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Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center (OBIC)A Wright Center of Innovation, OBIC was established with an $11.6 million grant from the State of Ohio’s Third Frontier Program in 2005. OBIC integrates academia and industry towards development of renewable specialty chemicals, polymers/plastics and advanced materials. Research projects focus on unmet needs of industry collaborators, with a current focus on novel genetics, platform feedstocks, biochemical conversion, bio-processing, and materials/application processes. OBIC leverages industry support with core capabilities in biotechnology, chemistry, material sciences and product testing at OSU as well as linkages with Battelle, DOE and USDA Labs. Advisory Board members include: ADM, Ashland, Cargill, Cooper Tire, Hexion, the Ohio Corn Growers Association, the Ohio Farm Bureau, the Ohio Soybean Council, Ohio Polymer Strategy Council, Owens Corning, PolyOne, Procter & Gamble, Scotts, Sherwin-Williams, and The Andersons. |
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Ohio Agricultural Research and Development CenterOSU-OARDC is the agbiosciences research arm of OSU. It is the largest agbioscience research center in the U.S. supporting over 250 scientists engaged in more than 400 research projects. OARDC maintains a 2,000 acre campus in Wooster, Ohio that has extensive research facilities including: greenhouse complexes; modern laboratories; and dedicated research field plots. OARDC is also home to the Molecular and Cellular Imaging Center that provides state-of-the-art microscopy, high throughput genetic sequencing, bioinformatics services, and experienced staff in all of these areas. |
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Veyance TechnologiesGood people. Innovative technologies. Smart solutions. Just three of the ways we Accelerate Your Business. Together, these strengths drive the development of Goodyear Engineered Product’s complete family of products: industrial and hydraulic hose and fittings, automotive and commercial truck, conveyor belt, power transmission, home and garden, rubber track and original equipment parts. Backed by our best-in-class distributor network, you benefit from innovative market-driven products that boost efficiency, but also from generations of industry experience that combine to keep your profit potential high and your operating costs low. |
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University of AkronThe University of Akron Polymer Program has a distinguished history of research and innovation. For the past half century, the UA Polymer Program has identified, responded to, and overcame many technical challenges to help the plastics and rubber industry research scientific maturity and commercial success. This program houses a range and depth of technical competencies unprecedented in this field allowing it to skillfully respond to emerging technical concepts and challenges, rapidly translating new ideas to technologies that can be disseminated into society. The polymer, rubber and elastomer research program at UA maintains over $10 million in molecular analysis and structural dynamic characterization equipment housed in 250,000 square feet of research buildings. UA has the largest program with the most extensive coverage of research activities in the United States. |
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Cooper TireAs a global company, Cooper Tire is the 4th largest tire manufacturer in North America and the 9th largest tire company in the world. The company is highly involved in the development, manufacture, marketing, and sales of passenger car, light truck, medium truck tires and has subsidiaries that specialize in motorcycle and racing tires. Cooper’s strategic focus is on new and innovative technology that advances tire performance, quality, and manufacturing efficiency. The company’s main R&D Center is located in Findlay Ohio and it has recently established Technology Centers in Asia and Europe. Each Technology Center is staffed by highly trained Scientists, Engineers, and Chemists that work in a collaborative and empowered environment. |
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BridgestoneBridgestone Americas Center for Research and Technology (BACRT), also called "The Center" is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, the world’s largest tire and Rubber Company. BACRT is a state-of-the-art facility staffed with a multidisciplinary team of highly-trained and experienced scientists from different countries operating under an organizational structure which promotes an ongoing and boundary-free interaction among staff members. The mission of BACRT is to develop new material concepts and technological process in order to improve, make more cost effective, and expand upon Bridgestone’s current offerings. The Center’s scientists continue to work at the frontiers of catalysis, polymer science, and materials science, including nanotechnology to impart improved and unique performance characteristics to products made by Bridgestone. |
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U.S.D.A., Agricultural Research Service, Crop Improvement and Utilization Research Unit (CIU), Albany, CaliforniaThe CIU conducts research that integrates biochemical and molecular approaches with biotechnological strategies to enhance agronomic performance and end uses of crop plants. The research project Development of Domestic Natural Rubber-Producing Industrial Crops through Biotechnology aims to develop rubber crops suitable for cultivation in the temperate climate of the United States. Metabolic engineering is used to enhance yields of latex, rubber, and value-added co-products in various rubber-producing crops. Effective strategies to reduce or eliminate gene flow from intragenic or transgenic rubber-producing plants, including marker-free methods, are being developed. Concurrent research is performed to ensure that domestic rubber is of commercially acceptable quality, can be used in conventional rubber applications, and that unique properties are identified and profitably exploited in blends, composites and products. |
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Department of Crop and Soil Science, Oregon State UniversityResearch in the Department of Crop and Soil Science focuses on agricultural and natural resource issues with emphasis on encouraging and enhancing the sustainable production of agricultural crops and protection of soil and water resources locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. The Department conducts basic and applied research in two broad areas:
CSS has extensive experience with growing TKS under field and greenhouse conditions for both root/rubber production and seed. The CSS is actively involved in selecting for high yielding, vigorous TKS lines that will result in commercially viable varieties, developing agronomic systems for growing TKS, and approaches to harvesting both root and seed. |
