Timken, UA to Accelerate Commercialization of Specialized Research
08/26/2011 - The University of Akron (UA) and The Timken Co. have announced an open-innovation agreement to accelerate technology development. The organizations plan to combine their expertise in materials and surface engineering at newly established laboratories in the UA College of Engineering.
The University of Akron (UA) and The Timken Co. have announced an open-innovation agreement to accelerate technology development. The organizations plan to combine their expertise in materials and surface engineering at newly established laboratories in the UA College of Engineering.
Timken will contribute resources to establish the Timken Engineered Surfaces Laboratory, which will be located in a new facility currently under construction on the UA campus. Timken's Gary L. Doll, Ph.D., Chief Technologist in tribology and next-generation materials, will lead the lab as the newly established Timken Endowed Chair in Engineered Surfaces beginning Sept. 1.
Douglas H. Smith, Timken's Senior Vice President of Technology and Quality, said, "Not only is UA Ohio's fastest growing college of engineering, it is a leading developer of materials for vital, commercially viable uses. Matching some of Timken's leading scientists and capabilities with UA's renowned faculty and gifted postdoctoral researchers and students will further the development and commercialization of advanced materials, engineered surfaces, and performance coatings for the world's most demanding applications."
"For decades, UA College of Engineering students and graduates have been supporting Timken's global operations as co-ops and employees," said George K. Haritos, dean of the UA College of Engineering. "This agreement further strengthens our strategic partnership with The Timken Co. and creates a new, important platform for innovation that will benefit our engineering students, Timken, UA, and the region through our joint research and commercialization efforts."
Timken will fund and equip the new Timken Engineered Surfaces Laboratory, one of five laboratories to be housed in the new engineering research building. Other labs include the Wright Center for Sensor Systems Engineering as well as those for corrosion and reliability engineering, integrated biomedical engineering, and advanced vehicle and energy systems.
Following Doll's transition to UA, two Timken research investigators also will make the move to the campus to begin work at UA. The value of the partnership to UA, which also includes research funding, is approximately $5 million, and it places UA among the leading U.S. institutions nationally recognized for surface engineering and tribology research.
The Timken Co. supplies friction management and power transmission products and services that help machinery perform efficiently and reliably. The company had sales of $4.1 billion in 2010, with 20,000 people operating from locations in 30 countries.
The University of Akron is a public research university in Northeast Ohio. Approximately 29,300 students are enrolled in UA's 300 associate, bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and law degree programs and 100 certificate programs at sites in Summit, Wayne, Medina, and Holmes counties.
