Kent, Ohio (December 15, 2006) – Kent, Ohio - Kent Displays Incorporated (KDI), the LCD manufacturer of Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Display products leads a project team, that has been awarded an $8 M Research and Commercialization Project (RCP) grant by the State of Ohio’s Third Frontier Project. Major collaborators in this project include AlphaMicron and Kent State University. The award was announced by Governor Bob Taft during a press conference held earlier today at Cleveland State University.The RCP Program was designed by the Ohio Department of Development to support technology based economic development through research and commercialization activities in Ohio.

Kent Displays, a spin off from Kent State University, was created to further develop and commercialize Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Display (ChLCD) technology, taking advantage of their low-power requirement and reflective features to create greatly improved displays for portable devices.

The newly awarded state grant will help Kent Displays and its collaborators accelerate the establishment of a manufacturing cluster in Ohio to commercialize flexible liquid crystal display and eyewear products and devices. The project will achieve the following:

• Installation of manufacturing facilities that will be compatible with commercially available plastic substrates and simple production processes, making Northeast Ohio a global leader in the production of such devices.
• Build a business accelerator at Kent State University to attract supply chain providers including display materials, flexible substrates, and manufacturing equipment.
• Establish an industrial cluster in Northeast Ohio to manufacturer flexible displays and eyewear that will produce jobs, and other economic development opportunities for the region and state.

“We are very pleased to receive this Third Frontier grant. This project is a true collaborative effort and could not have been achieved without the support of our academic and industry collaborators. We look forward to taking our work to the next level and advancing Northeast Ohio as the center for commercialization of flexible liquid crystal products, thus having a major impact on the global display industry,” said Joel Domino, President of Kent Displays.

Collaborators that have provided support and leadership for this RCP include: AlphaMicron, Akron Polymer Systems, Sheldahl, Kent State University, the University of Akron, Ohio Polymer Strategy Council, Team NEO, NorTech and the Fund for Our Economic Future.

“Ohio’s strong industrial base in plastics and printing, and leading research strengths in liquid crystals, polymers and polymer engineering make our region a natural home for this emerging industry,” said Dr. Bahman Taheri, CEO of AlphaMicron.

Momentum on this initiative has been building in the region for the past few months with the establishment of FlexMatters, an initiative focused on building an industrial cluster in Northeast Ohio for the research, development and production of flexible displays, electronics and photo-voltaics. As part of this project, FlexMatters has already begun to attract companies to the region including, Sheldahl, a Minneapolis-based supplier of flexible substrates for liquid crystal products that’s a partner in the RCP initiative. Sheldahl is currently in the process of moving some of its activities to Kent and in order to join this growing flexible display cluster.