Dr. Gary Zank talks about FTPP in a “Business Alabama” podcast that drops June 26.
Michael Mercier | UAH
UAH’s Dr. Gary Zank talks with Alec Harvey, executive editor of Business Alabama magazine, about Future Technologies & enabling Plasma Processes (FTPP) in a podcast that drops on Monday, June 26.
The statewide, UAH-led FTPP project is a five-year, $20 million springboard to propel cutting-edge university plasma physics research and technologies into practical business applications that’s funded by the National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). It’s the forerunner of a possible $160 million NSF grant that would make Alabama the hub of plasma technologies in the Southeast.
Dr. Zank is FTPP’s principal investigator and the Aeroject Rocketdyne chair of the UAH Department of Space Science, as well as the director of UAH’s Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research.
The Business Alabama podcast is a weekly show that brings the people and pages of Business Alabama magazine to life. The podcast features business leaders talking about how they got their start, the challenges facing their sector and anything else that might be on their mind.
What is plasma?
Plasma is specialized gas with properties that make it useful in a multitude of technological processes. It underpins several high-tech manufacturing industries.
FTPP aims to transition plasma research into agricultural, manufacturing, space science, space weather prediction and other applications, creating thousands of high-paying technical careers in Alabama and the region.
