Contact:
Elizabeth Blevins, Director, Office of Communications
Office: (740) 351-3810; FAX: (740) 351-3179; Cell: (740) 464-4854
940 Second Street – Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
E-mail: eblevins@shawnee.edu 
Web site: www.shawnee.edu

            On Monday, Feb. 1, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland toured the Motion Capture studio, the Plastics Lab and the new University Center at Shawnee State University along with SSU President Rita Rice Morris, Provost David Todt, faculty, staff and other visitors beginning in the Advanced Technology Center Clark Planetarium.
            Larry “Skip” Miller, assistant professor in Industrial and Engineering Technology, talked to Strickland about a project in the Plastics Lab through a partnership with Zyvex Performance Materials in Columbus that received a $5 million Third Frontier grant to help the company become an industry leader in advanced composite materials.
            SSU’s Plastics Lab, in cooperation with SSU’s Motion Capture facility and the simulation and gaming programs, is working to characterize advanced nanotechnology materials and develop training simulations for new manufacturing techniques.
            Two third-year students demonstrated the use of some of the equipment in the Plastics Lab, Gerrika Fizer, of Columbus, and Dan Prager, of Portsmouth. Both of the students will be working with Zyvex Third Frontier grant project on nanotechnology.
            Plastics is the largest industry in Ohio, generating $49 billion a year for the state. SSU offers the only four-year bachelor’s program in Plastics Engineering Technology in Ohio.
            Butch Kotcamp, director of Facilities at SSU, showed the governor a new geothermal system that is used in the new University Center facility. The system works by using 58-degree ground water to cool the unit’s condensers, instead of a traditional cooling tower.
            SSU has two underground wells that are capable of pumping 600 gallons of water per minute. The geothermal system reduces water consumption, uses less electricity to operate and uses no chemicals in the treatment of the water used.
            “The new geothermal energy management system was installed as part of our University Center expansion,” Morris said. “This system allows SSU to go green, enabling us to cool the University Center and the ATC building in a more eco-friendly and efficient way.”
            Morris then took the governor to the new Motion Capture Studio in the ATC where Nick Compton, of Grove City, a fourth-year Fine and Digital Arts student, and Donald Bush, of Athens, a fourth-year Digital Game Simulation student, demonstrated the technology that will be used for the training simulations for the Plastics Lab.
            Motion Capture is a critical addition to the gaming and simulation programs at SSU and the creation of 21st century jobs in southern Ohio, particularly in the emerging gaming field. The Motion Capture Studio is part of the university’s plans to develop an Immersive Technology and Arts Center that will support the Digital Simulation and Gaming programs, giving SSU a competitive advantage in educational technology.
            The entertainment side of the motion capture field is a $12 billion a year industry and the simulation/interactive education side of the field is a $48 billion a year industry.
            Motion Capture is used in military applications, sports, construction and the medical fields.
            “By complementing other high tech programs in the region, SSU’s Motion Capture Studio will attract additional corporations to the region and support Ohio’s initiatives for the creation of high tech jobs,” Morris said.
            After the Motion Capture demonstration, Morris took the governor on a tour of the new University Center.