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NEWS

Potato technology travels from space to Poland

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
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