Kent Displays Awarded $7.9 Million Third Frontier Grant
Funding will be used to commercialize flexible liquid crystal production in Ohio
Kent, Ohio (December 15, 2006) – Kent Displays Incorporated (KDI), the LCD manufacturer of Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Display products leads a project team, that has been awarded an $7.9 M Research and Commercialization Project (RCP) grant by the State of Ohio’s Third Frontier Project. Major collaborators in this project include AlphaMicron and Kent State University. The award was announced by Governor Bob Taft during a press conference held earlier today at Cleveland State University.
The RCP Program was designed by the Ohio Department of Development to support technology based economic development through research and commercialization activities in Ohio.
Kent Displays, a spin off from Kent State University, was created to further develop and commercialize Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Display (ChLCD) technology, taking advantage of their low-power requirement and reflective features to create greatly improved displays for portable devices.
The newly awarded state grant will help Kent Displays and its collaborators accelerate the establishment of a manufacturing cluster in Ohio to commercialize flexible liquid crystal display and eyewear products and devices. The project will achieve the following:
• Installation of manufacturing facilities that will be compatible with commercially available plastic substrates and simple production processes, making Northeast Ohio a global leader in the production of such devices.
• Build a business accelerator at Kent State University to attract supply chain providers including display materials, flexible substrates, and manufacturing equipment.
• Establish an industrial cluster in Northeast Ohio to manufacturer flexible displays and eyewear that will produce jobs, and other economic development opportunities for the region and state.
“We are very pleased to receive this Third Frontier grant. This project is a true collaborative effort and could not have been achieved without the support of our academic and industry collaborators. We look forward to taking our work to the next level and advancing Northeast Ohio as the center for commercialization of flexible liquid crystal products, thus having a major impact on the global display industry,” said Joel Domino, President of Kent Displays.
Collaborators that have provided support and leadership for this RCP include: AlphaMicron, Akron Polymer Systems, Sheldahl, Kent State University, the University of Akron, Ohio Polymer Strategy Council, Team NEO, NorTech and the Fund for Our Economic Future.
“Ohio’s strong industrial base in plastics and printing, and leading research strengths in liquid crystals, polymers and polymer engineering make our region a natural home for this emerging industry,” said Dr. Bahman Taheri, CEO of AlphaMicron.
Momentum on this initiative has been building in the region for the past few months with the establishment of FlexMatters, an initiative focused on building an industrial cluster in Northeast Ohio for the research, development and production of flexible displays, electronics and photo-voltaics. As part of this project, FlexMatters has already begun to attract companies to the region including, Sheldahl, a Minneapolis-based supplier of flexible substrates for liquid crystal products that’s a partner in the RCP initiative. Sheldahl is currently in the process of moving some of its activities to Kent and in order to join this growing flexible display cluster.
For more information, please contact: Joel Domino, President, Kent Displays at 330-673-8784 or jdomino@kentdisplays.com
About Kent Displays: Headquartered in Kent, Ohio, Kent Displays, Inc. is the world leader in “No Power” Cholesteric liquid crystal display technology. Kent Displays’ ChLCD technology is ideal for use in portable products, and applications in which low power consumption and high contrast viewing are important design criteria. Kent has partnered with Kent State University’s Liquid Crystal Institute to advance the capabilities of ChLCD technology. Many signage applications use ChLCD technology because of its unsurpassed sunlight viewability combined with the lowest power consuming electronic display. Kent Displays is spin-off from Kent State University and utilizes technology developed at the Liquid Crystal Institute. Please visit www.kentdisplays.com or www.nopowerdisplays.com
About AlphaMicron: AlphaMicron, Inc. was formed in response to an SBIR solicitation by the US Air Force for the development of variable transmittance visors for use by pilots in conjunction with helmet mounted displays. Since its inception, AlphaMicron has developed and demonstrated the only liquid crystal product on doubly curved (spheroidal) plastic substrates. AlphaMicron’s Variable Attenuation Liquid Crystal Device (VALiD) gives the user instantaneous control over the tint and/or color of eyewear; either automatically, or at the touch of a finger. The combination of VALiD and plastic substrates has resulted in the first viable liquid crystal device for sun-sport applications. AlphaMicron is actively interested in commercializing its technology for other consumer and military eyewear. www.alphamicron.com
About FlexMatters: The FlexMatters initiative was established to grow and support a new industry in Ohio for the research, development and manufacture of flexible optical and electronic devices. FlexMatters was funded by a grant from the Fund for Our Economic Future (www.futurefundneo.org), a collaboration among 80 philanthropic organizations from across Northeast Ohio to encourage and advance an agenda for regional economic transformation. The Fund’s grant is providing critical early support to catalyze this initiative and to attract partners and the additional funding required for further development. For more information about FlexMatters, please visit www.flexmatters.org