Delavan, Wisconsin
September 7, 2000
Seed potato technology
which utilizes space science was presented at the 33rd Scientific
Assembly of COSPAR, the Committee on Space Research, held this July in
Warsaw, Poland.
Controlled environment
technologies used in biomanufacturing of pathogen-free seed potatoes,
and which was developed for space by the NASA sponsored Wisconsin
Center For Space Automation & Robotics (WCSAR) along with American
Ag-Tec International, Ltd. was the subject of a presentation made
at the Assembly by Dr. Raymond J. Bula, Cross Plains, WI.
Dr. Bula, who is the
former Director of the NASA Center at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison made the formal presentation concerning controlled
environment technologies developed for space-based plant growing
facilities, and how they have been transformed into a terrestrial seed
potato biomanufacturing system. This terrestrial based plant
production system could serve as a model for a plant production unit
of an Advanced Life Support for future space colonies.
The first commercial
application of this technology is scheduled to be implemented in
central Poland later this fall and is called Quantum Tubers. The
Wisconsin company behind the technology is American Ag-Tec
International, Ltd. of Delavan. Mr. Robert G. Britt, President of
Ag-Tec expressed his enthusiasm in describing the positive impact that
the Quantum Tubers technology will have to agriculture in the world’s
third largest potato producing country. Britt also said "without
the technology benefits from our association with NASA this new
biomanufacturing ability could not have been commercialized".
COSPAR is the Committee on
Space Research, with headquarters in Paris, France. The Scientific
Assembly of COSPAR meets each two years with attendees worldwide
exceeding 2000 scientists. The last COSPAR assembly was in Nagoya,
Japan, and the next assembly will be in Houston, TX in 2002.
WCSAR (Wisconsin Center
for Space Automation & Robotics) is located in the College of
Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Dr. Weijia
Zhou as its present Director. WCSAR is one of the NASA Centers working
on space related technologies, with their specialty being plant and
foods oriented. Their web site is www.engr.wisc.edu/centers/wcsar
American Ag-Tec
International, Ltd., located in Delavan, Wisconsin has developed the
Quantum Tubers biomanufacturing technology and offers the technology
franchised worldwide for pathogen-free seed potato production. The
technology can be viewed by going to the Quantum Tubers web site at www.quantumtubers.com
.
Company news release
N2973 |