KENT, OHIO-Kent State University's Glenn H. Brown Liquid Crystal Institute has received a $1.93 million, three-year grant to develop a reflective flat-panel display screen that could lead to paperless newspapers, magazines and books. ``The display industry is looking for a flat-panel display screen that is purely reflective, so that it looks just like a piece of paper but has the potential for full color,'' said LCI Director J. William Doane.
Reflective screens do not need bulky, power-hungry back lighting. The grant came from the federal Advanced Research Projects Agency.
In addition to newspapers, the market for a lightweight, portable viewer would include professionals, such as lawyers, who could store printed material electronically and read it any time. The liquid-crystal technology also could be used for new, better displays on hand-held computers, pagers and faxes, according to KSU.
AKRON, OHIO-Van Dorn Demag Corp. of Strongsville, Ohio, has donated a 55-ton injection molding machine to the new Akron Polymer Training Center at University of Akron.
The center offers evening courses and two- and three-day training sessions. Topics include injection molding, compounding, extrusion, adhesives, coloring and statistical process control.
CHICO, CALIF.-Moldflow Inc. has donated more than $100,000 worth of software to California State University at Chico, after the Western Section and Northern California Chapter of the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. provided $4,000 in enabling funds.
Moldflow of Shelton, Conn., agreed to donate the software if the university would cover the cost of paperwork, shipping and maintenance. The donation from the Washington-based organization will pay for those costs.
California State University at Chico is the only university in the state that has a bachelor's degree program in plastics, said William McNelly of the university's Department of Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing.
