Believing membership will help launch its efforts in the emerging field of biometrics and information assurance, Gaiker Technological Center of Spain signed papers Tuesday (July 22) becoming the first international member of the Center for Identification Technology Research (CITeR) based at West Virginia University.

Gaiker offers companies in Spain innovative technologies related to plastic materials and composites, the environment, recycling and industrial biotechnology, but plans to expand into biometrics.

We gather know-how, adapt and develop technologies in order to transfer these to companies with the aim of improving their level of competitiveness,said Edorta Larrauri, international relations manager for Gaiker.We believe our membership in CITeR will help with research as we specialize in this (biometrics) area.

WVU developed CITeR in 2000 with three other universities after receiving a National Science Foundation grant. Since then, it has expanded to include more than a dozen industry and government members including the Department of Defense and the FBI , as well as seven academic partners. The goal of CITeR is to further the development of biometrics through new technologies research, interdisciplinary training of scientists and engineers and facilitation of the transfer of this technology to the private and government sectors.

With the addition of Gaiker, we believe this will open up a new international gateway for our research, technology transfer and economic development activities,said John Weete, vice president for research and economic development at WVU and head of the WVU Research Corp.We look forward to working with Gaiker, and through this relationship, hope to further our economic development efforts in West Virginia.

Gaiker officials, too, are excited about expanding their collaboration efforts with WVU . A year ago, the company signed a memorandum of understanding becoming a partner in the Mid-Atlantic Recycling Center for End-of-Life Electronics (MARCEE), of which the University is a member. MARCEE is an initiative of the Polymer Alliance Zone of West Virginia, aimed at de-manufacturing discarded computer cases and recycling the plastic materials from them for reuse. WVU s role in the MARCEE project is to conduct research on plastic recycling and develop value-added products from recycled plastics.

We want to diversify our technological offerings to industry in our region ,said Inaki Letona, Gaiker general manager.Membership in CITeR and the collaboration it allows with public institutions like WVU and the Research Corp. will help us, specifically when it comes to applied research.