COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio state administration, education and development officials this week announced numerous grants for Kent State strategic scientific programs and innovative economic development projects.

The state awards announced included:

Choose Ohio First Scholarship

Kent State is the lead institution on a $2 million Choose Ohio First Scholarship program designed to train Northeast Ohio’s future biomedical and biotechnology workforce. The program will provide hundreds of scholarships for students studying at all eight of the campuses in the Kent State system, as well as more at Cuyahoga Community College, Lakeland Community College, Lorain Community College and Stark State College of Technology.

The program also will integrate undergraduate and graduate education through joint research projects, build on Kent State’s nationally recognized leadership in biomedical research and technology and help fulfill the goals of the University System of Ohio’s 10-year master plan. The initiative addresses both the needs of students and the demands of Ohio companies for a skilled and adaptable workforce.  It also provides for a pipeline to encourage middle and high school-age students to spark their interest in science and science careers. 

The grant is from the Ohio Innovation Partnership, designed to be Ohio’s premier model for recruiting and retaining more Ohio residents as students in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine.

Bioterrorism Detection Device Program

Kent State also was part of a $3 million Ohio Third Frontier grant, with the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM), announced today to support the development of a technology company incubated at Kent State’s Centennial Research Park. The grant supports future expansion of Pathogen Systems, Inc., which licenses biosensor technology developed by a Kent State and NEOUCOM researchers.

Alpha Micron Project
Kent State also is a partner in a $5 million state grant received by Kent-based Alpha Micron Inc. The funding, also a Third Frontier grant from the engineering and physical sciences research and commercialization program, is a three-year award for adaptive window technology and involves Kent State and NASA.

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