MRIGlobal is an independent,
not-for-profit,
contract research organization based in
Kansas City, Missouri, with regional offices in Virginia and Maryland. In addition to its own research laboratories, MRIGlobal operates research facilities for the
Department of Energy and the
Department of Defense.
MRIGlobal conducts programs in the areas of
molecular diagnostics, antimicrobial resistance,
therapeutics,
engineering,
mobile laboratories, CBRNE technology development and countermeasures, chemical testing facilities, real-time biosurveillance, national security and
defense,
energy and the
environment, and
agriculture.
The purpose of MRIGlobal is to provide solutions through scientific research,
technology development, and technical services for the benefit of
government, industry, and the public.
History
Foundation
Founded in 1944 during
World War II as Midwest Research Institute, the organization's initial mission was to find a way to convert the
ammonium nitrate military
ordnance plants in
Galena, Kansas,
Parsons, Kansas,
DeSoto, Kansas and
El Dorado, Arkansas to peaceful uses of creating
fertilizer. Among the nine founders was
Kenneth A. Spencer who would make a fortune from the Jayhawk Plant in Galena. Spencer would be chairman of the Institute from 1954 to 1957, and donated money for the Kenneth A. Spencer Laboratories Building and the Spencer Auditorium at MRIGlobal.
MRIGlobal was located initially in the former
Westport, Missouri City Hall at 40th Terrace and Pennsylvania. That building was torn down in 1955 at which time MRIGlobal moved into its current Kansas City headquarters, facing the
Nelson Art Gallery, and adjacent to
University of Missouri - Kansas City and the headquarters of
Russell Stovers candy.
Rapid expansion
MRIGlobal obtained its first contract with
NASA in 1961 and its first
U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency contract in 1964. In the 1970s, the organization began working for the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency developing tests to detect and measure pollutants.
Expansion and growth continued in the 1980s. In 1982, a venture group was created to commercialize MRIGlobal’s inventions. Major projects included engineering lightweight thermoelectric cooling devices for
U.S. Army aircraft. This technology earned an R&D 100 Award, and was used in
Operation Desert Storm to keep flight personnel cool while operating in warm climates.
Throughout the next two decades, MRIGlobal expanded its operations, adding locations in Palm Bay, Florida, in 1999; Rockville, Maryland, in 2002; and Frederick, Maryland, in 2003.
In January 2015, MRIGlobal powered their first-ever online detection database, CBRNE Tech Index.
Recent history
On March 1, 2011, the organization was renamed MRIGlobal.
In 2014, MRIGlobal launched CBRNE Tech Index, a comprehensive database of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive (CBRNE) detection equipment.
Projects
*Coating process for
M&M Candies permitting the coating of of chocolate centers every hour (1950s)
*Soluble coffee for
J.A. Folger a forerunner of auto drip
coffeemaker (1950s)
*
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (managed since its start in 1977 as MRIGlobal is part of the Alliance for Sustainable Energy) (1970s)
*Maintaining the
National Cancer Institute Repository (since the 1980s)
*Development of a
thermoelectric cooling system for flight personnel and astronauts (1990s)
*
Ethanol conversion process for the entire corn plant (cob, stalk and leaves—not just the kernels) (in conjunction with
NREL and
DuPont) (2000s)
*Advanced air sampler to detect trace levels of
DNA from
anthrax spores (2000s)
*Producing an
HPV vaccine for Phase I clinical trials (2010s)
*Supporting the
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) in the development and manufacture of drug candidates for ultimate use in clinical trials (2010s)
*Custom designed and fabricated two Containerized Bio-Containment System (CBCS) units for the
United States Department of State with private funding from the
Paul Allen Ebola Program to serve as flyable medical transport units with full biocontainment for patients with
Ebola or other types of highly pathogenic organisms (2010s)
*Providing electricity to a remote island village in
Tanzania through a 60–80 kWp PV battery-diesel hybrid minigrid (2010s)
References
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Category:Contract research organizations
Category:Independent research institutes
Category:Multidisciplinary research institutes
Category:Research institutes established in 1944
Category:Research institutes in the United States