OSU Institute for Materials Research - Celebrating 10 Years with IMR The Ohio State University Institute for Materials and Manufacturing Research [Text on screen Celebrating 10 Years with IMR] Dr. Robert Davis, director of Nanotech West Lab and IMR associate director: We wanted to build a community, that's really what we wanted to do. We wanted to build a strong community that spanned across all materials research endeavors of Ohio State and I think the thing that I've really seen is growth. Dr. Caroline Whitacre, senior vice president for research: And I think it was a small group of really dedicated materials researchers who came together and it has just grown and you know and flourished beautifully over those you know over those, now, ten years. Dr. Janet Weisenberger, senior associate vice president for research: We were in the process of forming the IMR and it was kind of a new concept because this notion of an institute that serves as an umbrella for a whole community of researchers, centers, individual laboratories — brings them all together and makes something out of them, where the whole really is more than the sum of the parts. Dr. Davis: We won an $18.6 million Wright Center in Photovoltaic, seven million, of which came to Ohio State and that was like you said was just instrumental in changing a lot of things at Nanotech West. Layla Manganaro, IMR program manager: So it was very exciting to see it come from that, where it was truly just a group of ideas and some ambitions that we had. And we all work very hard from the beginning, especially. It was very much an entrepreneurial operation, startup; it was all hands on deck. Dr. Roberto Myers, professor in Materials Science and Engineering: The office isn't really anything. It's not necessary. What's necessary are the people that work there. [Text on screen IMR’s Lasting Impact] Dr. Fengyuan Yang, professor in Physics and IMR associate director: I witnessed, I would say explosive growth in the materials community here. We have world leaders in many areas right now that we didn't have 10 or 14 years ago. Dr. John Carlin, associate director of Nanotech West Lab: The $2,000 grants even for facilities are key to small groups to be able to sort of engage with the staff. Dr. Myers: And that's exciting to see all those new faculty come in and how new areas of research in new areas of excellence and new labs are being set up. Dr. Katrina Cornish, Ohio Research Scholar and Endowed Chair in Bio-based Emergent Materials, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences: And this is the first radiation attenuation medical glove, made in the US. This meets the medical glove specifications as well as the attenuation glove specifications, and this was made under the auspices of my startup company Energy, which again wouldn’t exist without Steve. Jennifer Donovan, executive assistant: The greatest thing that IMR does is the interdisciplinary connectivity between the colleges and the departments. Dr. Davis: When we first began I think that all of us had a strong desire to help Ohio State win a MRSEC, a National Science Foundation Materials Research Science and Engineering Center. Dr. David B. Williams, dean of the College of Engineering: And the NSF MRSEC, which has been renewed for a second time with a growth in funding. The MRSEC in the first place is an extraordinary achievement. To get it renewed a second time is even rarer. To get it renewed a second time with an increase in funding, that is almost unheard of. Dr. Weisenberger: Materials Week, this idea of a forum where the entire research community in materials from all over the university can come together and present their work and engage in discussions and planning and form new collaborations. Dr. Whitacre: That's the success of IMR, in that it brings together junior faculty, postdocs, students. [Text on screen The Future of IMR] Manganaro: What people in the materials community at Ohio State needed 10 years ago is different than what they needed today in 2017, and so IMR has done a great job evolving and our mission has really changed to meet those needs. Dr. Jay Sayre, IMR director of innovation: How do we take the great work that's done in the research engine of IMR around creation and dissemination of knowledge and actually move that out to the market through strategic partnerships to make a greater impact on solving the world's most pressing problems. Dr. Whitacre: I see that it's really captured the attention of many, many big industries. Angie Dockery, IMR business manager: I feel like we're broadening our reach with industry, with new pockets or faculty that we haven't worked with before, and I feel like that's going to continue to grow maybe with helping develop a new research facilities or just being able to broaden the support that we give current research facilities. Kari Roth, IMR senior technology integrator: IMR as it exists today may become IMRI where the innovative side is as strong as the research side. [Text on screen Congratulations Steve Ringel] Dr. Yang: I feel IMR is like a baby to Steve, and many of the management, so I will say happy birthday, so I look forward to the next ten years of tremendous growth. Dr. Weisenberger: Steve has a hundred new ideas. He has more energy than any three other people I know, and he makes things happen. Dr. Sayre: I came to IMR because I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself. I want to be able to make a bigger impact, and once I started talking with Steve about his vision for the future, you know, I got pulled in. Dr. James Merz, former IMR external advisory board chair and Frank M. Friemann professor emeritus of engineering at Notre Dame: And your vision of how to bring about collaboration, coordination, interdisciplinary research at the highest level, with so many faculty from so many departments was just astounding. Dr. Gene Fitzgerald, IMR external advisory board member and Merton C. Flemings-SMA Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Congratulations to IMR, and congratulations to Steve. Dr. Myers: I think most people don't have that level of energy and people skills to walk into a room and say okay this is what this meeting is about and let's get through all these issues. Dr. Williams: Steve, it's a great pleasure working with you. You're never short of new ideas. I hold on to my wallet every time you come into my office. You have proven very efficient at leveraging funds out of the college and out of the university, but we always invest in success. And the one thing that you have done as well or better than anybody on campus is bring a focus to materials and a success to IMR. Dr. Weisenberger: In a big way, the success of the IMR is in large measure due to the success of its leadership.