Regional revitalization: From Rubber City to Polymer Capital
Snapshot: The University of Akron
UA is known for its strength in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. In our College of Engineering (above), undergraduate enrollment has increased 95 percent since 2004.
Our campus has been transformed over the last decade, as we invested $670 million in new buildings, renovations and green space. Above, the new Student Union.
UA has helped transform Akron from the Rubber City to the Polymer Capital of the World. Above, the Goodyear Polymer Building on our campus.
The University of Akron is a vibrant research university at the forefront of redefining the role of higher education to rebuild communities and revitalize the economy, helping to transform the Rubber City into the Polymer Capital of the world.
With $65 million in research expenditures, UA combines academic expertise and entrepreneurial experience in an economic engine for regional growth. We have created sustainable partnerships with industry and community, leading to breakthrough technologies and new jobs in polymer science, biomedical engineering, fuel economy, corrosion management, robotics, medical devices, high tech manufacturing and surface engineering.
A campus and city transformed
With more than $670 million invested in campus growth in the last decade, UA has rejuvenated adjacent neighborhoods, and dramatically improved a former “commuter campus” into an inclusive landscape for living and learning for faculty, staff and 29,000 students from 92 countries and 46 states.
Here, you will find remarkable and innovative researchers, professors and students who are addressing issues and solving problems important to our region, nation, and world:
- Clean coal fuel technology for energy savings and cleaner environment
- New polymers from biomimicry (gecko-inspired adhesives and spider-inspired flexible materials)
- Polymer coatings for safer and stronger medical devices
- Rust-busting solutions to corrosion of metals and surfaces
- Engineered surfaces to reduce friction, “wear and tear,” and energy consumption
- 3-D printing/additive manufacturing in federally funded TechBelt collaborative
- Robotic engineering
Strength through partnerships
By establishing partnerships with other like-minded, innovative organizations, we have attracted the brain power and funding to support invention, entrepreneurship and commercialization (including the prestigious i6 Challenge Award from the U.S. Department of Commerce). And now, we’ve opened a new “open innovation” laboratory with the Timken Co., where manufacturers can reduce the expense and risk of research and development, share ideas and protect intellectual property.
We have one of the fastest-growing engineering programs in the nation, and have earned national recognition for programs as diverse as business, politics, industrial psychology, law, education, nursing and dance. We celebrate our students and strive to create for them an Akron Experience that ensures their continued success.
Media contact: Eileen Korey, 330-972-8589 or korey@uakron.edu