About Us
MPI is a non-profit industrial outreach arm that serves to foster business growth. It was born out of the School of Polymer Science & Engineering and is associated with The University of Southern Mississippi.
Our mission is to foster technically-oriented business growth. It is our goal to support high-quality job creation and business growth by providing diverse technical services and educational outreach.
We serve companies, individuals, entrepreneurs, start-ups, economic development agencies, schools and communities.
Customer value derives from precision analytical and investigative testing, third party quality investigations, product development, scale-up, manufacturing troubleshooting, specialized workforce training, and educational outreach.
We strive to put customer’s needs first and work to continually improve our capabilities and efficiency without compromising quality. “When our customers are successful, we are successful.”
History
MPI was established in 1993 and was located within the Department of Polymer Science with the goal of assisting polymer and advanced-material businesses and entrepreneurs in their growth efforts.
Initially projects centered around coatings applications and subsequently expanded to include many other polymer market segments: personal protection, medical, forensics, aerospace, automotive, consumer products, etc.
In 1995, MPI chose to be an early adopter of 3D printing technology, recognizing the potential impact on prototyping and manufacturing. Since that time, we have produced thousands of prototypes and commercial products, and as the market matured we added CAD, laser scanning and polymer R&D services to assist customers’ shifting needs.
In 2010, MPI moved from the School of Polymers and High Performance Materials to The Accelerator. The Accelerator, a facility 5 miles from the USM campus, was constructed through state funding to house MPI and incubate emerging technology-based companies. The $28 million facility offers more than 60,000 square feet of state-of-the-art resources and talent to support ventures in composites, polymers, formulation science, biotechnology, sustainable chemistry, alternative energy and other high-tech industries.
We are honored to have long-term repeat business and routinely gain new customers, and serve some of the most prestigious companies in the world and impressive new innovators.
Facilities
MPI is located in The Accelerator, part of the University of Southern Mississippi’s Innovation and Commercialization Park. MPI occupies over 6,000 square feet of office space, wet labs, mechanical testing labs, 3D printing, compounding, extrusion, and training labs.
The Accelerator is an incubator for tech-based companies and products, combining laboratory and office space, expertise in complete product development, and in partnership with MPI offers the infrastructure and capabilities to develop a new advanced material technology under one roof. A novel concept can be invented, tested, manufactured and actually shipped from the facility’s doors to the customer.
