Jan. 11, 2000
Contact: Chris Curran
513-556-1806
chris.curran@uc.edu

Cincinnati -- William Krantz, the tenth and final Ohio Eminent Scholar to join the University of Cincinnati faculty, begins work in the College of Engineering as the Rieveschl Professor of Membrane Science and Technology this week with plans to establish a major multi-university center in membrane science and technology.

Krantz is a chemical engineer who joined UC from the University of Colorado at Boulder where he spent ten years as founder and co-director of two National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers. One focused on applications of membrane technology. The second focused on thin films. Both attracted widespread industry investment and produced a number of successful patented products.

Professor Krantz now wants to see the same kind of "magic" happen in Cincinnati.

"I won't accept anything except absolute success," said Krantz during a visit to UC this fall to meet with faculty and potential industry sponsors. "I found there's a lot of excitement here all the way up from the department level to the university administration. This is going to work."

The multi-university center would combine the expertise and facilities of Colorado with Cincinnati, but it will take commitments from at least four industry sponsors to make the center a reality. The sponsor fee is $40,000 per year, but Krantz was quick to point out how quickly many sponsors get a return on their investment.

"In Colorado, we've already had $875,000 of spinoff money from one $40,000 sponsor fee. It's that kind of magic that happens in these centers, and we want to make that magic here."

The key to the success of the center is the wide range of expertise and interests from both the industry and academic side. Paper companies might wind up collaborating with pharmaceutical or petrochemical companies. Consumer goods corporations can find a common interest with the U.S. military. And the benefits extend well beyond the commerical realm.

"We actually provided research experience and money for over 130 undergraduate students in the Colorado center. It was just marvelous," said Krantz. One student even went on to win the BF Goodrich Collegiate Inventor of the Year award, one of only three awards presented each year.

Krantz has a tight deadline to meet to guarantee National Science Foundation support for the new multi-university center. He needs to get commitments by the end of March, but he's confident with the wide industry base in Ohio and Cincinnati's diverse chemical industries, that the center will be a reality before the end of the year.

"What's really exciting for me is that I'm in a state where you can serve industry that's in the immediate area...in Ohio and in the surrounding states. That provides motivation for your faculty and opportunity for your students. That's exciting."

His co-director for the new center will be chemical engineering professor Sun-Tak Hwang who is known worldwide for his work in membrane science and technology. Hwang helped to found a Center of Excellence in Membrane Science at UC and received the 1998 Ho-Nam Prize, Korea's highest award for achievement in engineering.