Florida Tech views Vertex as a future Palm Bay high-tech business hub

During Florida Institute of Technology President John Nicklow’s interview activities leading up to his April 2023 hiring, he toured CAMID, the university’s sprawling 100,494-square-foot manufacturing-design complex on Palm Bay Road.

“Initially, I was so excited. ‘We have this facility out here, and it’s fantastic.’ And then I went inside — and I thought, ‘It’s half empty,’ ” Nicklow recalled.

“And it could be so much more,” he said.

To that end, Florida Tech has relaunched the underutilized Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Innovative Design as Vertex, a new “applied innovation hub.” Rather than function as a traditional academic building, Vertex’s office space, manufacturing and clean rooms will host business tenants, contracted research and development work, facility rentals, workforce training and more.

“If we do our jobs right, and you come back a year from now, this place is going to be a buzzing hive,” Vertex Executive Director Samantha Miles said, seated in a second-floor conference room inside the complex.

Born in Melbourne Beach and hired in November, Miles previously held leadership positions with a research company and a business school in Dubai in the United Emirates; served as student experience coordinator at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia; and held student-centric posts at Florida Atlantic University.

“Right now, we’re in a big transition period. Because not only are we improving the space and making it more industry-facing, we’re redesigning our labs. We’re redesigning our communal spaces. We’re upgrading our equipment A-to-Z,” Miles said.

As of today, Vertex houses CAMID, the Florida Tech Research Institute and four businesses: the Larsen Motorsports jet dragster racing team; SafeSky Systems USA and Zeal OTM (drone and surveillance companies); and Solar Transport Systems (a solar-powered electric car company).

Miles said unused second-story space above the Larsen Motorsports shop is under construction for future drone testing and for a composites laboratory. This area will also house ASCEND, an acronym for AeroSpace Cybersecurity ENgineering Development. In June, Florida Tech announced it will receive $5 million in state funding for ASCEND.

“A pet peeve of mine is when we’ve not capitalized properly or fully on an asset — in this case, space. And so, that was the idea: How could this best be used to serve our community, to serve the institution?” Nicklow asked.

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Intersil donated building, land in 2013

Vertex is located off the intersection of Palm Bay Road and Robert J. Conlan Boulevard, about a 3½-mile drive from the Melbourne-based STEM university campus.

Harris Semiconductor constructed the building in 1977. It later housed Intersil Corp. integrated-circuit and telecommunications facilities for government, defense, aerospace and commercial programs until 2009 — the building was known as Fab 54.

In September 2013, Intersil donated the complex and five acres of land with nearly 300 parking spaces to Florida Tech — a gift valued at $13.1 million. This large-scale donation occurred during a Florida Tech expansion era when the university added facilities and programs on- and off-campus.

Florida Tech’s nearby Panther Bay apartment complex had just opened that year on Palm Bay Road, a little more than a mile to the west. And the new Panthers football team also debuted in September 2013 with a 20-13 win over Stetson at Palm Bay High’s Pirate Stadium. The football program got dropped for fiscal reasons during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Florida Tech announced a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration in October 2015 to open the former Intersil complex as CAMID. Installed equipment includes computer-driven manufacturing equipment like a prototype fabrication bay, microelectronics tools, water-jet and plasma metal-cutting bays, and 3D printers.

Jason Jones operates SafeSky Systems USA and Zeal OTM, and he builds drones inside Vertex. He displayed a black quadcopter drone that recently flew over flame-blackened wildfire areas near Pasadena, California.

“With what we’re doing and the way the center’s growing, it gives us capabilities that we never thought we’d have,” Jones said.

Vertex to open for tours on March 28

Florida Tech officials will offer free tours of Vertex during an Innovation Ecosystem Expo from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. March 28.

The address is 2495 Palm Bay Road N.E., and the public is invited. The expo includes an indoor-outdoor showcase featuring booths from Vertex partners, along with 30-minute workshops.

Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

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