Iowa State University
10-17-96

Contacts:
Tom Noble, Iowa MTC, (515) 965-7132
Skip Derra, News Service, (515) 294-4917

NOBLE NAMED INTERIM DIRECTOR OF IOWA MTC

AMES, Iowa -- Tom Noble has been named interim director of the Iowa Manufacturing Technology Center. Iowa MTC is a cooperative initiative that works to improve the competitiveness of small- to medium-sized Iowa manufacturers.

Noble, who has been operations manager of Iowa MTC, replaces Del Shepard who has led the center since December 1993. The appointment is effective immediately.

Shepard requested that he be relieved of the directorship for personal reasons. He will continue with Iowa State University Extension, working to support the Iowa MTC and other technology transfer and technical assistance efforts with Iowa State, and other institutions that are working with the center.

"I want to express appreciation to Del for the contributions that he has given to the organization and implementation of the programs at the Iowa Manufacturing Technology Center," said Stan Johnson, vice provost for extension at Iowa State University. "The center is and will continue to be increasingly important as a vehicle for providing access to the facilities and scientific capacities of Iowa State and the partner institutions, including the community colleges of Iowa.

"Tom Noble is an experienced professional having worked closely with several of ISU's technology development and technology transfer programs since 1988," Johnson said.

Noble has been a program manager with the Ames Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy facility at ISU, and associate director of ISU's Center for Advanced Technology and Development. He has been associated with the Iowa MTC since late 1995.

Iowa MTC was formed in 1992 as part of the Manufacturing Extension Program and funded through the National Institutes of Standards and Technology. Its goal is to improve the competitiveness of the roughly 5,800 small- to medium-sized Iowa manufacturers (500 employees or less) by providing technical and business assistance to them. It is one of 78 such centers that NIST has set up in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

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