COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Third Frontier Commission recommended $3 million for Kent State University and its partners in a project involving liquid crystal displays.
The award, announced Wednesday, will provide funds for the university and its partners -- Alpha Micron, Akron Polymer Systems, Crystal Diagnostics and Kent Displays -- for its project involving new concept devices based on nanoscale engineering of polymer, liquid crystal interfaces. The project focuses on solving problems with polymer, liquid crystal interfaces, which will improve performance and allow the collaborating companies to push their products to the next level of commercial success.
The funding is part of more than $21 million recommended by the commission through the Third Frontier Open Innovation Incentive and the Third Frontier Innovation Platform Program.
Funds for the Kent State project were awarded to through the Innovation Platform Program, which is intended to support commercial partnerships involving an Innovation Platform at an Ohio college, university or other not-for-profit research institution that will benefit Ohio for-profit companies. Other projects receiving funds included:
University of Dayton, Dayton, in collaboration with RP+M, PolyOne Corporation, GE Aviation, and Stratasys, was awarded $2.999 million for its advanced material for additive manufacturing maturation project. The project focuses on the development of new materials to be used in additive manufacturing processes that will meet the needs of the aerospace industry in Ohio.
Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, in collaboration with Custom Orthopaedic Solutions, Astro Manufacturing, and ImageIQ, was awarded $2.764 million for its products to improve orthopedic patient outcomes project. The project focuses on the development and commercialization of software and other tools to improve surgical accuracy and patient outcomes in shoulder and hip replacements.
The clinic also was awarded approximately $3 million for its ophthalmic imaging center project in collaboration with OptoQuest Corp., ImageIQ, Avedro, Bioptigen, and Peregrine Surgical. The project focuses on developing and commercializing new ophthalmologic diagnostic and surgical instrumentation including new technology for imaging during surgical procedures on the eye.
The Ohio State University, in collaboration with Philips Healthcare and Cardinal Health, was awarded $3 million for its PET/MRI, a next-generation multimodal molecular imaging technology platform project. The project focuses on the development of new radiopharmaceuticals and imaging technology to improve detection and diagnosis of diseases in cancer, neurology, and cardiovascular patients.
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, in collaboration with Cleveland Clinic, Athersys, BioEnterprise, TECAN, BioSpherix, Renovo Neural, and NanoFiber Solutions, was awarded $2.404 million for its project focusing on providing necessary equipment and services to cell therapy companies to accelerate the development of new cellular therapies through manufacturing scale-up, clinical trials, and commercialization.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.