Technology an Ames company developed for rapid bacteria detection may soon revolutionize U.S. soldiers’ ability to detect bio-terrorist threats.

Last month, Advanced Analytical Technologies Inc. learned that it will receive $1.45 million from the Department of Defense to help develop a portable rapid bacterial warfare detection unit to counter terrorists’ efforts to contaminate drinking water. This new project, along with a $2 million assistance package last August from the Iowa Department of Economic Development and other recent developments, are expected to create incredible growth opportunities for the 8-year-old company.

“Just recently, with the completion of a new a round of financing, [Grow Iowa] Values Fund grants and the technology itself, we’ve really broken out into a growth period,” said Steve Lasky, the company’s president and CEO.

Over the past three months, Advanced Analytical has expanded its workforce at the Iowa State University Research Park from 10 to 21, and the company expects to add another 60 jobs over the next three years, Lasky said.

Advanced Analytical was founded in 1998 by Lasky, who at the time was a scientist at Union Carbide Corp.; Dan Buttry, a scientist and professor from Wyoming; and two Iowa State University professors. Des Moines venture capitalist John Pappajohn helped the start-up company secure financing to launch its first product, a rapid bacteria detector, in 1999. The machine was designed to replace culture plates, which can take several days to incubate, as a method for bacteria detection.

Advanced Analytical carved out a market for itself with pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers of cosmetics and personal-care products, all of which are required to run many tests on their products before sending them to market. If a problem crops up with a company’s water-processing equipment, for example, it can be diagnosed within 15 minutes by placing a sample in the rapid bacteria detector instead of waiting two days for the bacteria to grow in a culture plate.

“There was a need for technology for rapid bacterial detection because companies wanted to be able to move a product faster and get results quicker,” Lasky said. “There was this need, but not a lot of good techniques at the time.”

In 2003, Advanced Analytical released an updated model of its rapid bacteria detector, the RBD 3000. Unlike the original version, the newer model is completely automated and requires little training to operate. It can test up to 42 samples in quick succession. Here’s a quick rundown of how it works: After liquid samples are loaded into the machine, its robotic arms add a fluorescent tag to each sample that adheres to the bacteria. Each sample is mixed and incubated for a short period of time before it passes through a laser beam. Any living bacteria will glow when the laser hits it, and the machine electronically counts and records each type of bacteria and its intensity.

Although the RBD 3000 has been on the market for a few years, selling it was somewhat difficult in the beginning, because many companies’ capital budgets for investing in new technologies were “crushed” after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Lasky said.

“Companies were holding on to their money to see what happened with the economy, and that made things quite difficult for a while,” he said. “But now the economy is moving, and people are looking for new technology to help them operate more efficiently.”

Lasky estimates that about 40 of the RBD 3000s have been sold so far, including several to overseas companies. Procter & Gamble Co. and Alberto-Culver Co., which manufactures the Alberto VO5 hair-care line and other personal-care products, have signed on as strategic partners with Advanced Analytical, and the company expects another four to five companies to sign similar agreements this year.

“More than likely, if it’s a product found in your bathroom, we have either talked to the people who manufacture the products or have sold stuff to them,” Lasky said. “The list of companies we work with is pretty impressive.”

Advanced Analytical is adding staff to produce new products, ones that would allow the company to expand in the food product and environmental testing industries, Lasky said. The $1.45 million in funding it will receive through a multiyear Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Defense Department may also lead to other opportunities.

As the company grows, Lasky has found that it can sometimes be a challenge to find skilled workers because “we’re not located in a research triangle, so we don’t have a giant pharmaceutical company here to pull people off of.” But being located in Ames does have its advantages.

“The advantage of Iowa really comes down to work ethic,” Lasky said. “Out of all the states I’ve worked in, I’ve never seen such as committed staff. Ties to the university have also been helpful, with access to some of the Iowa State research folks. More importantly, I think, is the ability to work with John Pappajohn and companies like Principal (Financial Group Inc.) and Farm Bureau (FBL Financial Group Inc.) that have invested in us and stayed behind us.”

Steve Carter, president of the Iowa State University Research Park, said the success of companies like Advanced Analytical help the whole region recruit more scientific and technical companies and individuals.

“As companies grow, you establish more career opportunities for scientific and technical people, which starts to provide a benefit for both the university and companies at the research park,” Carter said. “We are very excited by the opportunity that AATI has developed for itself. They’ve worked extremely hard and it’s taken time, as it often does, but they’ve stayed with it.

“They are on the edge of a great amount of success. We consider ourselves a partner of theirs from the beginning, and we will stay with them as they move forward.”