The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) hosted its Innovation 2 Market patent showcase on Wednesday at ERDCWERX in the MCITy building.

The showcase gave businesses and investors the opportunity to see what the partnerships ERDC has with the private sector have accomplished.

“We encourage everyone to observe the tools ERDC utilizes to leverage urban innovation to potentially elevate your business,” said Jenny Jabour, the Technology Transfer Officer for ERDC, who was the master of ceremonies for the event.

The introduction to the meeting included a signing ceremony in which Bartley Durst, the Director of the Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory at ERDC, and Andrew Edwards of Edwards Design and Fabrication signed a contract that allows the Alabama-based business to make and sell the Modular Guard Tower System (MGTS), which was designed and patented by ERDC engineers.

After a different contract signing between ERDC and Kontec Industries, Durst spoke about the importance of the partnerships ERDC has made.

“(The agreements) amplify as ‘a force multiplier,’ as we call it in the military,” Durst said. “When the right partners come together and the experts are able to combine their specialties into ways unseen before, I personally have been able to experience being a part of that and making that happen. We invent a lot of solutions and solve a lot of the nation’s toughest problems from right here in Vicksburg.”

Durst then gave an overview of ERDC and its mission and spoke about specific successful partnerships the Center has had with businesses in their support of both civilian and military operations.

“These (ERDC) laboratories exist across the country under the parent organization of the Corps while working with many partners. Today is about partnering. My dad used to say, ‘Son, if you’re not partnering, you’re dying, you’re shrinking,’” Durst said. “Today that is truly the case. I know all of you, mostly from the industry, and you understand that very well. I can’t stress the importance now of what that means for us as a federal government entity…”

Throughout the day, attendees were given presentations on a variety of patents that have been licensed by ERDC to private companies. These included a portable vehicle barricade system that can be easily transported and assembled to be used in security applications, as well as a Rapidly Deployable Over Decking System, used for quickly creating bridges for transport purposes.

For more information about ERDCWERX, you can visit their website at erdcwerx.org.