Innovation + Job News

Adding next-generation wind production to Ohio's energy mix presents several technical problems, but one boils down to this: Getting to the best wind will take taller towers, and using steel structures to get there will add significant weight and transportation costs.

But what if we could make the towers on site using lighter-weight composites? A new $1-million Ohio Third Frontier grant is aimed at finding out.

Managing the project is Ershigs, a Bellingham, Wash.-based company with expertise in building composite structures on site and which has operations near Manchester, Ohio. Other partners include the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) and Edison Materials Technology Center in Dayton; Miamisburg-based WebCore, which makes engineered core materials for composite sandwich structures; Owens Corning's Columbus operations, which make an advanced, high-strength glass fiber; and Ashland Performance Materials in Dublin, which makes high-performance resins. A successful project could lead to new Ohio jobs, partners say.

UD, WebCore and Owens-Corning worked on an earlier Third Frontier project that looked at new markets for advanced materials in a variety of areas -- including windmill blades, says Brian Rice, Division Head for Multi-Scale Composites and Polymers at UDRI.

"And we also funded an engineering study to say does it make sense to make towers with composites . . . and we wanted to find out at what point does it make economic sense to switch from steel to composites."

Steve Hettick, a vice president of manufacturing for Ershigs, says the first year of the two-year grant period will be concerned primarily with "technical development and with materials testing validation." He said the team will perform extensive computer modeling and build sample laminates to first prove out the design. Eventually, the team's objective is to build and test a full-scale tower.

Sources: Brian Rice, UDRI and Steve Hettick, Ershigs
Writer: Gene Monteith

Marge Murphy is a born-and-bred New Yorker. With degrees in engineering and computer science, she eventually rose to New England regional sales manager for a New Jersey company.

Children came along, and Murphy decided to give up her hectic travel schedule to stay at home. Then "my husband arrives home one day from work and says 'we're going to move to Ohio.'"

Little did she know that her husband's change of employers would change her future.

"One of their product managers approached me a couple of years after we were here and said Marge, we have a new project, a product we're looking to launch, and you've got some sales experience, you've got the technical expertise, could you call 25 clients, introduce the new product and get some feedback?"

Good work begat good work and the jobs grew larger. Acadia Lead Management was born.

"It's a mixture of lead qualification and market intelligence," says Murphy, the company's president. The company connects with respondents to a client's marketing activities and filters them, she says. "Those that are not sales-ready stay in our process and we continue to nurture them and build a knowledge database for our clients."

Launched in 1999, Acadia has five employees and 35 to 40 consultants around the country. It was named among the fastest-growing companies in revenues by the Dayton Business Journal last year and picked up a new award in January: "Rookie Business of the Year."

"About four years I incorporated," explains Murphy, "so was still considered a rookie business."

Source: Marge Murphy
Writer: Gene Monteith

You've seen it in countless movies -- the soldier carrying his injured comrade off the battle field over his shoulder.

Turns out that is exactly the wrong thing to do, and a Miamisburg company has patented an invention that will make rescuing injured military or emergency personnel much safer.

Dan Hassall, president and founder of Daytac -- a military and police tactical equipment research and development company -- says the company has invented new body armor that converts into a stretcher when necessary to safely transport injured military, police or firefighting personnel out of danger.

The stretcher is lightweight (only 10 ounces),  flexible and is folded into the bullet-proof vest worn by the soldier or police officer until it is needed in an emergency.

"It's made to stabilize the spine and neck to prevent more injuries," says Hassall, who founded his company in 2004 after 15 years with the Dayton Police Department.

Hassall says he has heard of many emergency and military personnel who were further injured when they were moved hastily after being struck in the field, or who were left in harm's way because it was not safe to move them.

"They said if they had had something like (our stretcher) they could have saved lives."

Hassall says he is working with the U.S. Army and Navy to get the flexible stretcher added as standard equipment. He is also hoping many police and firefighting units will adopt it and he also plans to find international buyers for it.

"We could be looking at millions of vests in production eventually," says Hassall, who has contracted with manufacturers in Ohio to make the stretcher, and says he expects to add two to four employees in the near future as production expands. The company now has  six.

The vest would add about $50 to the cost of a regulation $2,000 bullet proof best, he says.

Source: Dan Hassell, Daytac
Writer: Val Prevish

Markel Snyder, founder of GotGameRecruiting.com, says he remembers the challenge of getting noticed by college coaches when he was a young athlete.

A former basketball player for Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, Ky., Snyder says that he was especially inspired to help smaller colleges find athletes because they generally don't have the resources to travel the country looking at top recruits the way large universities do.

That's why Snyder started GotGameRecruiting, based in Pickerington, in 2007, one of the first virtual recruiting companies in the country. Athletes use GotGame to create digital trading cards that can be viewed by coaches anywhere. The cards include the player's stats, video images, and a profile.

Coaches pay an annual $62.95 membership fee and athletes pay $99.95 to have their information sent digitally to 100 coaches. One of the most appealing offerings for coaches, says Snyder, is that GotGame verifies the information the athletes provide so that coaches don't waste time verifying it themselves, or contacting athletes who don't qualify for their programs due to false information.

Recruiting tools such as GotGame are growing in popularity because they are very cost effective and allow coaches and athletes to increase the scope of their searches, says Snyder.

Snyder says GotGame has 20 member coaches and about 5,200 athletes at present. He hopes to increase that to 1,000 coaches representing 18 sports and at least 50,000 athletes by the end of 2010. He expects to add at least two employees to his current four as demand steps up.

Source: Markel Snyder, GotGameRecruiting.com
Writer: Val Prevish

The City of Cincinnati is emerging as a U.S. leader in tackling global climate change through its Green Cincinnati Action Plan, an effort to cut Greenhouse Gas emissions 8 percent by 2012 and 80 percent by 2050.

The plan, which City Council passed in 2008, recently got a major boost with a $500,000 Climate Showcase Community Award from the Environmental Protection Agency. The city's Office of Environmental Quality was awarded the highly competitive grant that will be paid out over three years. In addition, the EPA will highlight the city's efforts � which include 80 specific steps to reduce emissions � as an example for other cities looking for ways to clean up pollution. Currently more than 1,000 U.S. cities have some sort of plan to curb emissions.

"Our Green Cincinnati Action Plan is a collaboration among dedicated citizens, community organizations, and businesses in our region. Our partners all realize that making Cincinnati a 'Green City' is essential to making Cincinnati a successful city," said Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory.

Cincinnati was one of just 20 cities awarded the grant out of a total of 450 applicants. It will allow the city to continue to move forward on its ambitious plan. Recommendations include buying hybrid buses, encouraging car pooling, increased bus use and a regional rail system.

"This funding will provide a tremendous boost to fulfilling the vision and programs in the Green Cincinnati Action Plan" said Larry Falkin, director of the City of Cincinnati's Office of Environmental Quality.

Source: City of Cincinnati
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

A new generation of animators has a new tool to learn the craft -- one nurtured on the banks of the Ohio River and seemingly straight out of "Avatar."

On Feb. 19, Shawnee State University in Portsmouth dedicated and officially opened its new Motion Capture Lab, a state-of-the-art facility that is one of only two such programs in the state (the other is at Ohio State University).

The lab is designed specifically for those pursuing a bachelor of science in digital simulation and gaming arts, or a bachelor of fine arts with a concentration in gaming and simulation arts, says Carl Hilgarth, professor and department chair, Engineering Technologies.

To turn motion into an animated character, students wear a special suit covered in light-emitting diodes (LEDs), Hilgarth says. The movements, when fed through a software program, allow students to create a three-dimensional model of that character, eliminating the need to draw separate frames to create animated sequences.

Hilgarth sees applications not just for movies, but for physical therapy (to compare a patient's movement against a standard), athletic training (is my golf swing up to par?), and medical training (how do you get a patient into a wheelchair?)

"We would also be able to capture the strength or force by which you grip parts -- and so we can do training videos and very precisely as far as how you put parts together, how you have to grip parts . . . it has unlimited possibilities."

Use of the lab will begin in earnest in the fall, when it is completely fitted with new computers and software, Hilgarth says. Meanwhile, Shawnee State continues to carve out a niche for itself in digital interactive media: some 80 freshmen enroll in the engineering component alone every year, Hilgarth says.

Source: Carl Hilgarth, Shawnee State University
Writer: Gene Monteith

Doctors have long been able to evaluate neurological disorders like Parkinson's and ALS. What they haven't been able to pinpoint are many of the specific nerve-connection changes that lead to those problems.

The Wright State University and Premier Health Partners Neuroscience Institute is poised to change all that. Late last month, Wright State and Premier Health announced a partnership that will create the $22-million state-of-the-art institute and a new department of neurology within Wright State's Boonshoft School of Medicine.

Molly Hall, chief academic officer and vice president of academic affairs for Premier Health, says the institute will provide both a residency training program in neurology within Premier Health's hospital system and a mechanism for moving Wright State research into clinical trials. Such a program will help keep medical graduates in the region, attract new talent, and move the region toward national leadership in the neurosciences, she says.

The institute will focus on neurological problems that lead to movement disorders, says Tim Cope, director of the new institute and professor and chair of department of neuroscience, cell biology and physiology at Wright State.

As many as 95 new jobs will be created initially, but Cope says the ability to marry research with clinical trials will pave the way for  federal grants -- and more jobs and funding.

Premier Health will contribute $4.35 million over five years to form the new neurology department at Wright State; a department chair is to be named by the end of the year. The residency program is expected to be in place within four to five years. WSU, meanwhile, is raising $22 million for the 64,000-square-foot laboratory from state, federal and private sources.

Sources: Molly Hall, Premier Health Partners and Tim Cope, Boonshoft School of Medicine
Writer: Gene Monteith

Quicker diagnoses. More accurate evaluations. Fewer medical errors.

All are expected benefits of new federal stimulus money that is designed to jump-start Ohio's move to digitized medical records.

The $43.3-million grant to the Ohio Health Information Partnership (OHIP) last month, along with an additional $8 million budgeted over the next two years from the Ohio Department of Insurance, will focus on making patient information truly portable, linking health facilities and individual doctors throughout the state.

"To the patient the transition will be seamless, but in an emergency situation, if they're seeking medical attention at a hospital or from a physician they haven't visited before, it could potentially be life-saving," according to OHIP spokesperson Carly Glick.

Because doctors will have immediate access to complete information, they will be able to provide more efficient, more error-free care. Financially, the health information exchange can also cut costs by eliminating redundant tests and slashing administrative costs, Glick adds.

According to OHIP officials, more than a third of the funds will go toward development of a statewide health information exchange (HIE) to allow for the sharing of electronic health records between authorized healthcare facilities and health care providers. The remaining $28.5 million is earmarked to help create regional centers that will support hospitals to adapt to the HIE. It will also help individual doctor's offices � particularly in rural areas � convert to electronic medical record keeping.

OHIP is a not-for-profit partnership that includes state government, BioOhio, the Ohio Hospital Association, the Ohio State Medical Association, other medical groups and business and consumer groups.

Source: Carly Glick, Ohio Health Information Partnership
Writer: Dave Malaska

Quasar Energy Group is banking on the promise of alternative energies and an abundance of farm, food processing and other biomass that can be converted to electricity, gas and heat.

The Cleveland company is developing that potential at Ohio State University's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) in Wooster, where a bio-digester is currently supplying a third of the center's electricity needs. But the potential extends beyond the demonstration stage, Quasar says. Its commercial digester in Zanesville is nearing completion and the company plans to break ground on a Franklin County facility in spring or summer.

Digesters heat biomass like manure, crop waste, food waste, or fats and greases to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, which allows bacteria to turn the mixture into methane. The gas can then be used as fuel to generate electricity -- which in turn can then be sold to the local power company or used on site -- for example, on a farm. Farmers can also use the processed biomass as clean animal bedding or fertilzer. While farmers aren't widely adopting the technology today, Ohio produces enough biomass to support at least 7,000 digesters large and small, says Clemens Halene, vice president of engineering.

The company had its beginnings three years ago when Schmack BioEnergy of Germany built a digester to help KB Compost Services process bio-solids generated at the Akron wastewater treatment plant. Later, Quasar spun off.

A recent $2-million Ohio Third Frontier grant is allowing Quasar and the OARDC to research and develop next generation technology and new possibilities, such as auto or home heating fuel. The company recently added five positions, giving it 20 employees. 

Sources: Clemens Halene and Caroline Henry, Quasar Energy Group
Writer: Gene Monteith

Cincinnati State Community and Technical College is building Southwest Ohio's workforce development efforts with a new "smart grid" major, set to launch next fall.

This major will focus on the electric power industry's growing "smart grid" technology, designed to make electricity usage more efficient, thereby reducing the need for new power plants -- and more interactive, allowing consumers to better control and monitor their electricity use through mobile devices and the Internet.

The Cincinnati State major will train student-technicians to install "smart" meters as well as maintain them and work on distribution and transmission processes. The major will be geared toward the electric utility industry, but Cincinnati State officials say skills learned can be used across an array of industries.

Courses will include physics, algebra, and "Direct Current Circuit Analysis," "Alternating Current Circuits Lab," "Introduction to the National Electric Code" and "Power Systems Design."

Large electric utilities like Duke Energy, American Electric Power and FirstEnergy are all developing smart-grid capabilities in Ohio. For example, Duke received $200 million in federal stimulus money to help build its system in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, North Carolina and South Carolina. That includes the installation of approximately 4 million smart meters at Duke's customers' homes and businesses. Duke already has installed 47,500 electric and 28,800 smart meters across Cincinnati. Eventually, 700,000 electric and 450,000 natural gas meters will be installed across Ohio.

"Smart, digital technology is changing the face of the energy industry in much the same way wireless changed the telephone business," said Mark Wyatt, Duke Energy's vice president of smart grid and energy systems. "Having a major devoted to understanding how this technology integrates with today's grid is an important first step in preparing tomorrow's energy professionals."

Source: Bob White, Cincinnati State and Technical College Communications
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

Almost 2 million Americans suffer from pressure ulcers � also know as bed sores. And almost $1.3 billion is dedicated annually for that treatment. A new device capable of relieving chronic pain (with a lower price tag) is now a reality.

But it took a neighborhood of Ohio innovators in the state for the Valtronic Advanced Photobiotherapy Device to make it to the marketplace.

The Cleveland-based Manufacturing Advocacy & Growth Network (MAGNET) provided engineering expertise, patented the design and developed working prototypes; the University of Toledo's Department of Bioengineering developed the optical system; the UT College of Medicine conducted clinical trials. Valtronic Technologies USA , of Solon -- which specializes in medical industrial products -- handled commercialization, manufacture and distribution.

Greg Krizman, senior director of marketing for MAGNET, exudes pride while talking about the Valtronic Advanced Photobiotherapy Device.

He's also proud of MAGNET's role. "We're a one-stop shop for manufacturers who wish to grow their businesses," Krizman says. "Whatever people need to make their operations go faster, better and smarter, we have people to make that happen."

Krizman says one of the consequences of the recession is that companies have often been forced to lay off engineers. MAGNET serves companies with engineers on an "as-needed basis."

The partnership of organizations received some assistance from the Ohio Third Frontier initiative. About $1.3 million in assistance.

About 100 units have been sold to date. But those involved are optimistic about the product. Home care clinics and nursing homes are more likely to afford the portable device at $20,000 a unit � compared with the predecessor's $70,000 price tag.

Source: Greg Krizman, MAGNET
Writer: Colin McEwen

Science and Technology Campus Corp., the state-of-the-art research and office complex at The Ohio State University, is counting on creative synergy, investing in an $7.3 million ElectroScience lab and wireless communication building that housing university researchers and private tech-savvy firms under one roof.

The innovative 40,000-square-foot Wireless Communication Building allows for quick collaboration, making the research-to-commercialization process more dynamic and smooth, says SciTech President Doug Aschenbach.

"A lot of research ideas really do begin in a brainstorming process where people will be talking at lunch. There is a creative process that works better if people are together than if people are working by phone 1,000 miles away," Aschenbach says.

SciTech, a non-profit that partners with state, local and university partners to attract high-tech companies to its research park, is the developer of the Wireless Communication Building. The OSU ElectroScience Lab will occupy half of the new building. SciTech hasn't announced any official private clients yet, but said the companies in the ElectroScience field, like aviation companies, are targeted tenants.

"In many cases (researchers and private industry) are already collaborating. It makes the process more efficient if someone can walk down the hall and talk to the person conducting research on their behalf," Aschenbach says.

The building is expected to be ready for occupancy late this year.

Source: SciTech President Doug Aschenbach
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

ACME Express wants to take $35 million a year out of Ohio healthcare costs. So far, it's received a lot of help to pave the way.

The Cleveland-based software developer, founded in 1980, has caught the attention both of the federal government and the State of Ohio, which have helped fund research and development as well as commercialization of software that makes scheduling of medical personnel more efficient.

ACME Express was founded in 1980, and since then has developed products and services aimed at everything from logistics, to education, to medicine. These days, however, "we're focusing on healthcare," says President and Founder Don Scipione.

Grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Ohio Third Frontier have made it possible.

First came a $100,000 Small Business Innovation Research grant from the NIH in the late 1990s for Phase I "proof of concept" work. The successful completion of early work led to a Phase II grant for $250,000, Scipione says.

The company's successful DOCS scheduling software is now being used by 80 healthcare customers representing 5,000 doctors, Scipione says.

In 2009, ACME received a two-year, $350,000 grant from the Third Frontier's Ohio Research Commercialization Program to extend the product's reach into hospitals and clinics, where Scipione says the real healthcare savings will be. Meanwhile, the company is awaiting word on a pending Small Business Innovation Research Grant to extend the capabilities of the product to maximize savings.

Scipione, whose company went from 4.5 employees last year to a current seven, counts among his staff three interns attracted through the Ohio Third Frontier Internship Program.

Source: Don Scipione, ACME Express
Writer: Gene Monteith

Aileron in Tipp City is to private businesses what a pair of ailerons are to the wings of an airplane: help for a steady, successful flight.

This non-profit organization, created in 1996 by former IAMS owner Clay Mathile (originally called the Center for Entrepreneurial Education), offers valuable resources in the form of both knowledge and facilities. Its mission: "to create an environment for owners of private enterprise to implement professional management."

For example, in April, June and August (February's session is sold out) Aileron will conduct "The Course for Presidents." Topics include leadership, strategy, culture, people development, structure, and business controls. Other upcoming programs: "Becoming an Effective Board Member" and "Keeping Your Company Sellable."

And because many fledgling firms focus on their work and not their environment, Aileron lets them rent meeting space in the organization's 70,000-square-foot building on 114 acres near Dayton.

Mathile knows a thing or two about what makes commerce tick. Besides IAMS, he's worked for General Motors and Campbell's Soup.

"I believe that entrepreneurs perform the most noble acts of anyone in a free society. By putting their capital at risk and creating jobs for others, they keep the Great American Dream alive," Mathile says on the Aileron web site. "We believe that those who engage themselves in all that we endeavor to share will grow in knowledge and passion to take their business and their dreams to the next level.

About 1,500 companies have accessed Aileron's offerings. They come from a range of industries � excavating, information management, dining and elder care, to name a few.

Aileron employs 20, plus uses guest facilitators. The Client Advisory Council facilitates dialogue between users and Aileron personnel to ensure quality and spark fresh concepts.

Source: Kelly McCracken, Aileron
Writer: Gabriella Jacobs

Cincinnati Children's Hospital has opened a ground breaking $600,000 stem cell facility, in a 650-square-foot space that has room to grow.

The Pluripotent Stem Cell Facility opened in January, and is the first of its kind in Ohio, Indiana or Kentucky. Researchers from Cincinnati Children's and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine are working together, studying the cause � and possible new organ and tissue replacement treatments � of a myriad of diseases.

Known as "induced pluripotent stem cells," these cells come from patients who have a disease. It's an emerging technology and these cells have the theoretical ability to become more than 200 different cell types found in humans.

"This technology is a bit like the internal combustion engine in terms of how it will drive future advances in stem cell biology," explains facility director James Wells. "It allows us to use cells from patients to study what goes wrong at the genetic and cellular level to cause their disease -- whether it's muscular dystrophy, diabetes or any number of degenerative diseases. This technology could allow us to fix genetic defects and use these cells to generate healthy cells and tissues to treat or cure the patient."

Researchers have already developed pancreatic cells that make insulin, retinal cells of the eye, nerve cells of the brain, intestinal cells, and liver cells.

The facility offers training in the generation and use of pluripotent stem cells for scientists to take to their own labs. It also offers cell line maintenance and other of pluripotent stem cell services. The facility is poised to grow along with demand for its services.

"Given the rapidly developing pace of this technology, it's easy to envision a day where pediatric hospitals like Cincinnati Children's will be able to provide services for generating and banking pluripotent stem cells from specific patients for future therapeutic use," Wells said.

Sources: Cincinnati Children's Hospital, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Writer: Feoshia Henderson