National Science Foundation sees benefit in Ohio's public-private partnerships and industry innovation: Ohio is expanding its global reach in the polymer industry through a new program aimed at further developing the state's workforce training programs and investing in state-of-the-art computing portals that will increase productivity and accelerate product development for Ohio businesses. According to the Ohio Business Development Coalition, the nonprofit organization that markets the state for capital investment, the project will provide students with essential job skills and allow businesses to better compete in a 21st century global marketplace. The development program is funded through a National Science Foundation grant of nearly $1 million awarded to the Ohio Supercomputer Center, The Ohio State University, the University of Akron and the Ohio Learning Network. PolymerOhio, an Ohio Edison Technology Center, will provide forums for the introduction of cyberinfrastructure resources and workforce training to key leaders of Ohio's 2,800 polymer firms. "The courses and certifications that will be established under the program will be invaluable in preparing the workforce in our industry to move quickly and surely into the computer age," said Wayne Earley, president and CEO of PolymerOhio. "By establishing a 'Polymer Portal,' this important collaboration makes available to Ohio's polymer companies a variety of computational methods that will cost-effectively help increase their competitiveness in the global marketplace." PolymerOhio and the Ohio Supercomputer Center, through its Blue Collar Computing program, have partnered to develop an integrated cyber portal and computer applications targeted toward helping companies in the polymer industry increase productivity, including those companies from the plastics, rubber and advanced materials sectors. The applications allow companies to gain access to the Center's supercomputing systems and software and accelerate product and process development, as well as problem solving, by allowing engineers to quickly do "what-if scenario" calculations. The use of computer models to simulate and test new consumer products prior to manufacturing sharply reduces or eliminates the slow and expensive process of building and testing physical prototypes. These computer modeling and simulation programs have been cited by the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee and the National Science Foundation's Blue Ribbon Panel on Simulation-based Engineering Science as key to continued U.S. leadership in science and engineering. In addition, the grant will receive support from a consortium of Ohio colleges and universities to launch virtual, undergraduate programs through OSC's Ralph Regula School of Computational Science and expand more advanced, industry-driven certificate programs in computational science. These advanced degrees will help prepare Ohio students to excel in the workforce of the future by integrating into a new workforce training certificate programs. By linking to an emerging master's degree program in the college of Engineering at The Ohio State University, these certificate programs will directly serve the needs of Ohio's advanced industries, including polymers and advanced materials production. "Business leaders are realizing how, in Ohio, they're able to find a perfect balance between successfully growing a business and still enjoying life," said Ed Burghard, executive director of the Ohio Business Development Coalition. "Business owners profit from the bottom-line benefits of better work-life balance for their employees. Ohio offers low-cost, low stress communities in a combination of micropolitan and metropolitan cities. This diversity provides executives and employees the resources and time to make any ambition achievable. Ohio truly is the state of perfect balance." The polymer industry in Ohio includes more than 2,800 facilities and 140,000 workers. It generates $49 billion in annual sales revenue and pays its workers $5.6 billion in wages. More than 200 Ohio companies produce equipment for the polymer industry.