A Place for Bright Ideas
The founders of the Gold Coast Innovation Center didn’t really need an electricity crisis to make their think tank look like a brilliant idea.
But now that the politicians have delivered one, this new operation promises to further reinforce Cal State Channel Islands’ future as an energy- and environment-conscious institution.
Myron Miller began planning the center two years ago, well before California’s energy crisis touched off rolling blackouts and soaring electricity bills. Miller, 71, had just sold two power-industry trade magazines and was looking for a project that would take advantage of his connections with engineers and entrepreneurs he’d met throughout the world during his quarter-century in publishing.
He conceived of a research and networking group that could bring together industry experts from the United States, Germany, Japan, Mexico and other countries to address power concerns in a world increasingly linked by telecommunications and vulnerable to power shortages and interruptions.
His long-term vision is to help everyone from international business executives to villagers in Third World countries. But with the lights flickering right here in Ventura County, he’s ready to start searching for solutions closer to home.
How to begin? Miller hopes the center will be a place where experts collaborate on ways to minimize electrical surges and dips, a place that encourages research on alternative fuel sources and provides an incubator for energy-related companies. It could provide Cal State and other area university students with hands-on experience. And its experts could advise companies on what alternative power sources or energy-saving devices might work best for them--and put them in touch with people who design and manufacture such products.
Miller donated $300,000, most of which went to renovating 12,000 square feet at the university campus. He assembled a 17-member advisory board and brought in a director, Steve Herman, a former Litton Industries executive who recently ran a technology association in Oregon. The center hopes to sustain itself through a combination of grants and contracts with private industry.
It’s fitting that such a center would plug into Cal State Channel Islands, Ventura County’s first four-year public university. From its inception the new university has been guided by a desire to creatively combine academic theory with real-world practicality.
One example is the decision to locate its campus at the former Camarillo State Hospital, thereby demonstrating the wisdom of recycling historic buildings.
Another is university leaders’ commitment to make it a “green” campus by discouraging cars with hefty parking fees and by offering a convenient shuttle bus.
A think tank seeking sustainable solutions to the world’s energy problems is a perfect fit. We salute Myron Miller for having a good idea and backing it with his own money, and Cal State Channel Islands for adding the Gold Coast Innovation Center to its array of forward-looking programs.
