Governor Taft Awards UD $2 Million for Nanotechnology Research

Governor Bob Taft today announced that the University of Dayton Research Institute will receive two awards totaling nearly $2 million in Wright Capital Project Funds, an initiative of Taft's Third Frontier Project to create high-tech, high-paying jobs in Ohio.

During a ceremony at UD, Taft awarded $1.2 million for research into polymer nanotechnology recently developed by the University of Dayton and the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

The research, directed by Chyi-Shan Wang, UD’s group leader in advanced polymers, involves technology that uniformly disperses carbon nanotubes or nanofibers into polymers to make them stronger and more durable, while at the same time, more electrically and thermally conductive for use in aircraft, electronics, automotive manufacturing and other industrial sectors. The other $773,000 will be used under the direction of Andrew Sarangan, a professor in the electro-optics graduate program in the School of Engineering, to develop a new micro-optic infrared imaging system, which will find commerical use in security, defense and civilian applications.

“We’re honored the governor values what we’re doing at UDRI and sees the impact of our research for the state and the rest of the country,” said Mickey McCabe, director of the University of Dayton Research Institute. “This funding will help UDRI continue building its national reputation as it creates new commercial opportunities that will benefit the long-term economy of Ohio in a key area of advanced materials.”

This announcement reinforces the advances and expansion currently taking place in the sciences division at UD. A $22 million addition to and renovation of Sherman and Wohlleben halls, which house the chemistry, biology, physics, mathematics, geology and chemical engineering departments on campus, will connect the two buildings to create the University of Dayton Science Center, totaling 240,000 square feet of new laboratories and classrooms. 

by Linda Robertson

June 5, 2003

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