Innovation + Job News

Search engine optimization is big business these days and one that Idea Engine Inc. of Rocky River has tapped into with great success.

The company's proprietary software, SyncShow, has helped propel growth at Idea Engine by enabling its clients to automatically optimize their web site content as they update the site, says Dan Carbone, technology director, creator of SyncShow and co-owner.

"We tap into Google's data base and use our marketing expertise to tell you what you need to do to optimize your business specifically," says Carbone. "This allows you to update your web site quickly and to put the correct things in so you rank higher."

Idea Engine also helps businesses generate leads that turn into sales. One recent client reported nearly doubling its lead generation through SyncShow after it had suffered a significant loss of business due to the auto industry slump, he says.

Founded in 2002 by Christopher Peer and first operated out of his attic, the company's roots are based in brand strategy and graphic design. In 2005 the company won an NEO Success Award recognizing it as one of Northeast Ohio's fastest growing companies. In 2006 Idea Engine merged with SyncShow Interactive and became a technology and marketing firm.

Typical clients for the company include manufacturing and software companies with revenues between $20 and $200 million that market business to business services, says Carbone.

Growth has been steady at Idea Engine, which added two employees last year and now stands at 10. The company expects to duplicate its 25 percent growth again this year, but it may not add new employees.

Source: Dan Carbone, Idea Engine
Writer: Val Prevish

Ice on your car's windshield is a seasonal nuisance, removed with elbow grease and a plastic scraper. Ice on an airplane is much more serious. It'll stop you cold. Gravity is such a downer.

Willoughby-based Kelly Aerospace Thermal Systems, helps general aviation and commuter aircraft (such as Cessna 350/400 planes) with the ThermaWing system. The system is lightweight (46 pounds), covers a large surface area and sheds ice fast. All the pilot has to do is activate a switch. The system monitors the outside air temperature and controls itself. A flexible, electrically conductive, graphite foil attached to a wing's leading edge makes an instant temperature rise. The ice melts then goes away due to aerodynamic force. It's quick, and cleaner than liquid de-icing products.

Development began around 1999 and took off via a NASA Small Business Innovative Research grant. Kelly's great innovation  was adapting graphite heating element materials used in other high temperature applications to de-icing an aircraft.

ThermaWing installations began in 2006. Today, system maintenance can be performed not just at the 14-person site in Lake County near Cleveland, but also in Oregon, New York, Alabama (parent company Kelly Aerospace is based in Montgomery) and in Germany. The company plans to make the system available for a wider range of aircraft. Also a result of the research grant, the company has had success with product integration and certification of high-output alternators and DC-powered air conditioning.

Demand for ThermaWing has been steady, spokeswoman Michelle Beckmann says. And she points out that in aviation, due to thin air at higher altitudes, ice is a year-round hazard. (Take heart, fellow auto owners. Our de-icing needs are only seasonal.)

Source: Michelle Beckmann, Kelly Aerospace Thermal Systems
Writer: Gabriella Jacobs

While nobody knows exactly why autism is on the rise, the skyrocketing incidence of the condition is putting increased financial and programming pressure on school districts and parents alike. Hence, Monarch Teaching Technologies' VizZle.

Just a year into the commercial sale of VizZle (it stands for visual learning), sales are strong and the product has gardnered a passel of awards, says Terry Murphy, CEO of the Shaker Heights-based company. According to Murphy, between 400 and 500 individuals are now using VizZle outside the Monarch School (also in Shaker Heights), where the program was developed and piloted. Murphy says half the public schools in Loraine County are using VizZle, as is the Pasadena, Calif., school district. Schools in Durbinville, Capetown, South Africa, recently signed on as trial users.

"Research has shown that children with autism are tremendously gifted visual learners; they do not learn in the traditional way where a teacher can stand up at a blackboard and lecture on a topic and kids will take notes," says Murphy. "But if you can show them what you want them to do, or they can show you if they don't have language . . . then they can make their needs known to you and you can make your needs know to them."

According to Murphy, "teachers need to be able to personalize the material, so we created an online toolbox with all the tools in there to build your own visual supports. You can build your own lessons, build your own materials. So it's an authoring system. But once people build them, they can save them to a (shared) public library, and we have 1,800 activities now."

The company, founded in 2005, has grown to 14 employees and "couple of contractors."

Source: Terry Murphy, Monarch Teaching Technologies
Writer: Gene Monteith

Arising from expertise within the glass industry and the abundance of cheap natural gas needed to melt silica for solar modules, the Toledo area has long been recognized for incubating advanced and alternative energy players.

In the thick of things has been the University of Toledo. So, it's only fitting that when it came time for the State of Ohio to establish a new Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization (PVIC), UT was a logical choice.

PVIC was founded in January 2007 with $18.6 million in Ohio Third Frontier funding and matching contributions of $30 million from federal agencies and university and industrial partners. The center -- which also has hubs Ohio State University, and Bowling Green State University -- has become a state of the art laboratory with three purposes, says Robert Collins, professor of physics and co-director of the PVIC: to help new companies commercialize their products, to help existing companies improve their products and expand product lines, and to build a large solar cluster in northwest Ohio.

The PVIC serves as both a testing ground for new applications and a resource for commercialization of those techniques. The center is now working with 30 companies from around the country -- including a start-up from Silicon Valley, Collins says.

The center has led the way in development of new thin-film technologies that can be produced more quickly and less expensively than traditional solar films. Meanwhile, UT is working on next-generation films using nanostructures, recently hiring two experts from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to lead the work.

Source: Robert Collins, University of Toledo
Writer: Gene Monteith

According to Mark Heiman, president of Tulong, the typical cotton-garment manufacturing process works something like this: A subsistence farmer in a developing nation plants genetically modified cotton seed. While growing, the foliage is showered with a steady diet of chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, which have a nasty habit of tainting nearby waterways. Ever thirsty, the plants gulp fresh water that might otherwise be used to grow food. Extensive energy is then expended to harvest, ship, process and prepare the cotton for use in garments.

Now, toss about a fifth of the finished material straight into the trash.

"When patterns are cut and garments are made, about 15 to 20 percent of the actual cotton fabric goes straight into the waste stream," explains Heiman. "We recapture this cutting room waste for use in our Repair The World® brand apparel."

In a mechanical process called garnetting, the recycled cotton fabrics are reduced to fiber state and blended with polyester thread made from post-consumer PET plastic bottles. The finished material is used to make sustainable casual clothing for men and women. Tulong's first products are expected to be available in spring of this year.

Tulong, headquartered in Loveland, currently employs four full-time staffers. As fulfillment orders pick up, additional administrative and sales employees will be added. Heiman also estimates that 25 new jobs will be added to the garment production facilities it uses in South America.

The name Tulong comes from the Filipino word for "help." Heiman says that the company adheres to the "triple bottom line" approach to business. "While we are a for-profit company, a portion of that profit goes back to developing nations in the areas of education, healthcare and microfinance -- the kind of things that help people become self-sufficient. This is the true definition of sustainability."

Source: Mark Heiman, Tulong
Writer: Douglas Trattner

No doctor wants a cure that's worse than the problem it treats. In the case of traditional radiation therapy for cancer patients, internal organs affected by cancer can shift, causing radiation to be directed accidentally to healthy tissue.

"The problem is," says Greg Ayers, president and CEO of Oakwood Village-based ViewRay, "if you scan continuously, you will kill the patient by imaging him."

ViewRay, which moved to northeastern Ohio two years ago from Florida, believes it has found a better way. The company, with assistance from the Ohio Third Frontier, is in the final development stages of a new process that combines magnetic resonance imaging and radiotherapy that Ayers says allows clinicians to see where the radiation is being delivered throughout the treatment. The technology is designed to reduce side affects and improve the treatment of patients with all sorts of cancer.

"What the MR imaging allows is for continuously watching that tumor and shutting off the radiation or adapting the radiation depending on the tumor's location," Ayers says.

Ayres is hoping to see a product in the marketplace within the next year to year and a half. But already, the work being done at ViewRay is drawing attention. Last month, NorTech -- the Northeast Ohio Technology Coalition -- and Crain's Cleveland Business, recognized ViewRay's advancements with a NorTech Innovation Award. The honor is given to businesses and other organizations that "transform technical and scientific knowledge into novel products, services and processes that result in a positive economic impact."

Ayers says his company moved to Ohio from Gainesville because of the Cleveland area's long-time expertise in MR technology and workforce knowledge. Since arriving, the company has increased its employee base from two to 49.

Source: Greg Ayers, ViewRay
Writer: Gene Monteith

Manufacturers have been forced to go "lean," meaning they must take cost out of the parts they make or lose their customers. The resulting focus on internal efficiencies has often hamstrung their ability to develop new processes, new technology and new products.

That's one of the catalysts behind the Ohio Manufacturing Institute, based at Ohio State University's College of Engineering. Another is that universities -- which have the resources to do what manufacturers increasingly can't do in house -- haven't always been good at interfacing with manufacturers, says OMI Director Glenn Daehn.

OMI is just getting its legs. Daehn describes the institute's formation as a "soft launch," with a website, some initial partnerships and some big plans.

OMI views one of its important roles right now as "priming the pump" with short-term projects as a bridge to long-term relationships. It also is acting as broker to bring manufacturers together with needed expertise.

"What I'm hoping is five years from now we have faculty engaged from across the state, bringing along their expertise and local physical resources. Faculty from the University System of Ohio will work with other state resources like Battelle, EWI, MAGNET and TechSolve, who network together," Daehn says. "When projects come in we have project managers and others who assess what (manufacturers) need, we align them with the right resources and they are able to generate new technology to generate more efficient manufacturing processes. A small professional staff will assure that these projects take place at the 'speed of business.'"

In the meantime, OMI has also launched a light structures initiative geared toward the next generation of lightweight vehicles.

Source: Glenn Daehn, Ohio Manufacturing Institute
Writer: Gene Monteith

Platform Lab may be flying under the average person's radar, but within Ohio's information technology world, the "the nation's only state-funded IT test and training facility" seems to have come of age.

Formed in 2001 as a partnership between the Ohio Supercomputer Center and the Columbus-based Business Technology Center (now known as TechColumbus), the center's client list has grown to more than 240 companies ranging in size from startups to established giants like Victoria's Secret Catalog.

The non-profit organization, located with parent TechColumbus, was launched with a $250,000 state grant to give companies an economical place to test IT solutions, says lab Director Steve Gruetter.

"They put together a focus group with 43 consulting companies, and what they decided to do was to create a facility where companies could go to test solutions to get to market quicker," he says.

Then came the Sept. 11 attacks and the dot-com implosion. Platform Lab needed to remake itself quickly. The answer: disaster recovery plan validation, a decision that led to a number of big clients like Wendy's and BMW Financial.

A $1.164-million Ohio Third Frontier grant in 2005 allowed the lab to create a statewide network that interconnected with the Third Frontier network and offered clients a way to use the system on a test-test-only basis to validate high-bandwidth applications.

First came load and stress testing, then the Expertise Partner Program, an initiative that links clients with Ohio-based IT consultants and which has resulted in 71 sales opportunities for consultant partners.

Most recently, Platform Lab built a "private cloud" that allows clients to connect into its resources to do testing using "virtual machines" that mimic what a client would see if he or she were physically present in the lab.

Source: Steve Gruetter, Platform Lab
Writer: Gene Monteith

Aaron Gogolin and his partners were all too familiar with the stats: The City of Cleveland had 15,000 houses slated for demolition, and an aggressive schedule meant that each week another 40 homes would meet the business end of a wrecking ball.

"We knew these old houses would be coming down and that much of the building material would end up in landfill," says Gogolin, a former house framer and cabinet shop owner. "We wanted to figure out what we could do with it all."

Along with deconstruction expert Chris Kious and custom furniture maker P.J. Doran, Gogolin formed A Piece of Cleveland in spring of 2008. Using reclaimed building materials, the company fabricates fine wooden chairs, tables, cutting boards and wine racks. Piece of Cleveland also tackles large custom jobs for local green-minded businesses.

Working quickly, deconstruction crews remove 2-by-4s, 2-by-6s, floorboards and interior doors, much of it comprised of sturdy old-growth heart pine. The wood is processed and repurposed at the company's 10,000-square-foot Cleveland warehouse.

Each object is accompanied by a "rebirth certificate," a sort of biographical narrative about the source of the material. Purchase a coat rack constructed of wood rescued from the Stanard School, for example, and you'll learn that the 1885-built school was the likely site of the first four-square game. It is also where Gogolin's great-grandmother attended elementary school.

Piece of Cleveland currently employs six people, but Gogolin says that number will likely grow as new deconstruction crews are added and the company expands its retail line. The company is fortunate to be able to draw on a large number of enthusiastic volunteers as well.

Source: Aaron Gogolin, A Piece of Cleveland
Writer: Douglas Trattner

When Kent Displays launched Improv Electronics as a new business unit Jan. 21, the company expected its first direct-to-consumer product to be popular. What it didn't expect was that, in a matter of days, its U.S. distributor -- Amazon.com -- would be sold out.

Buyers are boogieing toward what, at first glance, is a big step up from the Magna Doodle and giant leap from the Magic Slate -- that plastic-over-wax tablet that kids once used to sketch animals and nasty notes to siblings.

It's the Boogie Board, and unlike lower-tech, paperless writing tablets, it capitalizes on Kent Displays' "ReflexTM, no power LCD technology."

"The image is completely produced by the ambient light reflecting off of the display," explains Kevin Oswald, Kent Displays' communications director. "And because it reflects off of the display, there's no power required. When you write on it, that writing will stay on there indefinitely until I push the erase button."

The company sees the Boogie Board as an alternative to sticky notes, memo pads, and other paper-intensive writing tools. At half the size of a steno pad, it can fit into a purse, briefcase, or backpack.

People with physical disabilities might also find the Boogie Board useful, Oswald says. "If you've got a speech problem due to an injury or a birth defect, this is a board you can write on."

Oswald declined to say how many of the units have been sold, but said the company is working to keep supplies ahead of demand. In the meantime, the new product has contributed to a boost in employment from 60 last fall to more than 75 now.

Source: Kevin Oswald, Kent Displays
Writer: Gene Monteith

Need a prefab bridge that you can drop over a small stream? Dayton-based Composite Advantage just might be able to fix you up.

Founded in 2005 as a spinoff of the National Composite Center, the company is making its way in the world using composite materials to replace old standbys like steel, wood and concrete.

Bridge decks. Drop-in-place portable bridges. Structural panels. Concrete forms. Pads to give cranes and other heavy equipment a stable surface. The list goes on.

In most cases, says company President, Scott Reeve, "they are fiberglass reinforcement with a polyester or vinylester resin. They're durable and corrosion resistant and can stand up to any environment."

Reeve says the company has benefited from market development projects through the Dayton Development Coalition as part of the Ohio Third Frontier's Entrepreneurial Signature Program. Starting with two employees in 2005, "we have grown to where we generally run with a basic workforce of 16 people. We have peak times where we will add another 10 people on a temporary basis."

The company's big focus at the moment is a composite mat now being used by Canadian Mat Systems to provide "big flat panels that become temporary roadways, work surfaces. When they go in and are going to drill for oil, they need a big work space around big oil rigs. The main advantages are corrosion resistance, lighter weight, they're stronger and don't take as long to install."

Reeve says the company grew in 2007 and 2008 and held steady in 2009. But he looks for more growth in the future as it introduces new products.

Source: Scott Reeve, Composite Advantage
Writer: Gene Monteith

Parker Hannifin is known worldwide for manufacturing valves, fittings, hoses and dozens of other products.

The Cleveland-based company can now add another product to its catalog. Sometime this year, the company is expected to launch its line of high-speed brakes for wind turbines, similar to those used in helicopters.

Although the company is already well established � with more than 50,000 employees (4,000 in Ohio) and a 90-year history � Parker Hannifin is getting some serious support for this new economy project.

The company was awarded $1 million for the Ohio Wind Turbine Brake Commercialization project from the state's Third Frontier initiative and is working with other agencies, including Case Western Reserve University.

Spokesman Aidan Gormley says as many as 40 high-paying technology-based jobs will be added over the next six years, thanks to the company's new line.

The company is modeling the wind turbine technology off of its current helicopter brake experience. The part will be manufactured at its Aircraft Wheel and Brake Division in Avon � one of 30 Parker plants in Ohio.

"This is simply an adaptation and integration of our existing technology capabilities into solutions for a new and rapidly expanding market." Gormley says, adding that the company is moving toward the development of more energy efficient technologies � including geothermal, ocean energy, fuel cell, solar and hydropower applications.

"Parker believes that Ohio has a tremendous opportunity to grow its economy by building on the strengths of its existing business base in advanced energy technologies."

Source: Aidan Gormley, Parker Hannifin
Writer: Colin McEwen

It can take as long as 24 hours to detect toxins (ranging from E-coli to anthrax) and the people affected could be long gone by the time lab technicians and health departments figure it out. Thanks to new technology, that may all change.

Crystal Diagnostics � with its parent company Pathogen Systems Inc. � is working to develop liquid crystal biosensors to detect pathogens in real-time, instead of a day.

The detection device � jointly invented by researchers at Kent State University and the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy in Rootstown � combines both liquid crystal technology and antibody research to find harmful pathogens.

Work at the Crystal Diagnostics Applied Research Laboratory on the campus of NEOUCOM is ongoing. And plans are in motion to move into Centennial Park at KSU for manufacturing the device.

As the project grows, so will the local workforce.

Walter E. Horton Jr., NEOUCOM's vice president for research, said there are a total of 15 full-time positions at Crystal Diagnostics, and that when the device goes "live" there could be a dozen jobs added immediately.

"We see this as one of the innovation success in Ohio," says Horton, who also oversees the millions of dollars the company has received from the Ohio Third Frontier initiative in the last two years. "We have two public entities � Kent State and NEOUCOM � working together. This is exactly the direction this state wants to go."

"This company is based in Colorado, but (Pathogen Systems) saw a real benefit of moving to Northeast Ohio, because of the support of the Third Frontier and because of the regional success in terms of biomedical innovation," he says.

Source: Walter E. Horton Jr.
Writer: hiVelocity staff

Performance Polymer Solutions, Inc. is embroiled in a sticky business -- high-temperature reinforced polymer materials used for  adhesive, resin and fiber molding products.

These days, the company is attracting plenty of attention from government and others who see the value of materials that can work at extreme temperature (600 degrees), a requirement for aviation and aerospace applications.

Based in Moraine, P2SI's products are part of the production of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and are also well suited for missiles, space systems, electronics, off-shore drilling, and optical devices, says Jason Lincoln, vice president and co-founder.

The company was started in 2002 by Lincoln and David Curliss, who formerly worked on similar technology with the U.S. Air Force. P2SI recently received a Third Frontier Grant of $350,000 to expand its production.

Over the past six years, P2SI has received numerous Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer  grants through the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Navy and the Office of the Secretary of Defense to develop its specialized materials. At least 75 percent of the company's business is related to military uses, says Lincoln.

In addition to high temperature adhesives, resins and prepags, P2SI offers high-temperature composite parts manufacturing, manufacturing support, contracted research and development and testing and analysis.

The company currently employs people 14 full time, but over the next three years Lincoln says P2SI will be adding three to five new employees in manufacturing and marketing as it ramps up production to meet higher demand.

Source: Jason Lincoln, Performance Polymer Solutions
Writer: Val Prevish

When industries and academians tackle tough problems, they often look to their own experience for answers. Ditto the military. If the TecEdge Innovation and Collaboration Center has its way, solutions will come not from silos, but from working together in cross-functional teams.

TecEdge and its sister organization, TecEdge Works Rapid Prototyping Laboratory, are part of the Wright Brothers Institute in Dayton. Recently relocated into bright new space next to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, TecEdge is hoping to break down barriers.

One way is through Discovery Forums, which are one- to- five day problem oriented sessions that bring together experts from diverse disciplines, says Wright Institute Director Les McFawn. Another is Resident Teams, which work at TecEdge for weeks or months -- or in some cases full time -- to intensely collaborate on problems, to experiment and to reach the initial stages of prototyping.

McFawn says it's not just the Air Force that benefits from the programs; "We had a commercial and industry partner on the very first project that we ran in the Discovery Lab. At the conclusion of the program were able to take what they had learned and apply it commercially."

In the meantime, both the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) and TecEdge have teamed up to help develop the next generation of scientists and engineers, McFawn says. Summer at the Edge began three years ago with 15 students ranging from high school through Ph.D. Enrollment grew to more than 60 last summer. The AFRL is also sponsoring a new program called Wright Scholars in which students from the Dayton area spend time learning about technology needed for the future.

Source: Les McFawn, Wright Brothers Institute
Writer: Gene Monteith