Spring 2006
In This Issue:
Focus On BioMaterials
Materials Research Anchors the I-99 Corridor
To leverage the talent and knowledge of Pennsylvania’s remarkable array of institutions of higher learning, Gov. Edward Rendell established the Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ) program in 2004 to involve Pennsylvania’s colleges, universities, and technical schools in creating the kind of high tech employment that could stem the flow of talented graduates and professionals out of Pennsylvania.
Innovation Park aerial view (courtesy of Penn State)
Both Penn State University and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania face a similar set of challenges, according to Paul Hallacher, Director of Research Program Development for Penn State. These challenges include Pennsylvania’s aging population, outmigration of young workers, and low-wage job opportunities. "These are problems for both Penn State and Pennsylvania," he says.
Penn State is committed to doing everything it can to improve the economy of the region and the Commonwealth, says Hallacher. This involves leveraging Penn State’s unique strengths in materials research and engineering in a two-part strategy of launching new technology companies and helping existing companies to better compete through technical innovation and improved strategic planning, using the resources of the Smeal College of Business.
The I-99 Innovation Corridor is a partnership among the University and the economic development organizations of the three counties bordering the new interstate: the Bedford County Industrial Development Corporation, Altoona Blair County Industrial Development Corporation, and the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County. Representatives of the three economic organizations toured the Penn State campus in November to familiarize themselves with the breadth of materials research at Penn State.
Economic partners tour Penn State materials labs
In the Penn State Nanofabrication Facility, located in the Materials Research Institute Building in Innovation Park, companies from throughout the commonwealth and beyond have access to a $32M facility with class 1 and 10 clean rooms (the two highest categories for clean manufacturing and testing). "We’ve had companies from 47 Pennsylvania counties use the Nanofab," says facility directory Jeffrey Catchmark. "No other academic facility in the state has our capabilities. Over the last three years we have helped 90 companies develop new products and approaches through the application of micro and nanotechnology."
The Nanofab is a hands-on facility where users are trained in equipment and processes by the 14-member technical staff. The Nanofab is part of the National Science Foundation’s National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network, a partnership of eleven national user facilities with specific areas of technical excellence dedicated to the rapid advancement of nanoscale science and technology. Catchmark adds: "Because we charge by the hour, entry barriers for users are low. Also, companies own 100 percent of the intellectual property they develop here."
Graduate student Amra Tabakovic examines
molecular dots under ultraviolet light
Like the Nanofab, the Materials Characterization Laboratory (MCL) is a user facility based in Innovation Park with specialized labs across the University Park campus. Focusing on the analysis of materials and surfaces, the MCL supports the research needs of Penn State while being available to industry in need of quick turn-around analysis of materials down to the atomic level. The MCL will rapidly put together a "failure analysis plan" to understand the scope of the problem and can often offer solutions within as a little as a week’s time. The ability to offer hands-on training and access to faculty expertise differentiates the University’s labs from commercial laboratories, says Elizabeth Dickey, associate director of the Materials Research Institute, who oversees the lab.
These two labs are the door-openers for industry in Pennsylvania, according to Materials Research Institute director Carlo Pantano. "They can make the device in the Nanofab and walk down the hall to analyze it in the Characterization Lab," he told the visiting economic partners.
Faculty expertise
At the Materials Research Laboratory Building, the economic development leaders met senior faculty scientists and were given a tour of their labs. Clive Randall, director of the Center for Dielectric Studies, explained the properties of the novel materials they develop for industry partners, materials that will help diesel engines burn cleaner and more economically, or improve cell phone performance. In the Particulate Materials Center, director Jim Adair shined a fluorescent light through a liquid suspension of molecular dots, used for drug delivery and imaging inside the body. This system, he believes, will offer a safe and effective method of delivering targeted anticancer treatments to patients in the future.
Director Clive Randall shows visitors through
the Center for Dielectric Studies
Across campus at the Applied Research Lab, senior scientist Greg Dillon demonstrated a new composite developed for the Navy that is "stiff, light, tailorable and corrosion resistant." The ARL works with a number of Pennsylvania industries to commercialize the discoveries made as part of their Department of Defense research. "For instance," Dillon said, "we want to pass along a new door material structure to a small manufacturer who will then supply bulkhead doors for naval vessels." ARL works closely with industry for technology development and implementation.
Philadelphia Naval Yard
There are 16 Keystone Innovation Zones within the state and Penn State campuses are involved in 10 of them. University Park is the lead institution in two KIZs, the I-99 Innovation Corridor and the Philadelphia Naval Yard.
Penn State has been involved with the Naval Yard since the mid-1990s when the yards were closed, says Paul Hallacher. "We have helped with the adjustment to the closure and served on the reuse task force," he explains. The Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. is the economic partner, along with the Navy. Some 1200 naval employees, primarily engineers and scientists, are still employed in the 1600-acre parcel located at the south end of the city. The partnership integrates the strong life sciences infrastructure in the Philadelphia area with Penn State’s physical science and engineering strength to develop technology for defense, homeland security, and biomedical technology transfer.
"Pennsylvania has been a long established leader in technology based economic development, and KIZs put universities at the center of these efforts," Hallacher concludes. "We have a shared destiny, and we are in it for the long haul."
Contact:
Paul Hallacher, Validate to view address
Jeffrey Catchmark, Validate to view address
Elizabeth Dickey, Validate to view address
