Taft Applauds Glennan Microsystems and NexTech for Advanced Technology Program Awards
COLUMBUS, OHIO (October 8, 2004) - Governor Bob Taft today congratulated Glennan Microsystems, Inc. of Cleveland and NexTech Materials, Ltd. of Lewis Center, Ohio for their recent Advanced Technology Program (ATP) awards from the U.S. Commerce Department. Glennan Microsystems and NexTech – both previous Third Frontier Project award recipients – were among 32 companies nationwide awarded ATP funding, and both credit the Third Frontier Project for helping them to secure the federal dollars.
"The Third Frontier Project provides Ohio companies and institutions with the initial capital needed to begin research, produce preliminary results and attract the federal, early stage and venture capital dollars needed to further research," Taft said. "Both Glennan and NexTech have demonstrated significant potential in their areas of research, and I congratulate them for their success in winning these highly competitive national awards."
The ATP awards support projects that industries cannot fully fund on their own because of significant technical risks. ATP awards are made on the basis of rigorous, competitive peer review of the scientific and technical merit of each proposal, as well as the potential for broad-based economic benefits and the viability of commercialization.
NexTech received an ATP award of $2 million to develop a lightweight solid oxide fuel cell for use in aircraft auxiliary power units that offers five times the power density, as well as greater durability and flexibility of operation, than current state-of-the-art solid oxide fuel cells. NexTech has received $300,000 in Ohio Research Commercialization grants through the Third Frontier Project for developing low-cost materials and fabrication methods for planar solid oxide fuel cells and tubular Ceramix Oxygen Generator cells. Additionally, NexTech is a collaborator in Third Frontier projects totaling more than $23 million in Ohio Fuel Cell Initiative, Third Frontier Action Fund and Wright Center of Innovation funding.
"Funding from the Third Frontier Program has given NexTech a critical advantage, not only because we can leverage state funding dollars, but also because we can draw on other strong resources around the state, like NASA and SOFCo. The Third Frontier has made these connections happen," said William Dawson, president and CEO of NexTech.
Glennan Microsystems received an ATP award of $6.33 million to develop an active combustion control system for gas turbine engines based on MEMS technology and SiC sensors that will greatly reduce polluting emissions while extending engine life and preserving fuel efficiency. Glennan was created by the NASA Glenn Research Center, Case Western Reserve University and the State of Ohio in 1998 to develop a new type of microelectronic device that could operate in harsh environments, defined as an arcraft engine or a human body. This project received more than $1.1 million in Third Frontier Action Fund program monies, and Glennan is also a collaborator in a $10.9 million Wright Center of Innovation award to the Ohio State University to develop the next generation of propulsion systems.
"Glennan's ATP award can be traced directly to support provided by Ohio's Third Frontier Project," said Walt Merrill, executive director of the Glennan Microsystems Initiative. "The Third Frontier support not only helped us to develop the sensor technology that will be used in the ATP research, but it also helped us to build the team that will create and manage the project – both critical factors to being chosen for an ATP award. Without the Third Frontier Project, the Glennan Initiative would not exist and would not have the opportunity to create new technology and new jobs for Ohio."
