Complemented by a hearty round of applause, “Welcome Draper to the University of South Florida“ were among the first words USF’s President Judy Genshaft spoke in warmly receiving Draper Laboratories as new residents on the Tampa campus. With some of Hillsborough County’s elite in attendance, including Mayor Pam Iorio, a red ribbon ceremony was held this past Monday afternoon.

At its new location, Draper will be conducting bio-medical research. According to the national science foundation, USF is the fastest growing research university in America. Genshaft said the marriage of the research facility and research university is a perfect fit and reassured Draper that they had come “…to a place where research and innovations are highly, highly, highly valued.”

Among the Hillsborough dignitaries in attendance was County Commissioner Ken Hagan. He also gave Draper a warm welcome to the Tampa Bay region, but for reasons different than Genshaft.

Hagan believes that Draper will create, “Jobs, jobs and more jobs,” and encouraged the crowd to celebrate because the economy was finally “going to start getting better,” thanks to Draper. More than 100 jobs have been created so far, and Hagan said he expects more than 100 more high paying, high quality jobs will be created once the facility is completed.

The new Draper Lab facility is projected to be 20,000 sq ft and cost 20 million. So far, only $3 million of the budget has been spent on completing 10,000 sq ft . Genshaft said the money for the endeavor comes from sources that are all in support of Draper Laboratory. This includes $6 million from Hillsborough County’s Economic Development Department, $4 million from the USF Research Foundation and $10 million from the state of Florida Innovation Incentive Fund.

The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. is an independent, not-for-profit research and development organization. It develops advanced space and energy technology as well military tactical systems, special operations and manufactures wartime weapons. According to their website, more than 90 percent of their work is government-funded from military branches such as the US Navy, Air Force, and NASA, to name a few.

Draper spokesman Len Polizzotto said that each of Draper’s six locations typically specializes in one field. At USF, it will be bio-engineering. An important research area at Draper is the design, prototyping and testing of MEMs or microelectromechanical systems. These tiny systems are also used by Draper to further enhance its bio-research. Draper is looking to partner with USF medical school and Moffitt Cancer to expand its studies in the future.

Earlier on Monday, Draper also opened a second location in St.Petersburg on 16th Steet North. The St. Pete lab, Polizzotto said, will be a MEM’s manufacturing facility.

The main Draper facility is in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Draper Laboratories got its start at the Instrumentation Laboratory of MIT in the late 1960’s. In 1973, however, Draper was forced out of MIT. Polizzotto said Draper’s weaponry manufacturing stirred protests from faculty, students and demonstrators against the Vietnam War. Polizzotto said even though Draper still make weapons today, he guarantees USF will not be put in a similar situation as MIT because it will not be manufacturing weapons at USF. Draper will only “be dealing with health care.”

USF’s President Judy Genshaft disagrees. She said the university is open to working with Draper in their different fields of research and development beyond health care.

“ Whether it be in the water area, energy area or medical area, all the work that you do we want to be part of the innovation that can make a difference for us not only in the state of Florida, but globally as well.”

In light of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Genshaft said she did not foresee controversy similar to that of MIT occurring at USF because, “(Draper) doesn’t make weapons. What they do in terms of the military is that the military has such heavy packs that they downsize the amount through their chips and so the soldier doesn’t have to carry as heavy gear as they otherwise would.”

Draper’s website states that their tactical systems, “focuses Draper’s capabilities in autonomy, accuracy, and awareness in the domains of soldier systems, munitions GN&C, missile defense GN&C, and undersea systems. Providing solutions in this space meets the urgent needs of national security in supporting stability and counterinsurgency operations and responds to the increased proliferation of ballistic missiles.”

County Commissioner Hagan said if Draper started making weapons, “ it would have to be looked into.”