NASA veteran joins UNH to lead R&D

UNH WILL HOST INAUGURAL SPACE EXPO OCT. 28 AND 29

Ramy Rahimi

Ramy Rahimi is the new vice president for research and development at the University of New Hampshire.

Rahimi comes on board at the Durhambased campus as an important new link between the university’s land, sea and space research work and the state’s advanced technology manufacturing industry.

He arrives via NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia, where he most recently was senior advisor for research and innovation.

His role in the newly created position of vice president for research and development will be put to quick use as UNH hosts the inaugural Northeast Space, Technology, Trade, and Research (STTAR) Expo Oct. 28 and 29.

“This feels like home. This feels like I’m ready to run before I can walk,” said Rahimi, noting that he left his job at NASA on Friday, Sept. 25, and started his new job at UNH the following Monday.

For Rahimi, the expo is an opportunity to introduce himself to the manufacturers in New Hampshire and the region and pitch the university’s research.

“I know the federal labs need support.

I know other government agencies need support. I know industry needs support. I know other academic institutions need support. I would like to position UNH — and research and innovation at UNH — as the hub that attracts all of these industries, government, academia to support them,” he said. “When someone thinks of a challenging issue, UNH should come top of the list.”

For the organizer of the expo — the New Hampshire Aerospace and Defense Consortium (NHADC) — the event gives manufacturers in the region a first-time opportunity to interact and better compete against states such as Texas and California.

“If the Northeast gets together as one group — so we’re talking all of New England plus Pennsylvania and New York — suddenly we are a force to be reckoned with, and that represents currently nearly 40% of the entire defense industrial base,” said Randy Makee, NHADC’s executive director.

Space-related research at UNH, according to Makee, has been around for many years. In 1952, UNH set up early cosmic ray and radiation measurements atop Mount Washington.

When discussion started about a first-time expo that featured this region’s space-related capabilities, Makee said UNH was a natural to host.

“This is our tradition up here. Let’s be first, and let’s get this thing on the map, and let’s put it with a space focus, because this is such an enormous emerging sector of industry, of our economy,” said Makee. “And it’s huge in New Hampshire and has been thanks to the work at UNH since the 1950s.”

The coalition and the expo have the support of the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA).

“With hundreds of businesses across the Granite State contributing to aerospace and defense, which drives a $7.5 billion footprint, this sector is a formidable economic engine,” BEA Commissioner Lucy Lange said.

Makee expects upward of 500 people at the expo. His organization has 154 members, 106 of them in New Hampshire.

“We serve as a trade organization to support manufacturing, and it’s no longer just in New Hampshire; it’s now throughout the Northeast,” Makee said. “The DOW (Department of War/Department of Defense) supply chain specifically for manufacturing, and the industry in this state represents a significant portion of the GDP.”

For information about the expo, visit nhadc.org.