$2 million in Wright Capital Project funds go to photochemical sciences lab

The state dollars will be used to create a Photoinstrumentation and Photopolymerization Laboratory dedicated to the creation of techniques and devices that will help make newly developed photochemical materials and processes marketable.

Photochemical science is the interaction of light with physical, chemical and biological systems, and photochemical products represent a $20 to $26 billion market.

The new laboratory facility is expected to generate several start-up companies over the next few years and assist existing Ohio companies with product and process development, according to the governor's office. Each new start-up company is expected to create 50-100 new jobs for Ohioans. "

Bowling Green has already proven itself a leader in photochemistry and phototechnology," Taft said in presenting the funds to Center Director Dr. Douglas Neckers, McMaster Research Professor of Chemistry, and BGSU President Sidney Ribeau. "

Ohio is facing a new battleground on which we must compete-a world technology. If we are to succeed, terms such as fuel cells, polymers and, yes, photochemistry, must become part of our everyday language," Taft told the audience of faculty, students, legislators, board of trustee members, government officials and members of the business community.

He said the money invested in the Wright Capital Projects will leverage another $4.5 billion in private investment. "

These projects will create new business and high-paying jobs in communities throughout the state," he said, adding that their success will determine whether "our kids and grandkids stay here in Ohio, close to home, because the good jobs are here, close to home."

The Wright Capital Project is a key part of the governor's Third Frontier initiative, a $1.6 billion plan whose goal is to encourage and support Ohio's growth in technology products and high-paying jobs.

BGSU's president described the Third Frontier as a "visionary opportunity to put Ohio on the map in a new and unique way." Projects such as this, Ribeau said, are "good for Bowling Green State University, good for the state of Ohio, good for higher education and good for the intellectual future of our nation."

BGSU's proposal was chosen for funding by an independent team of evaluators assembled by the National Academy of Sciences, the nation's most prestigious organization of scientists, engineers and medical researchers. The team was composed of members of the academy, plus other distinguished scientists and businesspeople. Proposals were selected based on their potential for creating jobs and investment in Ohio.

In its "matchmaker" role, the new laboratory will identify existing new technologies that are not quite ready to be produced commercially, help develop the necessary next steps, and pair those technologies with businesses.

The laboratory will be managed by the Center for Photochemical Sciences and staffed by professional and technical personnel. Until a new facility is built on campus, the center, in Overman Hall, will provide space for its operations.

The project is a collaboration between Bowling Green, the University of Toledo, the University of Akron, Spectra Group Ltd. of Maumee, Nanofilm Ltd. of Valley View, Plastic Technologies Inc. of Holland and E. I. Dupont de Nemours of Wilmington, Del.

The laboratory will support Spectra Group in developing and commercializing a method for monitoring the in-line quality of plastics processing. The project also plans to create a new start-up business to commercialize "smart" materials for sensing chemical contaminants in water and packaged food.

(Posted June 05, 2003 )