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UT-related projects receive Third Frontier funding |
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Matt Lockwood |
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Mar 31, 2008 |
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The Ohio Third Frontier Commission has announced awards of more than $12 million in grants to 17 organizations to accelerate the development of advanced energy industry in Ohio, and University of Toledo-related projects shone brightly in the competition for funding.
UT was awarded $250,000 to conduct additional research on its patented fermentation process for ethanol production. The goal is to optimize the design and performance of the enzyme in the fermentation process, develop enzymes for different feedstocks, incorporate a novel biomass pre-treatment process, and develop yeast strains suitable for fermentation. A complete performance evaluation and economic analysis will be conducted.
Dr. Sasidhar Varanasi, professor of chemical and environmental engineering, will serve as the principal investigator and partner on the project with Suganit Systems, a company housed in the UT Clean and Alternative Energy Incubator.
On another project, UT will collaborate with Xunlight 26 Solar on Xunlight’s $1 million grant aimed at developing building-integrated, flexible photovoltaic systems based on lightweight modules of transparent polymer materials. Xunlight was founded by Drs. Al Compaan and Xunming Deng, professors of physics.
UT will receive $360,000 for support of this project from its Department of Physics and Astronomy, the Center for PV Electricity and Hydrogen, and the Wright Center for PVIC. In addition, Akron Polymer Systems will receive a sub-award to collaborate on this project.
Compaan also will work with the Garland Co. in Cleveland on its $1 million project to produce turnkey, factory-integrated solar roofing projects. UT will receive a sub-award of $300,000 to engage the resources of the Wright Center for PVIC and the Center for PV Electricity and Hydrogen to assist with Garland’s expertise in roofing. Garland is a long-established manufacturer of commercial roofing products and has offered solar roofing products for the past decade.
The Third Frontier Advanced Energy Program is designed to help companies in Ohio continue to make technical progress toward the commercialization of advanced energy-related products for future applications.
Awards for advanced energy were selected from the wind, solar, alternative fuel, energy storage and instruments, controls, and electronic sectors.
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