Friel is new chair of the board of directors at PerkinElmer.
As an Energy Frontier Research Center, the university will be funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The Thermo Scientific emission spectrometer will detect the trace element content of sodium chloride in brine.
Acme Brick, Glen-Gery Corp., and Whitacre Greer are a few of the companies recognized by the Brick Industry Association.
The technology is a reverse osmosis process that treats acidic wastewater.