Youngstown State University will establish a Center for Excellence in Advanced Materials Analysis as part of a $2.1 million award recommended by the Ohio Third Frontier Commission.

The award will allow YSU to purchase high–end materials analysis equipment, including two electron microscopes, in order to develop a campus laboratory aimed at analyzing the internal chemical structures of advanced materials.

In collaboration with Fireline TCON Inc. (FTi) in Youngstown, a subsidiary of Fireline Inc., the equipment will be used to carry out research on TCON ceramic–metallic composites.

“The new facility will greatly expand YSU’s capabilities for materials research by permitting analysis at the nano scale and atomic level,” said Tim Wagner, YSU professor of chemistry and director of the center project.

“We are very excited about the new opportunities for research and teaching this equipment will bring.”

“The equipment in this center will give us analysis capabilities that few universities in the nation currently have,” said Daryl Mincey, professor and chair of the YSU Department of Chemistry.

Martin Abraham, dean of the YSU College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, said: “This award is part of the university’s continuing efforts to obtain the instrumentation and expertise needed to establish world–class laboratories so our faculty and students can engage in cutting–edge research.”

“This equipment and this center will allow our chemistry department and the entire STEM college to work with companies such as Fireline and others to produce the types of materials that are going to be vital to the future needs of the nation,” he said.

The award, which still must be approved by the State Controlling Board, was part of $19.6 million in funding recommended through the Ohio Third Frontier Wright Projects Program. The goal of the program is to build strong research capabilities within the state’s colleges and universities that support the commercialization needs of Ohio industry, and to provide capital for long–term capacity building in commercial, research, and education areas at Ohio colleges and universities and non–profit research institutions.

“We’re thrilled that the Ohio Third Frontier Commission selected YSU for this award,” said Mark Peters, general manager of Fireline TCON Inc. “We see this not only as an opportunity for FTi to accelerate its commercialization of TCON products, but also strengthening YSU’s role as a critical resource for all manufacturers around  the Mahoning Valley.”

Fireline manufactures high–performance ceramic components utilized by advanced technology industries such as the aerospace industry. Fireline established FTi in 2002 in order to commercialize the TCON process and diversify into new markets.

Abraham said the new center at YSU will analyze the chemical structures of materials produced by FTi  in order to improve the materials’ performance. This will assist in FTi’s short–term commercialization of TCON products for the molten aluminum industry, as well as longer–term commercialization for new markets.

For instance, FTi is working with YSU to develop lightweight TCON brake rotors that would improve the fuel efficiency of automobiles, buses and trucks. The company also is pursuing conformal TCON body armor that will better fit unprotected body areas of soldiers, he said.

Abraham said the center, once established, will work with other companies that process materials that need to be analyzed.

The announcement of the award comes days after Arden L. Bement Jr., director of the National Science Foundation, visited YSU to cut the ribbon on a new NSF–funded Analytical Materials Instrumentation Facility, also in YSU’s chemistry department. The facility features a new Nuclear Magnetic Resonance lab that will allow faculty and students from across the Northeast Ohio region and beyond to conduct cutting–edge research in biotechnology and nanotechnology.

During the visit, YSU faculty and students presented various research projects to Bement, who commented that he was impressed by the level of engagement by undergraduate students in research.

Abraham emphasized that undergraduate students will also have access to the equipment in the new Center for Excellence in Advanced Materials Analyses.

“Once again, YSU undergraduate students will get hands on experience working on world–class equipment that, at other universities, only graduate or Ph.D.–level students would be exposed,” he said.

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