The $600,000 "stamp" –- a grant from the prestigious NSF Partnerships for Innovation program –- paves the way for an extended regional partnership that will create the innovation infrastructure needed to commercialize the photonics research conducted at Clemson. Business leaders hailed the move, which is expected to attract high-paying, knowledge-based industries to the region.
"Commerce is excited about this award and has high expectations for what this collaborative effort can accomplish," said S.C. Department of Commerce Secretary Bob Faith. "As photonics combines light and electronics to produce modern communication systems, so will this grant bring together academic researchers and private industry to help produce a modern, knowledge-based South Carolina economy."
For existing companies like BellSouth, it could lead to an improved bottom line that could grow its 3,300-strong employee base in South Carolina. "BellSouth recognizes the far reaching economic development potential from the commercialization of photonic materials research and a strengthening of collaborations between universities, private industries and economic development organizations in the region," said Hank Fisher, executive director of BellSouth in South Carolina.
Clemson is uniquely qualified to drive the photonics revolution. Clemson's Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET) is the only university R&D lab focused on the development of new optical materials. Clemson sits in the middle of an optical-fiber production belt that stretches from Atlanta, Ga., to Wilmington, N.C., with more than 70 percent of the world's optical fiber made along this path.
Photonics –- an optical communications technology that melds light with electronics –- is a $56 billion a year industry. Fiber optics and lasers were among the first photonics innovations to hit the market, with a second wave –- including DVDs, video-on-demand and photodynamic therapy –- expected to transform industries such as medicine, entertainment and commerce. Research and innovation into new materials is critical to continued technological progress.
Photonics and automotive engineering research are technology clusters identified as having enormous economic growth potential for the state and region.
The brains and economic brawn behind the photonics research are COMSET and Clemson's Arthur M. Spiro Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.
"We want to use the scientific innovations coming out of COMSET, in conjunction with the entrepreneurial and business development resources of the Spiro Center, to serve as the foundation for knowledge-based economic development in South Carolina" said COMSET director John Ballato, an associate professor of materials science and engineering. The Partnerships for Innovation program promotes innovation by bringing together colleges and universities, state and local governments, private sector firms and nonprofit organizations in order to develop the people, tools and infrastructure needed to connect new scientific discoveries to practical uses.
The demand for the photonic materials used in communication is expected to grow from less than $13 million in 2001 to more than $2 billion by 2005. Future use of photonic materials and devices in industrial, medical and computing applications will add to these demand scenarios, said Caron St. John, director of Clemson's Spiro Center and a nationally-recognized business management professor.
"We intend to build an extended regional partnership -–- including researchers, educators, industrial partners, economic development groups and entrepreneurs –- that will help South Carolina develop an expert workforce, improve the transfer of academic innovations to new and established firms and broaden the base of entrepreneurial resources," said St. John.
The approach will create a model for technology-based economic development that can be replicated and extended for other promising technology sectors in the state, St. John said.
Clemson, UNC-Charlotte and Western Carolina University last year formed the Carolina Micro-Optics Triangle, a regional research alliance that could make the Carolinas major players in the realm of information technology and the New Economy. The university research could help attract major industries that manufacture opto-electronic and photonic components.
To develop the necessary skilled workforce, Clemson partnered with Tri-County Technical College, Greenville Technical College and Spartanburg Technical College. The educational alliance will provide a skilled workforce at every level of education in photonic technologies from certificate and associates degrees to baccalaureate to Masters and Ph.D. level. This collaboration has also born fruit for the three technical colleges. They received a joint NSF award for nearly $200,000 to help develop the technician workforce needed to bring photonics companies into the area.
"This grant gives us the opportunity to do several things, including the creation of remote instructional laboratories and development of distance learning courses in photonics," said Jim Wood, division chair for Industrial and Engineering Technology at Tri-County Technical College. The grant will also provide funds for a summer camp program for area high school students to increase awareness of career opportunities in the photonics industry.
Private sector partners include Alcoa-Fujikura, Bell South, Cisco Systems, Kigre, Pirelli and Tetramer Technologies. Regional partners include Carolina Crescent Coalition, Clemson University Research Foundation, Greenville Chamber of Commerce, Optical Society of America, Upstate Alliance, Upstate Coalition for Entrepreneurial Development and the Ottawa Photonics Cluster.