Last week, the Ohio Third Frontier Commission announced over $19 million in grant awards through the Advanced Energy, Fuel Cell and Photovoltaic programs. A total of 11 Northeast Ohio companies received Ohio Third Frontier grants to further their research, development and commercialization activities in the advanced energy. This is great news for the Northeast Ohio region and will lead to continued growth and development of our technology economy.  To view the full press release announcements, go to http://development.ohio.gov/PressRoom.htm.

ENERGY STORAGE

R. W. Beckett Corporation, (Lorain County), in collaboration with Energy Technologies, Inc., was awarded $1 million to investigate implementing lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technology into a variety of distributed power storage appliances for utility and military markets, with applications for the civilian off-grid storage market.

Novolyte Technologies, Inc., (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University, was awarded $1.12 million to develop novel electrolytes for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries that will significantly improve performance and safety, and accelerate product commercialization.

GrafTech International Holdings, Inc.,  (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with Mobius Power, Nexergy, and the Center for Automotive Research at The Ohio State University, was awarded $965,000 to develop and commercialize a portfolio of expanded natural graphite thermal management products to improve performance, durability and safety of lithium ion batteries.

WIND ENERGY

Avtron Industrial Automation, Inc., (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with MAGNET, Morgenthaler Partners, and The University of Akron, was awarded $1 million to develop and commercialize a superior Absolute Magnetic Encoder for use in wind turbine applications. 
WASTE TO ENERGY

quasar energy group, (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with McCabe Engineering, Rockwell Automation, Seaman Corporation, Seepex and The Ohio State University, was awarded $2 million to scale-up and optimize a commercial demonstration facility that can process over 30,000 wet tons of biomass annually with more than 750 kW of electrical generation capacity. 

FUEL CELLS

Energy Technologies, Inc., (Richland County), in collaboration with Energy Conversion Devices, was awarded $1 million to develop and verify testing process and verification tools  to demonstrate the manufacturing repeatability of metal hydride fuel cell systems and their key subcomponents.

Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems (US) Inc., (Stark County), in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University, was awarded $999,770 to determine the long-term reliability of the Rolls-Royce solid oxide fuel cell. A method to predict performance will be developed so that qualification of the solid oxide fuel cell can be accelerated, and  reduce the time for entry into commercial stationary power markets.

Wellman Products Group, a Division of Hawk Corporation, (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with UTC Power, a division of United Technologies Corporation, was awarded $893,252 to lower the material costs of the integrated separator plates (ISPs) that will be incorporated into UTC Power’s new PureCell® 400 System, power plants by employing lower cost raw materials and processing methods.

Lockheed Martin MS2 Integrated Defense Technologies, (Summit County), in collaboration with Technology Management, Inc., was awarded $1 million to accelerate commercialization of solid oxide fuel cell based generator sets (gensets) and auxiliary power units (APUs) to the U.S. Department of Defense, which is an early adopter with a pressing need for the basic value proposition. This will result in jobs at Lockheed Martin in Akron, as well as at Technology Management, Inc. and other partners in the Ohio fuel cell supply chain within the next five years.

PHOTOVOLTAIC

Ferro Corporation, (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with the Edison Welding Institute, StratusNexus Technologies, and The Ohio State University, was awarded $1 million to engineer a vitreous frit system to reliably hermetically seal second and third generation thin film solar cells for the desired service life of the solar module. 

Five Star Technologies, Inc., (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with the Photovoltaic Innovation Center at the University of Toledo, was awarded $1 million to commercialize revolutionary inks that have been successfully demonstrated at test labs and alpha customers. The advanced inks enable a new generation of solar cells and can be incorporated immediately into existing cell fabrication lines.

To learn more about how the Ohio Third Frontier is growing the state’s technology economy and creating good jobs for Ohio residents, visit www.thirdfrontier.com.

In 2002, Ohio launched Third Frontier, a 10 year, $1.6 billion commitment to support technology-based economic development.  This program has had a tremendous impact on Northeast Ohio.   The essence of this program is that it creates an incentive for a knowledge-based / technology-based industry to flourish in Ohio (rather than only one company, many companies within an industry can benefit.)

Ohio’s Third Frontier Project is a $1.6 billion commitment to expand research capabilities, company formation, new product development, and advanced manufacturing technologies in Ohio’s high-tech industries through public-private collaboration. 

The Third Frontier promotes economic growth by expanding the availability of investment capital needed to form new companies, supporting product innovation in established companies, facilitating commercialization of new products, funding collaborative projects between private companies and Ohio colleges and universities. 

A few of the many notable Third Frontier awards in the Cleveland Plus region include:

• Engineering and Physical Sciences Research and Commercialization Program:  $8 million grant to Kent Displays, Inc. for the manufacturing of flexible liquid crystals film
• Fuel Cells Initiative:  $2 million grant to Rolls-Royce Fuel Systems for establishing an Ohio-based manufacturing and supply chain, a one-megawatt solid oxide system and high pressure stack block test system for power module
• Wright Mega Centers of Innovation :  $60 million grant to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation for the formation of the Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center
• Third Frontier Advanced Energy Program :  $2 million grant to Parker Hannifin for wind turbine drive train and brake commercialization
• Biomedical Research and Commercialization Program :  $3 million grant to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation to develop small molecules that can enhance repair of the brain to delay and reverse multiple sclerosis;  $3.9 million grant to Case Western Reserve University for therapeutic nanoparticles and molecular imaging
• Ohio Research Scholars Program:  $15 million grant to Kent State University for research cluster on surfaces in advanced materials

Take a look at this independent study that assessed the benefit of this program to the State of Ohio

Rolls-Royce announced on Monday that it will expand its fuel cell research division in North Canton, a move that public officials said will create 60 jobs and retain 32.   “This type of high-tech investment is exactly what we need to create and expand business opportunities for Ohio companies and position our state as a leader in innovation and technology,” said Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland.

The expansion of the Rolls-Royce labs at the Stark State College of Technology campus will add a few more engineering jobs, from about 30 currently to about 40 or 50.  The real growth in jobs would be in 2012 when Rolls-Royce completes its design of the utility-scale fuel cells — and if it agrees to build assembly plants in Ohio.

The company said it will invest $3 million in processing and testing equipment, consolidating its research and development activities in North Canton. The chief executive of its U.S. fuel cell division, Mark Fleiner, said Ohio’s commitment to support a fuel cell industry and a strong partnership with Stark State College factored into its expansion decision. Rolls envisions global production of very large fuel cells — generating hundreds of thousands or millions of watts. The megawatt-sized units would be ideal for electric utilities looking to augment their giant, coal-fired power plants or nuclear plants by distributing the fuel cells on local, neighborhood distribution systems.

The news was announced at Stark State College of Technology, where Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems established its North American headquarters in 2006. The state has targeted fuel cells for development because Ohio has the technological expertise and work force to build them — everything from the fuel cell itself to myriad pumps and compressors and accompanying electronics in a complete fuel cell system.