Taft will announce some of the recipients of the grants as soon as the Third Frontier Commission finishes its meeting in Columbus. Officials at Cleveland State are pretty sure they will be awarded some money because the governor is making his announcement at the school. CSU is hoping to build a Wright Center for Sensor Systems Engineering on their campus. It would be a coalition of the Cleveland State, Kent State and the University of Akron along with NASA Glenn and about two dozen area companies. They've put in a request to the state for $23 million in seed money. Officials say the center members could work together to develop sensor technologies for several industries.
Kent State, Case Western Reserve, Youngstown State, and the Cleveland Clinic also have bids in for Third Frontier grants. The Ohio Department of Development's technology division will distribute up to $60 million to a center that can commercialize scientific discoveries.