Electronics

Although significantly smaller than that of powerhouses like Boston and Silicon Valley, Northeast Ohio has a credible electronics cluster and particular strengths in sensors, MEMS, instrumentation and control systems. This “instruments and controls” focus is key to Northeast Ohio’s leadership in industrial automation and a key link to our manufacturing heritage. Not only can this industry be a crucible for new enterprises, it is also a key enabling technology for all of the other areas in our technology signature.

In 2007, the state of Ohio Third Frontier Program made significant investments in our electronics industry future by investing over $70 million toward electronics-related research entities across the state. This included the Wright Center for Sensor systems Engineering (WCSSE), a center led by Cleveland State University, Case Western Reserve University and the University of Akron, focused on the systems that electronic sensors must work within and interact with in order to produce useful, accurate and consistent results. WCSSE will collaborate with IDCAST, a fundamental sensor technology center in Dayton, to make Ohio a premier center for sensor technology.

In addition to Instruments and Controls, Northeast Ohio is home to a growing and world recognized cluster in liquid crystal display technologies, anchored by the Liquid Crystal Institute at Kent State University. This cluster has already spawned a number of new entrepreneurial companies like Alpha Micron and Kent Displays, and projects to be an entrepreneurial driver for many years to come. NorTech has created FlexMatters, a unique collaborative designed to draws strength from the intersections of advanced materials, manufacturing and electronics and coalesce our relevant expertise to make Northeast Ohio the Center for manufacturing the next generation of liquid crystals on flexible polymers.

Northeast Ohio’s electronics cluster also includes significant companies and institutions in computer technology, communications, power, electronic manufacturing services and electronic materials. These companies include, Rockwell Automation, Parker Hannifin, Keithley Instruments, Phillips Medical, General Electric, Nordson, Diebold, Bird Electronics and many others.

TechLift’s Role

Despite the region’s success in electronics and notable focus on instruments and controls, we have not produced the start-up companies in electronics that will be key toward maintaining and growing our position in this important sector. Indeed, entrepreneurial companies are the lifeblood of the electronics industry and TechLift will support and nurture electronics entrepreneurs in Northeast Ohio to ensure our electronics industry future.

We are focused on Northeast Ohio's signature technologies:

Advanced Materials, BioSciences, Electronics, Information Technology, Advanced Energy