Students and faculty from every discipline are encouraged to participate in this intersectional engine for the university. Campbell is helping to cultivate the Design Innovation Initiative at Kent State University to support design thinking, project-based learning, technology-infused maker communities and the curation of cross-disciplinary collaborative teams to tackle "wicked" problems. Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.Executive Director, Design Innovation Initiative "Now this facility will have a new life serving future economic development in northeast Ohio, as a globally significant research park connected to a major research university," Lefton said. The university has a partnership with Parta, the Portage County transportation network, that frees up the building and 10 surrounding acres. "The great thing about FLEXMatters is that it brings together three of our region's strengths liquid crystals, polymers and manufacturing in a way that enables us to compete globally in the emerging flexible display market," said the chief executive of NorTech, Dorothy Baunach.Ĭentennial Research Park is at the corner of state routes 59 and 261, in the Fiala Building, the former home of Kent State's student-operated campus bus service. The description of the Centennial Research Park as a business "accelerator," rather than a business incubator, reflects the goal of bringing together researchers from universities and new and established companies to "accelerate" the region's ability to make commercial use of its discoveries, West said. In addition, $500,000 is available in funds recovered from the bus service and is to be used for planning and preparation of the site for tenants. One of those companies, Kent Displays, a liquid crystal display manufacturer, was awarded $7.9 million in Ohio Third Frontier funding to commercialize research, including more than $900,000 to construct and establish the FLEXMatters Accelerator. Kent State ranks fifth in the world and second nationwide among universities in the number of start-up companies formed per $1 million in research expenditures, officials noted. "Our vision is to turn this education, research and development effort into an industrial cluster that will put northeast Ohio in the lead of this emerging global technology."
West, vice president for research and the dean of graduate studies at Kent State. "This region's strengths in Kent State's liquid crystals and the University of Akron's polymer research form a combination found nowhere else in the world," said John L.
One goal is to produce liquid crystal-based flexible displays, eyewear, electronics and other devices. The anchor tenant will be the FLEXMatters Accelerator, a partnership between Kent State and NorTech, a technology-based economic development enterprise created to produce a new generation of advanced materials, Lefton said.įLEXMatters will work with researchers at Kent State and the University of Akron, transferring technology to emerging companies that will develop and produce devices that are typically rigid on flexible polymer substrates, officials explained. "The Kent State Centennial Research Park is an important part of my vision for the university as it enters its second century, by cultivating and capitalizing on intellectual property," said the president of Kent State, Lester A. The university will provide space for start-up companies and its students and faculty engaged in research of liquid crystal technology and other disciplines. Officials described the initiative as a business "accelerator" that will enable university researchers to work with entrepreneurs to bring high-tech products to the marketplace. KENT, Ohio Kent State University announced Friday the launch of its Centennial Research Park to be located in a 44,000-square-foot building that had housed the student bus service.
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