Governor Ted Strickland, Eric D. Fingerhut, Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents and Chair of the Ohio Third Frontier Commission, and Lisa Patt-McDaniel, Director of the Ohio Department of Development and commission member, recommended nearly $7.2 million in funding through the Ohio Third Frontier Advanced Energy Program.
“Ohio has a strong legacy of innovation, and the know-how to turn that innovation into products and good jobs for Ohioans,” Strickland said. “Ohio Third Frontier supports companies that are helping lay the foundation for Ohio’s long-term leadership and prosperity in the global energy economy.”
The Ohio Third Frontier Advanced Energy Program supports research and development that addresses the technical and cost barriers to commercialization of advanced energy components and systems, with preference to wind, biomass, and energy storage in Ohio. The awards are contingent upon State Controlling Board approval.
"The diverse range of public-private collaborations supported here will help spark new businesses across the state and, with them, create new jobs" said Chancellor Fingerhut. "Attracting these innovative, high-growth firms is a testament to Ohio’s leadership in the expanding energy economy."
The Ohio Third Frontier Advanced Energy Program accelerates the development and growth of the advanced energy industry in Ohio by direct financial support to organizations seeking to: investigate near-term specific commercial objectives with respect to products, processes, or services; commercialize new products, commercialize manufacturing processes or technologies, or adapt or modify existing components or systems that can reduce the cost of advanced energy systems or address technical and commercialization barriers; or demonstrate market readiness.
“Ohio Third Frontier creates new companies and enhances efficiencies in existing firms by supporting innovation,” said Lisa Patt-McDaniel. “Ohio Third Frontier is significantly enhancing our state’s advanced energy economy by creating strong and sustainable jobs.”
Fiscal Year 2010 Ohio Third Frontier Advanced Energy Program Awards:
Ershigs, Inc., located in the Village of Aberdeen (Brown County), in collaboration with Ashland Performance Materials, EMTEC, Owens Corning, University of Dayton Research Institute, and WebCore Technologies, Inc., was awarded $1.11 million for its Development and Commercialization of Composite Towers for Wind Turbines project. Ershigs and its collaborators have developed a new technology for a composite wind turbine tower. Ershigs will design, analyze, build and test a series of progressively larger components culminating in the test of a full-scale 100 meter composite tower.
R. W. Beckett Corporation, located in the City of North Ridgeville (Lorain County), in collaboration with Energy Technologies, Inc., was awarded $1 million for its project to Develop and Commercialize Residential Energy Storage Technology to Store Power Collected from Any Source of Electricity for Use at a Later Time. R. W. Beckett will investigate implementing lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technology into a variety of distributed power storage appliances. For use in both the utility and military markets, the product offering will also be applicable to the civilian off-grid storage market that pairs renewable energy generation with power storage.
Avtron Industrial Automation, Inc., located in the City of Independence (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with MAGNET, Morgenthaler Partners, and The University of Akron, was awarded $1 million for its Absolute Magnetic Encoder Commercialization project. Avtron will develop and commercialize a superior Absolute Magnetic Encoder for use in wind turbine applications.
Novolyte Technologies, Inc., located in the City of Independence (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University, was awarded $1.12 million for its project to Development and Commercialization of Advanced Electrolyte Materials for Next Generation Lithium-ion Batteries. Novolyte will develop novel electrolytes for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries that will significantly improve performance and safety, and thereby expedite product commercialization.
GrafTech International Holdings, Inc., located in the City of Parma (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with Mobius Power, Nexergy, and the Center for Automotive Research at The Ohio State University, was awarded $965,000 for its Development of Thermal Management Solutions for Lithium Ion Batteries project. GrafTech will develop and commercialize a portfolio of expanded natural graphite thermal management products that improve the performance, durability and safety of lithium ion batteries.
quasar energy group, located in the City of Cleveland (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with McCabe Engineering, Rockwell Automation, Seaman Corporation, Seepex and The Ohio State University, was awarded $2 million for its Accelerating Commercialization of Anaerobic Digestion for Bioenergy project. Quasar will scale-up and optimize a commercial demonstration facility that can process over 30,000 wet tons of biomass annually with more than 750 kW of electrical generation capacity.
To view Ohio Third Frontier’s Fiscal Year 2009 Annual Report, as well as other program information, please visit www.OhioThirdFrontier.com.
Ohio Third Frontier, an unprecedented and bipartisan commitment to create new technology-based products, companies, industries and jobs, has commercialized or created more-than 550 companies and attracted $3.5 billion in private investment to Ohio, a 9:1 return on investment since its
