Pure basic research Use- inspired basic research Purely applied R&D Improved understanding Improved technology Existing understanding Existing technology
Source: Stokes, Pasteur’s Quadrant
Federal Research International Sources Cross Industry Sources Resea rch Unive rsities Collabor ative Re sear ch Corpor ate Labs Corpor ate IR&D Global Outsourcing Catalytic Role of State Government Unsupportable by Industry Alone Advanced Research (Strong U.S. position from federally sponsored research)
Product Development
Cycle Market Breakdown
(Major U.S. gap)
Customer Drives Integrate Product Unmet Needs Federal Research International Sources Cross Industry Sources Resea rch Unive rsities Collabor ative Re sear ch Corpor ate Labs Corpor ate IR&D Global Outsourcing Catalytic Role of State Government Unsupportable by Industry Alone Advanced Research (Strong U.S. position from federally sponsored research)
Product Development
Cycle Market Breakdown
(Major U.S. gap)
Customer Drives Integrate Product Unmet Needs
Top 500 U.S. Firms in R&D Headquartered in Ohio
• Procter & Gamble • TRW
• NCR
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber • Eaton
• Lubrizol • Owens Corning • Parker-Hannifin • Diebold
• Reynolds & Reynolds • Timken
• Nordson • Owens-Illinois • Sherwin-Williams • Steris
Thus, a key role for state governments in supporting research efforts is to focus on use-
inspired basic research matched to the short-term, product-driven needs of industry to advance market-driven approaches to product development. This is not to say that federal funding for research does not also at times fall into the category of use-inspired basic research—particularly, research funded by mission-driven agencies such as NASA and the Department of Defense falls into these use-inspired basic research areas. But, the key point is that a state’s over-riding interest is ensuring use-inspired basic research connected to its technology-industry drivers.
O
VERVIEW OFO
HIO’
SR
ESEARCHL
ANDSCAPEOhio has a rich basic research environment. Among its universities, three—Ohio State University, University of Cincinnati, and Case Western Reserve University—exceed $150 million in research funding. In addition, nine other universities each exceed $10 million.
Ohio is also home to a number of world-class nonprofit research institutes and federal laboratories, such as the Cleveland Clinic, Battelle Memorial Institute, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (home of the Air Force Research Laboratory), NASA Glenn, and others.
At the same time, Ohio is home to many leading companies in industrial research and development. Of the top 500 U.S. firms conducting R&D, 15 are headquartered in Ohio. Another 33 companies of the top 500 U.S. R&D companies have substantial operations in Ohio.
The key trends found across university and industry research drivers are considered in the following section.
University Research Trends
Overall, Ohio stands 11th in the nation in overall university research expenditures, led by the life sciences and engineering.
• The life sciences stand as the largest area, with $535 million out of $919 million total university research expenditures, based on data compiled by the National Science Founda- tion. This figure does not include the Cleveland Clinic or other freestanding medical research centers.
• Key university research activity is found across engineering fields, where Ohio ranks eighth in the nation. Leading areas include
o Materials engineering, where Ohio ranks second in the nation in research activity o Chemical engineering, with a ranking of fifth
o Bioengineering, with a ranking of 10th
o Aeronautical engineering, with a ranking of eighth o Mechanical engineering, with a ranking of seventh.
Ohio’s university research base outpaced national growth from FY 1995 to FY 2000, with growth of 35 percent versus 29 percent for the nation. In a broad range of fields, Ohio well outpaced the national growth (Table 5).
Table 5: Key Fields of Research Growth in Ohio: Percentage Growth in Research from FY 1995 to 1999, Ohio and the United States
Research Field Ohio Percentage Growth U.S. Percentage Growth Medical Sciences 100 41 Agricultural Sciences 70 14 Computer Sciences 129 22 Mechanical Engineering 57 15 Materials Engineering 34 15
But, despite high levels of research activity and growth across a range of disciplines, Ohio has few highly ranked university research programs. The latest rankings from U.S. News &
World Report have Ohio institutions in the second tier, except in polymer science and bioengineering.
• Polymer Science—University of Akron is rated second in the nation, and Case Western Reserve is rated sixth.
• Bioengineering—Case Western Reserve is rated fifth in the nation. • Chemistry—Ohio State University is rated 20th.
• Engineering—Ohio State University is rated 24th, and Case Western Reserve is rated 37th. • Medical Schools—Case Western Reserve is rated 17th, Ohio State University 40th, and
University of Cincinnati is 48th.
This reflects Ohio’s poor ranking in National Academy of Science membership. Ohio has 12 members, which ranks the state 26th in raw numbers and 36th on a per capita basis. OSU has five members, CWRU has four, the Cleveland Clinic has one, and two Ohio members are
without current affiliation. Industrial R&D Trends
Ohio stands 10th in the nation in industrial R&D spending for headquartered firms in the state, with more than $5.3 billion in 1998, according to the National Science Foundation. Key areas of industry R&D for firms headquartered in Ohio include
• Transportation equipment—$894 million • Electrical equipment—$755 million
• Engineering and management services—$353 million • Research, development, and testing—$298 million
• Business services, including computer and data processing—$266 million • Instruments, including mechanical—$162 million.
However, research among small businesses in Ohio lags the nation.
• Headquartered firms with fewer than 500 employees make up 11 percent of the industrial R&D activity in Ohio compared with 18 percent nationally in 1998, the latest year data are available on industrial R&D from the National Science Foundation.
• R&D at headquartered firms in Ohio of less than 500 employees grew by 19 percent from 1995 to 1998—at a time of significant new technology firm developments—compared with 81 percent nationally for these smaller firms.
Ohio has not kept pace over the past decade in the growth of industrial R&D. From 1989 to 1998, Ohio’s industrial R&D grew by 35 percent compared with 66 percent nationally. In the more recent time period, 1995 to 1998, Ohio’s pace of R&D has picked up; but, the state’s ranking has fallen from eighth in the nation in 1989 to 10th in 1998.
C
ORES
TRENGTHSA
CROSSO
HIOR
ESEARCHD
RIVERSThis section examines those areas of core research strength found across the basic research drivers in Ohio, including universities, federal laboratories, and private research institutes. “Core research strengths” means areas where critical mass in research activities and excellence in technology fields exist. Other fields of basic research excellence in technology may be present in Ohio. However, these other basic research strengths are found in relatively limited pockets and so offer limited opportunities.
Based on interviews and review of secondary information sources and data, five areas of core research strengths have been identified:
• Advanced materials • Biosciences
• Instruments, controls, sensors, and advanced manufacturing technologies
• Power and propulsion • Information technology.
The following are identified for each of these areas of strength: • Description of research area, including key technology
challenges
• Ohio’s research position in the field, including a review of universities’ standings in research funding and publications/citations and examples of ongoing activities.
• Linkages with Ohio technology industry drivers.
In examining research strengths at universities, both research funding and publications/citations were considered. While the research funding data prepared by the National Science Foundation is comprehensive across all universities, the publications/citation data cover only the three largest universities in Ohio—Ohio State University, Case Western Reserve, and University of Cincinnati. Together, these three universities make up nearly 80 percent of total university R&D funding in Ohio, including 66 percent of engineering research funding and 90 percent of life science research funding.
Ohio’s Core Technology Strengths
• Advanced materials • Biosciences
• Instruments, controls, sensors, and advanced manufacturing technologies
• Power and propulsion • Information technology
The core competency areas are illustrated in Figure 10 and are shown to represent the idea that Ohio’s industrial core competency is in making things. Ohio’s challenge is to integrate the best of science into a new generation of advanced products.
Figure 10: Ohio’s Areas of Core Competency
Area of Core Research Strength: Advanced Materials
Overview of Research Field: The development of new classes of materials with unusual properties (e.g., strength, wear characteristics, and electromagnetic properties) is expected to open up a broad range of opportunities, including new product development, research leading to next-generation machines, improvements in product performance and cost, and waste-free products. The typical research activities include the processing of metals, ceramics, polymers, and composite materials.
The processes for designing new materials involve methodologies based on atomic and
molecular physics and chemistry. In many cases, the materials will be organic, and the design methodologies will be biologically based. Research opportunities to support the development of processes to produce new classes of materials with extraordinary properties fall into three broad areas:
• Innovative processing, including nanoscale technology for fabrication requiring new
technologies for nanomachining, chemical-physical processing, and bioprocessing; net-shape forming processes allowing products to be produced directly from a digital description without hard tooling; polymer and polymer-matrix composite processing, taking advantage of advances in the structural properties of polymers, copolymers, and polymer-based
composites; additive manufacturing processes that create superior product attributes through controlled consolidation, layering, or coatings and require further understanding and control of laser and other beam processes, microwave or hybrid field sintering, microdroplet
deposition, and layered deposition processes; and electronic, optic, and photonic materials processes including issues related to electronic packaging, fiber optics (drawing, coating, Core Research Strengths Industry End-Users
Advanced Materials Biosciences
Instruments, Controls, and Electronics Power and Propulsion
Information Technology
Food Processing Auto Parts
Biotechnology Auto Assembling
Industrial Machinery Plastic Products
Engines, Motors, and Pumps
Pharmaceuticals Medical Devices
Aerospace Core Research Strengths Industry End-Users
Advanced Materials Biosciences
Instruments, Controls, and Electronics Power and Propulsion
Information Technology
Food Processing Auto Parts
Biotechnology Auto Assembling
Industrial Machinery Plastic Products
Engines, Motors, and Pumps
Pharmaceuticals Medical Devices
bundling, and joining), controlled fabrication of electronically conductive polymer composites, and processing of high-temperature superconducing wires.
• Design and analysis methods, involving modeling and simulation of processes for pre- dictive capability of performance and producibility, especially with the advent of “smart” materials that can adapt to changing service requirements, biomimetic materials, and functionally gradient materials.
• Advances in theoretical understanding of the processes and of materials performance requiring capabilities for measuring and characterizing materials at extremely small scales, design materials and components based on first-principles understanding, and precisely controlled processes and materials structures.
Ohio’s Research Position: Overall, Ohio has very broad-based research strengths in advanced materials, including universities, federal laboratories, and private research institutes.
• Ohio stands second in the nation in total research funding in materials engineering research and fifth in closely related chemical engineering, based on data from the National Science Foundation for FY 2000.
• Ohio has two top-rated university polymer programs found at the University of Akron (rated second in the nation by U.S. News & World Report) and Case Western Reserve University (rated sixth).
• Publication and citation analysis among the top three universities in Ohio identifies strengths in key related fields of chemistry and chemical engineering. This strength in publications and citations is important because it demonstrates Ohio’s relative competency in a particular field in relation to the nation.
Field
Number of Publications 1996 to 2000
Relative Impact of Publications (Citation Rate Above National
Average)
Materials Science and Engineering 904 54%
Chemical Engineering 244 52%
Chemistry 291 97%
Source: ISI Thomson Scientific
Examples of activities run a wide gamut of universities, federal laboratories, and private institutions:
• The University of Akron has one of the largest research efforts in the United States for polymers with expertise spanning the technology spectrum from synthesis to basic compounding, and extrusion and molding pro- cesses to nanoscale structure, biopolymer engineering, and multiscale modeling.
• Case Western Reserve University reaches across a wide number of advanced materials research areas including polymers, ceramics, and biomaterials.
Examples of Key Technology Activities in Ohio
• Polymer synthesis, engineering, and characterization
• Ceramics, thin films, coatings, electro-optics, and
electrochemistry • Liquid crystals
• Chemical instrumentation • Welding
• The Ohio State University’s efforts in advanced materials include a key focus in sensor materials, electronic materials, and structural materials. Other key areas at OSU are precision forging, stamping and sheet metal forming, tube hydroforming, and high- performance machining.
• The University of Dayton has a wide focus on advanced materials including advanced composites, coatings, advanced polymers, electronic and electro-optical materials as well as materials engineering.
• The Kent State University Liquid Crystal Institute conducts advanced research in the electro- optics of liquid crystals and applications development using liquid crystals. It now also involves Case Western Reserve and the University of Akron in the Center for Advanced Liquid Crystalline Optical Materials.
• Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is home to the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, which focuses on polymers, metallics, and composites as they relate to design affordability, modeling, and simulation of materials.
• NASA Glenn has an emphasis on materials able to withstand harsh environments including high temperature and high pressure.
• Battelle has a particular strength in polymer formulation, development, and processing. Linkage with Ohio Technology Industry Drivers: Advanced materials are a significant industrial specialization in Ohio, illustrated by the sector’s concentration of economic activity 120 percent greater than the nation. In addition
• It is a growing sector—26.5 percent increase in employment over the last six years—that is becoming more concentrated in Ohio. Today, employment in advanced materials stands at just under 105,000 workers across 1,184 establishments. • Leading advanced material industries in Ohio include soaps,
detergents and cleansers, plastics and synthetic materials, and specialty chemical products.
Occupational data suggest that in advanced materials Ohio is more research intensive than the nation. While Ohio has 4.31
percent of the total employment in the advanced material sector, it accounts for nearly 6 percent of the scientists, with 1,270 scientists working in advanced material-related industries.
Despite the presence in Ohio of large companies involved in advanced material research, the prevalent advanced material companies in Ohio are smaller scale operations, particularly involved in injection molding and extruding. Discussions with industry leaders and experts in Ohio who work with these companies raised several concerns:
• This major base of advanced material operations is not driven by new technologies, but rather focuses on commodity plastics, typically as part of the supply chain for the auto industry.
• These companies are under severe pressure from foreign competition.
• The companies are not agile and are not moving quickly to embrace new applications and advanced technologies and processes to allow them to become more value-added and specialized.
Leading Advanced Material Companies in Ohio
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber • Cooper Tire & Rubber • Polyone
• Sherwin Williams • Procter & Gamble • Timken Company • Owens Corning
• Key technology needs include deploying a broader range of advanced processing
technologies to enable more specialized production, as well as pursuing more efficiencies in production through use of on-line controls, sensors, and loop feedback systems.
Area of Core Research Strength: Biosciences
Overview of Research Field: The biosciences is a rich area of innovation and research strength. The advent of biotechnology over the past 20 years has revolutionized biomedical and agri- cultural research, enabling the use of detailed information about the operations of cells and molecules to pursue more focused interventions on disease processes. One key aspect to the continuing advancement of the biosciences is its strong technology convergence with fields such as information technology, chemistry, nanotechnology, MEMS, and other engineering
disciplines.
With the recent advances in genomics, a new era in biotechnology is emerging. Now,
researchers can work to understand the structure and function of genes and proteins; to identify new potential targets of intervention for diseases; and then to apply advances in structural biology, combinatorial chemistry, and pharmacology to design more effective drug agents. Beyond drug discovery, a major revolution is taking place in advanced medical treatments involving the development of biological substitutes to restore, maintain, and improve tissue, bone, and organs as well as introducing advanced technologies to improve tools for diagnosis and treatment. Some of the leading technologies being adapted for use in innovative medical treatments and diagnostics include
• Microelectronics: Microelectronics entered medical devices with the introduction of cardiac pacemakers in the 1970s. Today, cardiac implants remain a dominant user of micro-
electronics, along with growing use for neurological, cancer, hearing impairment, and diabetes. In addition, microprocessors are the backbone of monitoring, scanning, imaging, and other diagnostic devices.
• Imaging: Imaging techniques are used as the technological basis of many medical devices, from X-rays to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to endoscopy to computer-aided
tomography (CAT) scanning. Noninvasive methods for gathering biological information are in great demand. Some related technologies are also useful as noninvasive treatments, such as ultrasound therapy and precision laser surgery.
• Nanotechnology: A whole new field is emerging that applies molecular engineering
involving microfabrication and micromanipulation technologies to create nanoscale medical devices. Already on the market are high-density gene and protein chips, 3-D microarrays, automated high-throughput screening devices, fluorescent DNA probes, nanoparticle assemblies, and atomic force microscope systems capable of mapping individual chromo- somes. One of the hottest areas in nanotechnology involves the R&D of very small electrical/mechanical devices for biomedical uses called BioMEMs. In the future, tailor- made nanoparticles and MEMS will be used for assays, sensors, drug delivery, nanocrystals to target cells, implants, and much more.
• Biosensors: Biosensors represent an important new direction in analytical measurement technology because they have the ability to measure constantly the presence or absence and concentration of substances, in rapid response time. Biosensors incorporate a biological
sensing element integrated within compact analytical devices. In addition, through the use of fiber optics in medical devices, optical biosensors are growing, which are useful, for
instance, in diagnosing joint injuries.
• Robotics: Robotics already plays a key role in advancing drug discovery through its use in high-throughput screening technologies. In healthcare, robotics combined with computerized surgical systems is expected to increase the precision and dexterity needed to perform
complex, minimally invasive surgical procedures and generally create better outcomes. • Materials: Biopolymers may soon replace metals and plastics in many medical devices
intended for use within the human body. Biopolymers hold promise as being durable,
biodegradable, and less likely to invoke immune system responses than traditional materials. In the long term, organic tissues may be the material of choice involving technologies such as autologous tissue generation (culturing a patient’s own cells) and organ culturing.
Ohio’s Research Position: Ohio has several leading research institutions—both universities and private research institutes—engaged in a broad range of bioscience research:
• Ohio also ranks 10th in total NIH funding—the “gold standard” of biomedical research— across all types of research institutions with more than $444 million in FY 2000. Ohio also has three cities in the top 35 in NIH funding—Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus. • In university research, Ohio ranks 10th in the nation in life sciences, including 10th in