NASA officials expect that a mix of U.S. Defense Department, state and local governments, and other customers will make its newly established National Institute for Aerospace largely self-sufficient within five years, according to NIA management office director Charlie Harris. The institute is expected to be fully operational in January 2003, with a starting staff of roughly 50.
Officials say schools outside of the winning consortium would be invited to conduct research through the NIA. In a news media report, a Virginia Tech official pointed out Hampton's expertise in atmospheric sciences as a great addition to the institute's work.
Hampton officials expressed disappointment with the NASA selection because they believed it would have significantly boosted the research capacities of the local universities closest to the proposed aerospace institute.
"It would have brought so much more to the region. We'll still be on the map. We just won't have control of it as much. Now we're just a follower, not a leader," Bill Thomas, director of the Hampton office of governmental relations told the Daily Press in Hampton, Va.
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