know exists but don't know how to change.

"(Our economy) has been resource based for such a long time. Now we can see other things as potentially economically viable," he said. "Our kids are leaving for the high-tech centers like Boston and Austin and San Francisco. These kinds of jobs can help them realize they can come back. They can always come back. The door is always open."

MATRIC was created last year as a non-profit research and development corporation that would try to capitalize on the valley's history as a chemical and technology research center to develop new projects and jobs. The organization also has a for-profit subsidiary, MATRIC Commercial Research that works with drug companies and others on research and development

"We want to convince companies that have sent their R and D offshore that it can be done here," he said.

"We want to bring those billions of dollars in research back here."

Triangle Offers Model

Based on the Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina, MATRIC's three goals were to develop new intellectual property, commercialize that intellectual property be it a new software program, a new biotech development or a new chemical matter, and then spin it out into a business, and improve cooperation among the universities.

Another goal was to find a way to use the trained researchers and scientists already in the valley and find ways to keep them here if their job has relocated or if their company has downsized, two common problems.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, West Virginia had more than 26,000 chemical industry workers in 1970. It had fewer than 14,000 in 2001.

Even more chemical jobs have vanished from the Kanawha Valley over the past few years. Some disappeared when Union Carbide downsized. Others vanished when Dow bought out Union Carbide. Others left when long-time companies like Flexsys left.

And more losses are under way. Dow announced late last year that it was moving about 70 research and development jobs from South Charleston to similar facilities in Michigan and Texas.

But not everyone who worked at those plants has wanted to leave the Kanawha Valley with their employers. Pauley said the region has more than 250 scientists with Ph.Ds and another 1,500 workers with either bachelors' or masters' degrees who were displaced in just the past four years.

And it's his goal, as well as MATRIC's, to get those people doing research again.

"We don't want to create science for science's sake," he said. "We want to create tangible goods and service that can benefit not just West Virginia but every state."

Some Success So Far

So far, MATRIC has seen some successes.

The four proposals accepted are for a myriad of different projects, including:

• A project with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee to remove the ethane from natural gas while it's still in the pipeline and convert the ethane to ethylene, which can be used as a feedstock for chemical manufacturing. By taking it out of the pipeline, it can reduce manufacturing costs.
• A project with a local chemical company that could help the company reopen one of its closed facilities.
• A software project that would create new display panels in U.S. Navy ships that would help captains quickly analyze raw information from their ships' different sensors.
• A project with Titan Corp. and the NASA Independent Verification and Validation Facility in Fairmont analyzing and validating software that will be used on the next generation of spacecraft that will replace the space shuttles, as well as be able to go to the moon and Mars.

"I think they are proving themselves. They are a success so far," Booher said.

Other proposals submitted by MATRIC have the group partnering with both the government and scientists from around the country. Those proposals include:

• Taking waste from crops and converting it into chemicals in a way that is more economically feasible than other processes.
• Working with the U.S. Air Force and scientists at the University of Tennessee and the University of Virginia to develop a chemistry model for working with atoms at the quantum level.
• Working with scientists at Boston University to develop a non-invasive technology to diagnose colon problems.
• Developing a way to more accurately measure how much calories a person uses a day doing basic activities. Pauley said by getting a more accurate measure of how many calories a person needs, doctors can prescribe better diets for people trying to lose weight, and the military can make sure soldiers in the field are getting the correct amount of nutrition.
• Creating technology to remove more mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Pauley said he is excited about all of those proposals, but it's one in particular that has him beaming. A local scientist has developed a new polymer material that is very strong and dense but very lightweight.

In fact, Pauley and the other researchers at MATRIC are so excited about the creation that Pauley said it may be the first business spinoff for the group.

"It could be used by the military to replace ceramic shields in vests, and it could be used in windshields or eyeglasses or even in headlights of cars so they don't break," he said. "There are a lot of applications for it. It's better than Lexan or Lucite. And it was created right here."

Working with Universities

MATRIC isn't just limited to doing research on its own or for companies. The group is working to bridge the gap among West Virginia's universities so they can be eligible for more research and grant projects.

Both Marshall University and West Virginia University have focused a lot in recent years on expanding their research and using those developments in a lab or classroom to create jobs in the community. MATRIC doesn't replace those efforts. Instead, university officials said, it enhances them.

Howard Aulick, Marshall's vice president for research, said MATRIC now alerts his university, as well as others, about research and grant opportunities they may be eligible for but not aware of. It can also help universities come together to bid for projects they may have been too small to bid for otherwise.

"(Pauley) just e-mailed me recently about a National Institutes of Health proposal for cancer research. NIH wants to develop a consortium of cancer hospitals so it can develop a larger base for its research," Aulick said. "He asked if our cancer center wanted to work with Charleston Area Medical Center on it, and I suggested he invite WVU into it, too. None of us could have submitted a proposal for this on our own. We are all too small. But, together, we are eligible. That is the value of MATRIC."

For his part, Pauley is trying to get the word out about MATRIC's successes, but he doesn't want to be too bold yet.

Though he is optimistic the empty labs soon will be full of scientists and researchers, he doesn't want to push too hard, move too fast or make too many promises. Sure, so far MATRIC's proposals have a success rate of 33 percent, which is higher than the norm. And, yes, people at the Research Triangle Institute have told him that they believe MATRIC will be one of only a few successful programs in the world that were modeled after the Research Triangle program.

But he's not ready to rest yet.

"It's a unique opportunity here," he said. "Everything is coming together, and that's what makes it work. But we are still a fledgling organization. I'd love to say I'm going to hire hundreds or thousands of scientists, but I'm trying to be low key. I'd like our splash to be more than marketing or spin. I want to make a difference that lasts not two or three years but two or three generations."