News Release

Kent State awarded more than $14M to study liquid crystals and soft matter

Grant and Award Announcement

Kent State University

Kent State University will lead a partnership of eight northeast Ohio entities in a $14.5 million Ohio Research Scholars Program project to establish a Research Cluster on Surfaces in Advanced Materials. The new research center will be located at Kent State's Liquid Crystal Institute.

Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher, chair of the Ohio Third Frontier Commission, and Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut, announced the award Tuesday as a reaffirmation of Ohio’s commitment to attracting world-class talent and better aligning Ohio’s research investments with economic development.

The funding for the Kent State partnership was selected through a competitive proposal process on the basis of how effectively it related to Ohio's targeted technology/research focus areas of advanced materials; biosciences; instruments, controls, and electronics; information technology; and power and propulsion.

The research venture will combine the scientific excellence in fundamental and applied research at Kent State and Case Western Reserve University with innovative approaches to environmental technologies at the Cleveland Botanical Garden and highly successful commercialization of new technologies at Ohio-based AlphaMicron, Inc., CoAdna Photonics, Inc., Kent Displays, Inc., Kent Optronics, Inc., and LXD, Inc. The significant state investment is being made to ensure that Ohio retains its top international ranking for liquid crystal technology, research, technology transfer and commercialization.

Kent State will receive two endowed Research Scholar positions and Case Western Reserve will receive one.

"This project builds on a more than 40 years history of excellence in research and commercialization in the area of liquid crystals in Northeastern Ohio," Dr. Oleg Lavrentovich, director of Kent State's Liquid Crystal Institute, said. "The State funding will allow us to expand world leadership in scientific discovery and technology of these and other soft materials through the accelerated study of surface phenomena and partnership with industry."

The public-private partnership will focus on soft materials. During the past 60 years, researchers have learned much about hard matters, such as metals. During the very same time, new materials, often called “soft matter,” such as liquid crystals, surfactants and polymers, emerged and revolutionized numerous aspects of daily life from information and computer displays to manufacturing practices. Despite the abundance of soft materials in nature and human-controlled technologies, more research is needed to understand their properties and potentials.

Since the project's participants are the world’s leader in liquid crystal research, technology and development, with some of the most recognized scientists in the field, the venture will be built upon a solid and established foundation. The new research focus will be of importance to the local economy as it will accelerate the development of new products at Ohio-based companies.

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The Ohio Research Scholars Program provides grants to strengthen and increase the number of clusters of research excellence that are led by Ohio's academic institutions that support regional economic priorities. The Ohio Research Scholars Program aims to achieve this through aggressive investment in the attraction of senior research talent and related facilities and equipment, and promotion of unique collaborations needed to build and sustain scientifically and commercially promising lines of research.


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