BREWER, Maine -- 08/02/2017 - Compotech Inc. composite technician Ed Turner works to attach feed lines to a vacuum bag to fill resin to make a composite in Brewer Wednesday. Paul Melrose has grown Compotech Inc. from a part-time venture to a company with 10 employees that does composites R&D and manufacturing for defense and boatbuilding applications. Ashley L. Conti | BDN

UMaine Engineers Are Growing Maine’s Economy

August 14, 2017 Alumni, College Updates, Faculty, News, Student Focus

Brewer engineering business Compotech Inc. was the focus of the Bangor Daily News feature, “Where the Bangor region’s future job growth will probably come from.” http://bangordailynews.com/…/where-the-bangor-regions-futu…/

The article argues economic development in the Bangor area is likely to look like Compotech Inc., a business with 10 employees that got its start at the University of Maine. Compotech started in 2011 as a part-time venture for Paul Melrose, who was then the engineering manager at UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center, and his business partner, according to the article. The company started as an engineering consulting business, but three years later, Compotech had the beginnings of a military-grade ballistic protection system. In January 2015, Compotech had a multimillion-dollar contract with the U.S. Army to develop protection systems to keep soldiers safe at Army base camps, the article states. Early on, Compotech operated out of the Target Technology Center in Orono, which was recently renamed the UpStart Center for Entrepreneurship. Today, the center houses a handful of businesses, many with UMaine ties, that are in the incubation stage, the BDN reported. Compotech relies on the UMaine Composites Center for help with product testing, and most of the company’s employees are UMaine-trained engineers. “I know where to get engineers, no problem,” Melrose said.

Photo source: Ashley L. Conti | BDN