Collaborative ventures foster economic growth

Collaborative ventures foster economic growth

Facilities such as Brevard, Kent State and the University of Michigan were designed to bring collaborative ventures together and foster U.S. economic growth.

In 1997, Kent State University opened a $13.5 million Liquid Crystal Institute/Materials Science building, equipped with a sophisticated cleanroom. The goal of the institute was to attract new business to a high-growth corridor in northeast Ohio.

According to the university, the Ohio Board of Regents provided $2.5 million to start up the 3,200-square-foot cleanroom. A $500,000 grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation of Los Angeles supports the research done in the cleanroom. Other funding partners include Ametek, Aristech Foundation, Brewer Science, Dai Nippon Printing Co., Lubrizol Foundation, Motif and Planar Advance, according to Kent State.

The facility has laboratory and office space for eight faculty and senior staff and 50 support staff and visiting scientists. The programs involve about two dozen graduate students and another dozen undergraduates. Twenty-five research laboratories are housed within the 65,000 square feet of floor space.

The University of Michigan`s Center for Display Technology and Manufacturing is another school program on the cutting edge of the flat-panel display industry and is considered a premier applied research “incubator” in the United States.

A portion of the lab is known as the Colaboratory, a facility that allows small companies to have access to cleanroom space and research capabilities. The center is involved in helping transfer technology.

The Colaboratory uses a cleanroom in Ann Arbor, MI, about a mile from the main campus, which had been operated by the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan. The school had outgrown its facilities, part of the university`s solid state electronics lab.

At inception, some 20 corporations became members of the Colaboratory support group, including IBM, Photonics, Accudyne and Plasma Therm. — MS

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