Five Centers support state’s work in nanotechnology, polymers, liquid crystals

Akron, Ohio – Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric D. Fingerhut today announced Ohio’s Centers of Excellence in Enabling Technologies: Advanced Materials and Sensors, at The University of Akron’s Goodyear Polymer Center.

The Centers, at five universities throughout the state, are committed to focusing their academic and research activities on advanced materials and sensors technology development to create jobs and strengthen Ohio’s ability to bring innovative technologies to commercialization.

“We are establishing Centers of Excellence to help make Ohio schools the best in the nation at turning research into economic development and new jobs,” Strickland said. “Because we know that the innovative and cutting-edge work of our public and private universities provides a solid foundation on which to strengthen Ohio’s economy.

“Committing resources and research to the development of advanced materials and sensors will allow Ohio to bring cutting-edge technologies to reality and create good jobs for Ohioans in our growing industries,” Strickland said. “I’m proud to announce these Centers today and am excited to see the innovative work they will accomplish in the future.”

The Centers are located at the following universities:

• Case Western Reserve University: The Institute of Advanced Materials at Case
• Kent State University: Liquid Crystal, Bioscience, Nanotechnology
• The Ohio State University: Materials, Manufacturing Technologies, and Nanotechnology
• University of Akron: Globally Distinctive Polymer Sciences and Engineering Applied in Regional Industry Clusters, including the BioInnovation Institute in Akron and its Center of Excellence in Orthopedics
• University of Cincinnati: Nanoscale Sensors

Youngstown State University was also identified as an Emerging Center of Excellence in Materials Science and Engineering, which indicates the university’s significant progress toward becoming a Center of Excellence.

The Centers of Excellence, as outlined in Ohio’s 10-year Strategic Plan for Higher Education, will position the University System of Ohio to be a magnet for talent and a leader in innovation and entrepreneurial activity. The Centers will accomplish this by developing distinct missions for each institution that are recognized by students, faculty and business leaders, while eliminating unnecessary competition for resources, students and faculty within the state.

“Higher education is continuing to focus its resources on those strengths that can drive economic growth in Ohio,” said Chancellor Fingerhut. “The Centers of Excellence in Advanced Materials and Sensors will drive the innovations that will help Ohio companies compete on a global scale and create more jobs.”

Ohio’s strength in the production of iron and steel, polymers, and various chemicals has positioned the state to make scientific and technological breakthroughs in new, advanced materials that are revolutionizing many industrial and consumer products.

From its early roots in tire production and support for the auto industry to supplying today’s growth industries, Ohio continues to be a world leader in the polymer industry. And by focusing their efforts on niche markets in liquid crystal technology, Ohio universities, companies and institutions are developing innovative technology and creating a world-class hub for liquid crystal research and development, as well as commercialization.

The state’s world-class competencies in advanced materials have also been a major focus for investment by Ohio’s Third Frontier program. Whether improving on more mature energy technologies or leading the development of next generation innovations, research and commercialization of advanced materials and sensors is making Ohio a recognized source for alternative and renewable energy solutions.

This Centers of Excellence category focuses on technologies that cross-cut Ohio’s growth industries such as advanced materials and sensors. Four other categories are specific to Ohio’s growth industries – advanced energy, biomedicine and health care, advanced transportation and aerospace, and agriculture, food production and bioproducts. A sixth group is focused on enhancing the quality of life around the state through additional programs that are essential in building communities and attracting the best and brightest to Ohio. There will be additional Centers related to advanced materials and sensors released in the advanced transportation and aerospace category as those centers specifically relate to that industry.

Today marks the fourth Ohio Centers of Excellence announcement. In October 2009, the governor and chancellor announced Ohio’s Centers of Excellence in Advanced Energy at eight of the state’s universities. Ohio’s Centers of Excellence in Biomedicine and Health Care at 14 universities were announced in February. Last month, Governor Strickland and Chancellor Fingerhut announced Ohio’s Center of Excellence in Agriculture, Food Production and Bioproducts at The Ohio State University’s Food Industry Center.

For more information, see Ohio Centers of Excellence and the 10-year Strategic Plan for Higher Education.

Ohio has the word entrepreneur written all over the state. Great historical figures are gone now, but their legacy lives on. In Dayton, the Patterson’s and the Wrights left a legacy, which might be a tough one to live up to for these early pioneers shaped aviation history.

In Akron, the Rubber Barons made their début. Entrepreneurs who assisted us in every aspect of modern life with innovations and trial and errors, which helped us get to the moon, space, win WWII, race cars, play sports, protect us in hospitals and of course mobility of the modern automobile. If they were today to drive around and see it all much would impress them, but much would certainly upset them and they would go out and fix it.

Maybe OH and some of these other places might want to consult the writings and thoughts of these great men and get back to reality and fix the obvious to move their ball forward. It seems that level of ‘can do’ attitude has not been seen in decades, but it still exists today in the corporations, which bare their names.

Ohio has other more recent legends such as Dave Thomas; founder of Wendy’s. Maybe you might wish to pick up his book and read it, “Franchising for Smarties” it too is rich with history of a more modern period. From where the rubber hits the road to the where man touches the sky to the food we eat; Ohio has a mighty business heritage indeed.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.

Author: Lance Winslow
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

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While meeting with a prospective client — a CEO of a large cleaning supply company — about purchasing new software, he told me that he was planning to grow his business by end of the year from 300 million to 500 million dollars by acquiring competitors he was negotiating with. When I asked him how he planned to integrate his company’s software with the new companies he was planning to acquire, his response was: “You hit the nail on its head. The software we are using cannot support our future acquisition plans. We will have to let the companies we plan to acquire keep using their current software until we find software that can meet our new needs. Not having the right software will result in a substantial increase of our operating cost. The unfortunate part is that we did not have the foresight to think ahead of the fact that our current software would not be able to support our acquisition plans. Nobody expected that we would grow at this rate and now we have to pay the price.”

Here are 4 unforeseen business disruptions that are likely to happen when your business environment changes:

1. Quite often companies engaged in e-commerce, experience an unexpectedly high volume of sales’ transactions that the current software cannot handle efficiently, resulting in the need for additional labor and excessive operating costs.

2. Frequently, the current software cannot provide the desired analytical information needed, resulting in the downloading of large amounts of data to spread sheets and more complex data manipulation to get the needed reports.

3. When mergers and acquisitions take place, the number of users along with the transaction volume will substantially increase, resulting in the possibility that the current computer system will not be able to handle this sudden change.

4. The acquired company might not have the same business practices as the company doing the takeover, resulting in the possibility that the current software may not be able to handle the new business demands. This can result in multiple software platforms being used creating higher operating costs and additional complexities in the computer infrastructure.

When planning future expansion, steps should be taken to ensure smooth business growth.

Software effectiveness evaluations should be performed the same way as evaluating old equipment in a factory. When evaluating the current software functions, the focus should not be on how well the software meets the business needs today, but whether it can meet the business growth of tomorrow when the company moves to the “next level.” In today’s business reality, which is changing at lighting speed, lack of planning can be a very costly proposition.

Nobody likes change, but not facing the fact that a company’s current software is outdated can result in substantial business disruptions and expenses down the road. The question that should always be asked is: “if the business reality changes drastically resulting in an unexpectedly large amount of new users or volume of data transactions, could the current software be able handle it?”

Since 1980, Dan Kaplan has worked with corporate executives to improve purchasing, increase warehouse and distribution efficiencies, and implement software solutions that result in substantial savings and productivity improvements. To lower your operating costs, reduce your warehousing and distribution business’s quote generation process from 3 weeks to 3 hours and invoice cycle from months to one day, go to http://www.smcdata.com.

Author: Dan Kaplan
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

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