This week, Louisiana Tech and the Cyber Innovation Center (CIC) announced the establishment of the Louisiana Tech Research Institute (LTRI), a 501c3 partnership that will advance public/private partnerships, accelerate applied research and development, and promote the commercialization of technology in the areas of cyber, energy, and resiliency. Our informal partnerships with the CIC have already resulted in millions in research funding, new cyber/STEM education initiatives for k-12 and higher ed, attraction of companies such as CSC to the region, and making North Louisiana a nationally recognized leader in cyber. The LTRI will build upon those successes to bring new activities, projects, people, companies and opportunities to our region, enhancing our position in the 21st century knowledge economy. We also expect LTRI to be strongly supportive of the activities of the USAF at the Global Strike Command at Barksdale Air Force Base, one of the major economic drivers for North Louisiana. Our LTRI team already has a long list of projects that are being pursued with various funding agencies. You can hear VP Stan Napper and CIC VP GB Cazes talk about LTRI in the KARD/KTVE news report and can expect some more announcements about LTRI over the coming weeks. The LTRI Board met in Bossier City at the CIC on Monday. While there, I had the opportunity to visit with a prospective company that was visiting with members of the community next door at Bossier Parish Community College. Many such companies visit the region, and they are often very interested in what Louisiana Tech can do to support their workforce development. After meeting with the company representative, I returned back to Ruston late Monday for planning and budget meetings. On Tuesday, I returned to Bossier City and Shreveport to meet with alumni and friends. While in Shreveport, I had my first opportunity to visit with Mayor Ollie Tyler and offered to her our support for the community. Certainly, Shreveport is a cornerstone for the economic prosperity for our region and state, and Louisiana Tech is committed to support them in any ways that we can. After wrapping up several meetings in Shreveport, I headed to Dallas to meet with some more Tech alumni. These were very enjoyable meetings with people whose successes in their professions make us very pround to claim them as Tech alumni. They have also demonstrated considerable support for our university over the years and I was glad to have the opportunity to thank them for their support. Late Wednesday, I flew out of DFW International Airport to head to Washington, DC. On Thursday, CIC Director Craig Spohn and I met with some government agencies and members of our congressional delegation to discuss projects and to tell them about LTRI. Our meetings with Senator David Vitter and Congressmen John Fleming and Ralph Abraham were productive as was our meeting with some of Senator Bill Cassidy’s staff. It was also good to get some exercise walking back and forth across the Capitol area as we had scheduled an aggressive agenda of meetings in both the House and Senate.