A friend in Washington, David Abraham, had contacts in local venture capital circles and began to introduce Severinsky to potential investors. His original business plan was no less valid than it had been two years earlier, and it now had the added gloss of the successful M-Power "test." He also had a new name for his baby: Viteq. "I took the V from voltage, the I from the Ohm's law symbol for current, the T from time the and the EQ from equipment.

One contact led to another and Severinsky eventually met Herb Rabin, head of the Engineering Research Center at the University of Maryland. Rabin told him about an innovative program that the university had been operating for a year.

The Technology Advancement Program (TAP) was created to serve as an incubator for high-tech, small-business start-ups. The idea behind is a long-range plan to increase employment in high-technology fields for residents of Maryland. If Severinsky could get Viteq into TAP, the benefits would include low-cost operating space, tile use of some University of Maryland equipment and a lot of informal guidance from the professors.

Severinsky could see it all coming together. He appeared before the panel with his experience-proven business plan and he explained how his product would be particularly suitable for markets within reach of Maryland. His potential inclusion in TAP made it easier for the investors he had met through David Abraham to promise participation, and his lineup of investors made it easier for the TAP panel to view his application as a serious one.

Viteq was invited into TAP. The university provided a place to work, and a week after the decision had been made, Severinsky and three employees were building uninterruptible power supplies. That was a year ago, and now Viteq has a work force of 16 with the beginnings of international business to augment the domestic market.

(Alexander Severinsky is president of Viteq Corp., 1000 Aerospace Road, Lanham, MD. 20706. 301-731-0400.)

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