From the office window of Calhoun Community College President Marilyn Beck, you can see the first building in the robotics technology park taking shape.

“It’s beginning to look like the (architect’s) drawing, “Ed Castile, executive director of Alabama Industrial Development Training, told members of park advisory board during their meeting in Beck’s office Monday. “We showed it to the big chief (Gov. Bob Riley) and he was so excited, he actually took some time out from bingo.”

The next step for the board is to put someone at the helm of what will eventually be a $71 million robotics park that will make Alabama the nation’s leader in robotics research and development.

As of Friday, only one person has applied to be director of what will eventually be With a March 11 deadline for applications, Beck expects to see many applications flow in the last few days, but she and others can’t help wondering if they are getting the word out.

Applicants need at least a master’s degree, five years of experience in upper-level management and experience in two or more of the following areas: aerospace, defense, manufacturing, information technology, advanced technology research and development, robotics or enterprise development.  You can view the job requirements online at www.calhoun.edu/jobs/vacancies/roboticsdirector.pdf.

The park advisory board hopes to get the director on board in the next few months.

To that end, two members of the board — Dr. Jan Davis of Jacobs Engineering, Science and Technical Services of Huntsville and Jim Bolte of Toyota Motor Manufacturing — volunteered to serve on the five-member director search committee.

They committee will narrow the applicants to seven candidates in one meeting, and then interview the finalists during a second, daylong meeting. Castile and Beck will make the final recommendation.

The fact that the park is still taking shape —body and spirit — may explain the dearth of applicants. 

The park will be so unique that it has educators and industrial development officials trying to grasp all of its potential.

Beck told board members she recently told a national science evaluator who had visited Calhoun to evaluate an existing program about the robotics technology park.

“He said it could be part of a National Center for Excellence and possibly receive funding from the National Science Foundation,” she said.

Calhoun has already worked out a two-year degree students could pursue using the robotics center, said Bethany Clem, dean of Business, Technologies and Workforce Development. They are working on a four-year degree.

Educators at other area colleges and universities are excited about how the robotics park can help broaden their offerings.

Athens State University believes it may be able to use the center to tie into its management program. The University of Alabama Huntsville believes it could use the center for research and development and other hands-on activities. Area high schools students could sign up for dual enrollment using the center and get credit for high school and college coursework.

The park will feature three buildings.

The first phase — a $17.6 million, 52,000-square-foot facility with 53-acre test track — is set to open Sept. 15. It will train about 450 students each year to work on robotic machinery and be home to robotics and automation companies who will use it for training and product demonstrations, according to Calhoun’s Web site.

Bids will be opened March 18 on the second phase — an $8.5 million, 35,000-square-foot research, development and testing building used for military projects and space exploration. Crews should break ground before the end of the month, and it should be finished a few months after the first phase, Castile said. The state board of education already approved funding for it in January.

The third phase will be a place where firms can build robots or adapt them for new industries. Start-up plants will be able to set up manufacturing lines to test systems and train maintenance and production workers.

Castile said there may be funding for the third phase by May.

“We have applied for federal grants,” he said. “It wont’ do the whole thing, but it would do a chunk.”