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NATIONAL POLYMER INNOVATION CENTER

The University of Akron's College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering is proud to announce the opening of The National Polymer Innovation Center (NPIC). The facility will open its doors in Fall 2010 to academic researchers and industry partners focused on providing solutions to emerging research challenges in the areas of health, energy and sustainability through new materials and device development. Working cooperatively in the 42,750-square-foot facility, faculty members, students and research partners from industry and national laboratories will generate new knowledge in areas of national significance including biomaterials synthesis, biosensor and bio-device design, photovoltaic cells and selectively permeable membranes.

Located at the heart of The University of Akron campus (240 S. Forge St.) and adjacent to the Polymer Engineering Academic Center, the NPIC incorporates the Wright Center of Innovation in Polymer Engineering, and a multi-laboratory facility featuring state-of-the-art research instrumentation and large high-bay areas. These amenities are designed to accommodate the installation of prototype manufacturing apparatus for materials and device fabrication, particularly in collaboration with industry. For example, prototype manufacturing processes such as roll-to-roll film membrane fabrication can be developed, thoroughly characterized and scaled to production in a single location. Such projects will provide platforms for training a skilled workforce and creating new technologies and jobs in Ohio.

The NPIC will also house the Akron Functional Material Center (AFMC) where novel solutions to industry challenges in complex fluids, nanoparticles, adhesion, membranes, biomaterials and automation will be developed and provided. Led by Dr. Alamgir Karim, UA's Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company Professor of Polymer Engineering, and Dr. Matthew Becker, Associate Professor of Polymer Science, the AFMC is a partnership between UA and the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA). Also located in the NPIC, the ABIA's translationally-focused Center for Biomaterials in Medicine (CBMM) will serve as a hub of wound healing and orthopedic research, taking advantage of the University's resources, facilities and polymer expertise.

"The research performed at the NPIC will encompass a full spectrum of contemporary polymer science and engineering," says Dr. Stephen Z.D. Cheng, dean of the College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering. "It will evolve quickly into a regional and national research resource facility with unique equipment and expertise capable of addressing the most complex challenges companies and academics face in the research and development pipeline."

The NPIC was funded in part by the Ohio Department of Development following a Wright Center award generated by Dr. Miko Cakmak, Distinguished Professor of Polymer Engineering. The Wright Center, along with the AFMC and CBMM, will be located in the new polymer building and be used by experts representing medical and academic institutions, national laboratories and industry.

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