'Your learning process is in full bloom'
Photos by Jo McCulty Graduation speaker Roger Blackwell, professor of marketing and logistics, encourages summer graduates to be lifelong learners

Blackwell encourages more than 1,900 of Ohio State's newest alumni to be lifelong learners

A successful professor told more than 1,900 summer quarter graduates that Ohio State prepares its students to become successful and contributing members of society.

"Graduating as a Buckeye means that you have the preparation and foundation that will allow you to go on and become world-class in whatever you decide to become," said Roger Blackwell, professor of marketing and logistics at the Fisher College of Business. "From linguistics to logistics, Ohio State is among the best in the world."

A nationally-recognized expert on marketing and consumer behavior, Blackwell is also a popular teacher, a noted lecturer and a prolific author. The Blackwell at Fisher College was named in 2001 in recognition of his gift to the college.

Blackwell joined the Ohio State faculty in 1965 and has earned a reputation as a favorite among students. He has won many teaching awards, including one of the highest honors bestowed on faculty, the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching.

A College of Engineering graduate proudly proclaims his accomplishment.

Blackwell said the commitment to a lifelong learning process is a part of being an Ohio State graduate.

"We've given you the foundation, but you've got to keep learning -- keep reading books, take additional classes, get involved in professional associations," Blackwell said. "While your formal education may end today, your learning process is in full bloom, and if you want to progress in life and in your career, don't expect that to end any time soon."

Blackwell said numerous Ohio State graduates have become successful contributors to society, including the CEOs of companies like LimitedBrands and the Longaberger Company. He also said Ohio State students are taught by some of the best professors in the world.

"Being a Buckeye means you have been educated by some of the world's leading professors in medicine, the sciences, business, law, and pharmacy and most every other area you can imagine," Blackwell told the graduates.

Calling Ohio State an "eclectic collection" of students, faculty and staff from every ethnic background and nearly every nation in the world, he said the Buckeye values are vital for success.

"The great thing at Ohio State is that not everyone has the same values, but there does exist a core of shared beliefs that reflect the unique history and composition of Ohio State," he said. "Remember: it is your attitude, more than your aptitude, that determines your altitude."

Blackwell reminded the newest members of Ohio State's alumni that graduation day is just a beginning.

"Life is about the journey, not the destination," he said. "Today is a day of reflection and celebration, but it is just one day in the divine journey we call life. What does it mean to be a Buckeye? It means you are now prepared to go out and do something great, for yourself, and for Ohio State."

Some of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences newest alumni proudly display their diplomas.

Business Technology Center nurtures startups with space and resources

Part of the Science Technology Campus since 1994, the Business Technology Center continues to grow as it works to promote central Ohio economic development -- one high-tech company at a time.

Located at 1275 Kinnear Road, the center recently held a grand opening for a 35,000-square-foot expansion that opened earlier this year, and already is operating near capacity with 27 small startup businesses on board.

The mission of the BTC is to assist in the creation, incubation and financial independence of early-stage growth-oriented technology businesses through the blending of public, private and University resources. Many of their clients are Ohio State faculty who have licensed technology from the University to develop and market it, said David J. Cattey, executive director of the BTC.

The center is affiliated with Ohio State and Battelle Memorial Institute, and is subsidized in part by grants from Ohio's Thomas Edison program and the city of Columbus.

The two-year, $4.5 million expansion project was funded with $2 million in state funds and $2.5 million from local business partners who also serve as advisors to the BTC clients. It offers office space for 30 client companies, some manufacturing space, conference rooms, and 16 leased wet laboratories complete with natural gas hookups, acid-proof counters, elaborate exhaust systems and separate climate control systems.

"Laboratories generally don't exist in Columbus, other than at Ohio State and at Battelle," Cattey said.

Entering the office corridor of the new addition is like walking through a small village with different storefronts on either side. Large glass windows allow for visitors to peer inside. Open ceilings leave an impressive network of telephone and Internet wiring and heating and air conditioning ductwork exposed, and allows an abundance of natural light to filter into the offices. The architectural design relies heavily on raw, unfinished products like concrete blocks and steel, reflective of the raw, undeveloped nature of the companies inside, Cattey said.

It is the mission of the BTC to help transform those raw companies into finished products.

"Our primary goal is to help build high-tech companies that will employ highly-educated, highly-paid people and keep them in central Ohio," Cattey said.

Since the early 1990s, the BTC has helped 40 startup companies mature to the level where they either obtained venture capital or a major corporate partner; 32 of them are still in business and 50 percent of them have remained in central Ohio, Cattey said. Companies move out of the center once they obtain investors or partners; some of them relocate within the Science Technology Campus on Kinnear Road.

BTC is designed to stimulate deal flow and regional awareness, provide business development infrastructure, and accelerate business formation and growth in the areas of information technology, life science, engineered products and materials.

Approximately 30 percent of the startup companies housed in the new facility either originated at Ohio State or have deep roots within the University, Cattey said.

Current clients with Ohio State connections include Aetion Technologies LLC, which grew out of the Laboratory for Artificial Research at OSU; ChipRx, which is developing a tiny medicine-filled implant that both senses an individual patient's unique body chemistry and delivers the exact amount of medicine needed; and OncoImmune, a collaboration of four OSU and University of Michigan researchers dedicated to the treatment of cancer and multiple sclerosis through research in functional genomics, immunology and oncology.

"It's not just about the technology. It has to be blended with experienced management, with an identified market and with early customers," Cattey said.

The BTC is the place where all that is blended together, he said, with two full-time staff members working to help push companies from concept into the marketplace in three to four years. Additionally, BTC client companies are regularly exposed to a community-wide network of executives, public officials, University professors and funding sources.

Also located in the new addition to BTC is the Platform Lab, a shared software test and development facility that offers companies secured networks and physical access to the site, as well as software and hardware to support development and product testing. It is supported jointly through a partnership of the BTC and Ohio Supercomputer Center, with assistance from the Ohio Department of Development Technology Action Fund, Ohio IT (Information Technology) Alliance, and industry vendors.

For more information about the Business Technology Center, call 487-3700 or visit www.btccolumbus.com.