Wright Center for Sensor Systems Engineering Announces Grant Completion - See more at: http://www.csuohio.edu/news/wright-center-for-sensor-systems-engineering-announces-grant-completion#sthash.PkhPGilG.dpuf

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Sensor testing and development infrastructure from $24 million Ohio Third Frontier Grant available to support private commercialization efforts

July 2, 2014 ­— CLEVELAND – Sensor technology development partners in the Wright Center for Sensor Systems Engineering (WCSSE) are fully operational and available to support private commercialization efforts, Cleveland State University announced. CSU served as the lead grantee for the $24 million Ohio Third Frontier program that concluded this year.

The program created a network of commercialization partners in Ohio with goals of reducing time to market for sensor products and supporting job creation. The collaborating institutions will continue to offer facilities to companies interested in developing sensors and systems.

Examples of available capabilities include microelectronics packaging and testing at Lorain County Community College’s SMART Center, semiconductor design and energy management at University of Akron, human motion and control at CSU, terahertz applications and development lab at Ohio State University, machine imaging and quality assurance at Youngstown State University, as well as biomedical prototyping and evaluation facilities at Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Center and Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron.

“The Wright Center collaborative has helped spur the creation of several start-up companies with sensor technology and we are open for business to others interested in utilizing our resources,” said Dr. Jerzy Sawicki, Principal Investigator for WCSSE and Vice President for Research at CSU.

One company that has emerged from the grant is Columbus-based Traycer Diagnostic Systems, Inc., which raised more than $5 million in private equity to advance its terahertz imaging technology.

Traycer Systems’ CEO Brad Beasecker said WCSSE offered his company essential access to test equipment that is unaffordable for most early-stage companies. “When you’re a start-up, every dollar and minute saved help you survive another day and speed the path to the market,” said Beasecker.

A complete listing of available capabilities as well as contact information at these and other facilities can be found at www.csuohio.edu/research/wcsse and www.ohiosensors.com. Interested companies can also contact Cleveland State University’s Office of Research at 216.687.9364.

- See more at: http://www.csuohio.edu/news/wright-center-for-sensor-systems-engineering-announces-grant-completion#sthash.PkhPGilG.dpuf

Dayton could be ‘Silicon Valley’ of sensors development

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/business/dayton-could-be-silicon-valley-of-sensors-develo-1/nPSBd/

By Thomas Gnau

Staff Writer

DAYTON — The executive director of the Air Force Research Laboratory has no doubt that Dayton will be the international center of sensors technology development.

“In the next five to ten years, this will become the next Silicon Valley for sensors and sensors development,” Joe Sciabica, AFRL chief, told an audience Tuesday at the fourth annual Ohio Innovation Sensor Summit, held at the Tech Town business park.

Sensors are devices designed to help users detect everything from suspected terrorists to corrosion. Larrell Walters, director of the University of Dayton’s Institute for the Development and Commercialization of Sensors Technology, estimates that at least 2,000 people work in sensors development across Southwestern Ohio, not counting employees on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where AFRL is headquartered.

The base itself invests about $1 billion a year into sensors work, Walters estimated. At least $200 million to $300 million a year of sensor activity takes place outside the base, he estimated.

Sciabica said outside partnerships with contractors and small businesses “permeate the fenceline surrounding” the base. AFRL itself had a total budget of nearly $4.6 billion fiscal year 2011, and of that, just over $1.9 billion was spent on external contracts, he said. AFRL has a workforce of more than 10,000 across the Air Force.

“I think our future is extremely, extremely bright,” Sciabica added, calling the Dayton area, “a good area at a good time.”

Technology transfer between AFRL and academic and industry partners leads to increased production, jobs and sales, Sciabica said, and that was a theme for other summit speakers, as well.

Larry Hollingsworth, director of rapid response and irregular warfare at the Naval Air Station Command in Patuxent River, Md., praised the contractors with whom he works and urged listeners to tap into the expertise of small businesses. His projects have included helium-filled mini-blimps that can continuously monitor a region from 2,000 feet up to technologies that counter IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Do not disregard small businesses for they are the engine of innovation,” Hollingsworth said. “I truly believe that.”

He acknowledged the reality of ever-tighter government budgets, but he said there should be an understanding that some sensor technologies will not pay dividends immediately. “Some technologies will have a return (on investment) in that fifth, sixth, seventh year,” he said.

Others praised Ohio government’s willingness to invest in new companies nurturing new technologies. Don Burdette, director of scientific research for Columbus-based Traycer Diagnostics, showed his audience a slide calling Ohio’s development programs “second to none.”

Ohio’s investment helped the company create the world’s first broadband camera for detecting terahertz radiation, a device that could be useful for looking past paint and silicon for defects, Burdette said.

“I don’t know anywhere else that is doing that,” Burdette said, referring to the Ohio Third Frontier and other programs meant to boost technology.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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Dayton ‘next Silicon Valley’, of sensor development

http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/dayton-next-silicon-valley-expert-says-1390187.html

DAYTON — The executive director of the Air Force Research Laboratory has no doubt that Dayton will be the international center of sensor technology development.

“In the next five to 10 years, this will become the next Silicon Valley for sensors and sensors development,” Joe Sciabica, AFRL chief, said Tuesday at the fourth annual Ohio Innovation Sensor Summit, held at the Tech Town business park.

Sensors are devices that detect everything from suspected terrorists to corrosion. Larrell Walters, director of the University of Dayton’s Institute for the Development and Commercialization of Sensors Technology, estimates 2,000 people work in sensor development across Southwest Ohio, not counting employees at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where AFRL is headquartered.

The base invests about $1 billion a year into sensor work, Walters estimated. At least $200 million to $300 million a year of sensor activity takes place outside the base, he said.

Sciabica said partnerships with contractors and small businesses “permeate the fence line surrounding” the base. AFRL had a budget of nearly $4.6 billion in fiscal year 2011, and of that, more than $1.9 billion was spent on external contracts, he said. AFRL has a workforce of more than 10,000 across the Air Force.

“I think our future is extremely, extremely bright,” Sciabica added.

Technology transfer between AFRL and academic and industry partners leads to increased production, jobs and sales, Sciabica said. That was a theme for other summit speakers as well.

Larry Hollingsworth, director of rapid response and irregular warfare at the Naval Air Station Command in Patuxent River, Md., praised the contractors with whom he works and urged listeners to tap into the expertise of small businesses. His projects have ranged from helium-filled mini-blimps that can monitor a region from 2,000 feet up to technologies that counter improvised explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

WRIGHT CENTER FUNDING BOOSTS TERAHERTZ SENSOR RESEARCH AT OHIO STATE

A new, high sensitivity terahertz camera could enable visibility in brown-out conditions, such as during sand storms and/or rotorcraft take-off and landing in desert environments. Terahertz sensors could monitor the purity and quality of pharmaceutical products while on the production line, and be used by consumers to identify unmarked pills. These are just two examples of the groundbreaking research that is ongoing and will continue to grow at The Ohio State University’s new center for research, testing and commercialization of terahertz sensors.

The Wright Center for Sensor Systems Engineering, an Ohio Third Frontier program, recently awarded Ohio State $3 million to establish the Hyperspectral Engine Lab for Integrated Optical Systems (HELIOS). Ohio State will provide an additional $5 million in cost-share funding for equipment and services.

Through HELIOS, researchers aim to explore the still uncharted terahertz spectrum—a large part of the electromagnetic spectrum at frequencies between those of microwaves and infrared light—and utilize Ohio’s resources to develop smaller, faster and lower power terahertz devices.

“Terahertz is much like X-ray imaging as it can penetrate a wide variety of materials,” said John Volakis, director of the ElectroScience Laboratory and principal investigator of the Wright Center grant. “But it is far superior, because it is not harmful to tissues, and can reveal much more information.”

HELIOS’ research focus areas include terahertz wave imaging, active monitoring of electronics chips and pharmaceutical products for purity and quality control on the production line, diagnosing skin hydration for a variety of medical and cosmetic applications; and the next generation of radio frequency integrated circuits for high data rate proximity communications.

Kubilay Sertel, a research scientist at Ohio State’s ElectroScience Laboratory, is currently working with Traycer Diagnostic Systems Inc. to develop the first real-time, high sensitivity terahertz camera that will enable several critical imaging systems. Among these, the immediate applications include diagnosing skin hydration for a variety of medical and cosmetic applications; security screening through clothing and identification of explosive chemicals; enabling visibility in brown-out conditions, such as during sand storms and/or rotorcraft take-off and landing in desert environments; and high resolution subsurface imaging for packaging and quality control.

HELIOS researchers will also investigate new materials for reliable, low loss and low cost printing approaches, and for high performance terahertz devices and systems. HELIOS hopes to acquire and develop a millimeter-wave fabrication facility for peanut size electronics that can be used for low-cost commercial applications. This facility will serve as a learning and technology-transfer center for Ohio electronics companies.

As part of the ElectroScience Laboratory, HELIOS will be housed in the new Radio Frequency and Wireless Communication Research Building, which is scheduled for completion by the end of the year.

“Locating HELIOS at the ElectroScience Laboratory leverages Ohio State’s strong academic research base and engineering expertise in sensors and imaging, and capitalizes on existing investments in facilities, software and instrumentation,” Volakis said.

Three-year projections suggest that HELIOS will result in 62 new Ohio jobs created in addition to 16 academic research jobs. Within eight years, the center is projected to generate 222 new, high-paying technology jobs.

Seven companies and organizations are currently collaborating with the ElectroScience Laboratory in HELIOS: Raytheon Co., Northrop Grumman Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., Valtronic Technologies, Traycer Diagnostic Systems Inc., TerraView Ltd., and the Institute for Development and Commercialization of Advanced Sensor Technology (IDCAST).

The ElectroScience Laboratory is a major center of excellence within The Ohio State University College of Engineering and is one of the largest radio frequency and optics research laboratories in the country. Established in 1942, ESL’s more than 100 faculty, research scientists and graduate students are involved in all aspects of electromagnetic, radio frequency and terahertz technologies.

The Wright Center for Sensor Systems Engineering  was established by a $24 million grant from Ohio’s Third Frontier Program to Cleveland State University. WCSSE addresses the opportunity to enhance Ohio products using Ohio business and university resources through the development and commercialization of sensors and sensor systems technologies.