EAST LANSING, Mich. — Ray DeVito, who earned a doctorate degree in experimental nuclear physics from Michigan State University, has returned to his alma mater to work with one of the world’s foremost nuclear physics research facilities as a technology manager in MSU Technologies.
DeVito will pursue commercial opportunities for the discoveries and technologies that emerge from the soon-to-be-built Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, as well as other MSU facilities.
MSU Technologies’ mission is to facilitate the transfer of MSU’s best research ideas into the marketplace. And while DeVito will work with a number of MSU units – including the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory and the colleges of Engineering and Natural Resources – it is with FRIB that he will devote a large amount of his time.
“When it comes to technology, FRIB is taking everything to a new level,” DeVito said. “Even though a lot of the technology already exists, we’re putting it into a higher level of performance.”
DeVito said that when it comes to the technologies and intellectual properties that will spin off from FRIB, “we’re only just starting to scratch the surface.”
“The FRIB is one of the top economic development priorities for the Greater Lansing region,” said Tim Daman, president and CEO of the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce. “We look forward to working with Ray and Michigan State University in the commercialization and development of FRIB technologies.”
FRIB is a more than $600 million project funded by the Department of Energy and is expected to pump nearly $1 billion in economic development into the region. The facility will provide beams of rare isotopes which will help scientists better understand the origin of the elements and the evolution of the cosmos.
Before coming to MSU, DeVito was director of the technology commercialization office at Utah State University where he licensed and commercialized technologies and facilitated university spin-out companies. Prior to that, he held key leadership positions at medical equipment development companies and successfully launched a start-up business.
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