YSU gets $1.6M for high-tech sensors

By GRACE WYLER

gwyler@vindy.com

youngstown

Youngstown State University is set to receive more than $1.6 million in state funds to create sensor systems for high-tech manufacturing.

YSU will use the money to collaborate with M-7 Technologies and the Youngstown Business Incubator to develop and commercialize sensor technologies that will enhance inspection capabilities during the manufacturing of high-tech parts.

The university will work with M-7 to develop sensors that can be integrated into the manufacturing process to inspect a part as it is being made, eliminating the need for the part to be removed from the line, said Darrell Wallace, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and the project’s principal investigator.

M-7, which builds and repairs industrial machinery, has expanded into high-tech, three-dimensional image sensors that can be incorporated into precision machining.

The research will build upon M-7’s work in the field, and develop technology to integrate data from these sensors into a three-dimensional model that will enhance analysis, Wallace said.

“The net result of this is improved machine quality and reduced costs,” he said. “You will be able to achieve quality inspections on a scale that is not currently possible.”

The $1.66 million grant, most of which will be used to purchase equipment for the research, will support YSU’s continued efforts to build its materials program, Wallace said.

“This will put us on the map for a truly innovative technology,” he said.

The incubator’s role will be to work with M-7 and YSU to commercialize the new technology, said Julie Michael Smith, the incubator’s chief development officer.

“Our goal is to drive the new technology into the market, so that it can positively impact economic development,” she said.

The YSU funds were one of six grants, totaling more than $17 million, announced this week by the Wright Center for Sensor Systems Engineering at Cleveland State University. The Center, part of Ohio’s Third Frontier Program, aims to boost economic development in the growing sensor-technology industry.

The Youngstown grant comes on the heels of the creation of the Youngstown Entrepreneurial Hub of Advanced Materials Commercialization and Software Development, announced Wednesday by Gov. Ted Strickland.