Lorain County Community College will receive a $5.5 million grant from the Wright Center for Sensor Systems Engineering administered by Cleveland State University to grow new jobs, businesses and educational programs in the high growth industry of sensor technologies.
“Sensor and sensor systems present new industry and job opportunities for Ohio and particularly the greater Lorain County region. Existing companies are looking for competitive advantages in the global market place. Incorporating sensor technologies gives them an edge; keeps them competitive and creating jobs locally. This grant will help companies commercialize new products while preparing the workforce to take advantage of new job opportunities,” said Dr. Roy Church, President of Lorain County Community College.
The award will support the purchase of specialized equipment and technical support to move forward four promising technologies in collaboration with local industry and educational partners: Acense, LLC (Twinsburg); R.W. Beckett Corporation (North Ridgeville); GreenField Solar (Oberlin/North Ridgeville); and Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland). LCCC envisions creating a capability that will draw companies from across the state and region to Lorain County to assist them in the commercialization of new technologies.
"It is great to have this commercialization capacity in our community. This will better tie local businesses and higher education to common economic goals,” John Butkowski, Senior Staff Engineer, R.W. Beckett Corporation
The equipment and expertise funded by this award will be made accessible to the entire community. “Industry and educational partners, even entrepreneurs, will be able to access this resource to develop and test prototypes and shorten the product development time to market. Currently, companies developing sensor technologies are forced to send most of this work outside of Ohio, because this line of equipment is not readily available locally. Lack of close access causes disturbances of the technology and delays in reaching the market ahead of competitors. This project will keep local companies competitive and stimulate growth of new companies. And, that leads to new jobs,” said Dr. Church.
“The vision that Lorain County Community College has for a sensor lab focused on commercialization issues will drive sensor development in this region. LCCC has proven to have the leadership skills to make it happen,” Jack Harley, Founder and President, Acense, LLC.
The equipment will become part of LCCC’s new SMART Commercialization Center. The SMART Commercialization Center, which stands for Sensor/Microsystems Advanced packaging and Reliability Testing Commercialization Center, will provide resources to develop sensor packaging, conduct harsh environment reliability testing and assess component life simulation of sensors and microsystems – three critical steps in a product’s development before manufacturing. “This resource builds a bridge between the research and discovery expertise at regional universities and industries and the marketplace. It fills a much needed gap in the continuum and positions Lorain County as the hub for this activity in the Midwest,” said Church.
“This initiative further enables the strengthening of ties between one of the region’s premier community colleges and CWRU’s Biomedical Engineering department and even its School of Engineering, by providing fundamentally important technologies that will better enable our biomedical and other sensor technologies to undergo commercial and manufacturing validation during development and during translation to products,” Jeffrey L. Duerk, Ph.D., Chairman, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University.
The equipment will be housed initially in LCCC’s Entrepreneurship Innovation Center. Companies and students using the Center for product development and training will also have access to GLIDE, an Edison Technology Incubator developed in 2001 in partnership with the Lorain County Commissioners and Lorain County Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Innovation Fund administered by the Lorain County Community College Foundation.
“Entrepreneurs as well as students can develop new products using this equipment, test it to make sure it performs and receive business support from GLIDE and the Innovation Fund to turn the product into a business opportunity,” said Church. “The combination of this unique set of resources positions Lorain County has the place to launch a business and create new jobs in a new industry.”
In Ohio, the Instrumentation, Controls and Electronics industry, which includes sensor technologies, is a $160 billion industry. Furthermore, sensors and the microsystems that incorporate them are an enabling technology supporting sectors such as biomedical, alternative energy, manufacturing, aerospace, and defense.
“This award offers the potential to build on our manufacturing strengths in emerging markets affording workers opportunities to be retrained and skilled for new careers. We are most excited about the potential for creating educational programs in sensor and microsystem technology using this equipment for hands-on learning. By collaborating with Cleveland State University, who has been a longstanding partner in the University Partnership Program, we can create an entire continuum, from certificate to advanced degree tailored to meet the workforce needs of this unique industry,” commented Church.
"We're really happy that the state has recognized the value LCCC is bringing to the community and local employers. In the past, I successfully relied on community colleges for workforce training and prototyping assistance. Now, GreenField Solar and LCCC will endeavor to re-write how the world's energy needs are met and be there for all of us as they train our future workforce,” said Jon Jackson, Director of Engineering and Production, GreenField Solar Corp.
Lorain County Community College is one of six organizations receiving funding from the Wright Center for Sensor Systems Engineering (WCSSE).