Innovation X- A generalized approach for identifying suitable locations for establishing electron beam and x-ray facilities in the United States
Rebecca C Cunningham1, Aryan Pai1, Suresh D Pillai1.
1National Center for Electron Beam Research, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
Electron beam (eBeam) and X-ray technologies are crucial for high value applications around the world such as sterilization (of single-use medical supplies), decontamination (of animal feed, spices), pasteurization (of foods, food ingredients), phytosanitary applications, and polymer modifications (of wires, cables and automobile polymers). There is significant interest by the entrepreneurial community in investing in this multi-million dollar technology in the United States and around the world. However, other than cursory business reports estimating the size of the different markets, there is no publicly available information assisting the investor community in understanding the technology, nor is there a game plan to help decide where to locate eBeam and/or X-ray facilities. Very often, such information is cloaked as "business-sensitive" confidential information. Texas A&M University's Innovation-X program is a student-led program aimed at demystifying the technology, as well as providing an open source blue-print to identify optimal locations for such facilities. We chose Texas as the example US state for deciding where to locate such facilites. We were agnostic in terms of the specific application. A generalized approach of identifying suitable eBeam/X-ray facility locations has been developed. The approach involves mining industry databases, chambers of commerce databases, and US Government's SIC and NAICS codes for locations of potential end-user businesses. SimplyAnalytics and Tableau were used to graphical display the locations of these businesses alongwith economic "opportunity zones" maps. Porter's 5 Forces analysis were also included in the approach. Several locations in Texas are suitable for panoramic as well as potenial in-house eBeam operations.