A Chinese journalist recently visited Columbus, and published her experiences in the People's Net daily. Read what she learned and thought about Columbus.

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http://world.people.com.cn/GB/57507/17611226.html
Leadership by Science and Technology — Third Inquiry into
the Economic Phenomena of Columbus, Ohio, USA
● People’s Net journalist to the United Nations Xi Laiwang
April 10, 2012 at 05:07 Source: People’s Net- International Channel Viewing news on cell
phone
During interviews, this Journalist from the People’s Net found that a huge, well-educated workforce, along with
outstanding research capabilities and an ample company base have made the Columbus area, situated in the center of
the state of Ohio, the central zone with the fastest growth in inventions and technology in the United States.
In 2008, Forbes Magazine rated the Columbus area of Ohio as the foremost and most-promising technology city in
the United States. In 2011, Forbes Magazine ranked the Columbus area as the third city with the best technical jobs
in the United States.
According to statistics, the Columbus area has 54 universities with over 150,000 students on campus. The Ohio
State University is the largest university in the United States, with 56,000 students on its main campus in Columbus
alone. In the population over 25 years of age in the area, 40% have an associate degree or above. The Columbus area
has 2,043 science and technology research institutions, with over 38,000 employees in 2009. Currently, there are
47,000 people working in the science and technology fields. Expenditures by The Ohio State University on science
and technology research in 2011 were as high as US$ 830 million. Currently, the “315 Research and Technology
Corridor” in the Columbus area is one of the largest research bases in the United States, with more than 50,000
employees and managing over US$ 1 billion in research appropriations every year.
The Columbus area has benefited from the “Ohio Third Science and Technology Development Plan” launched by
Ohio. The plan has set up a dedicated special fund of US$ 2.3 billion to fund expansion activities that can support
those innovations, startup support, enterprise value chain development and technical talent that rely on technology to
achieve economic growth. This fund focuses on supporting research of applied technologies and their
commercialization, and encourage more innovative ideas from the laboratory brought to the market. That is, the
ambitious “Ohio Third Science and Technology Development Plan” is designed to create products, companies,
industries and job opportunities supported by new technologies. In May 2011, the plan was extended to 2015, to
create an economic prosperity for both today and the future.
In particular, Battelle Memorial Institute is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. At its headquarters, this journalist
held an informal discussion with Dr. Jeffrey Wadsworth, president and CEO of the Institute and Shalendra Porwal,
president of the Indian branch of the Institute. This research institute was founded in 1920 and is the largest
independent product research and development institution in the world. Historically, this institute invented many
interdisciplinary cutting edge and practical technologies, such as electrostatic copying and the universal bar code for
commodities. Currently, the Institute has an annual research budget of more than US$ 5 billion and employs 22,000
researchers in its 130 institutions around the world, which include seven national laboratories that perform advanced
research for the US Department of Energy and the US Department of Homeland Security and take on two thirds of
the energy project research of the United States. The institution covers extensive research fields, including energy,
health and life sciences, national security and defense, laboratory management, communities and education, etc.
Research and development project expenditures in 2011 were mainly spent on six industries: life sciences,
information technology, electronic products, aviation/defense/security, energy and advanced materials. There are
more than 2,000 researchers at its Columbus headquarters. The Institute often holds meetings with leaders of local

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companies to explore difficult issues encountered in their respective work, as well as research priorities that require
technical breakthroughs at the next step. This has doubtlessly provided an impetus for the development of the local
economy.
The well-known Center for Automotive Research at The Ohio State University focuses its research on energy,
security and the environment, and is dedicated to create an innovative new automotive system that is
environmentally friendly with low-carbon emission. Just days before this journalist came here, President Obama
visited the Center for Automotive Research at The Ohio State University on the afternoon of March 22. President
Obama held discussions with professors and students from fields such as environmentally friendly automotive
projects, bio-fuel development, clean coal technologies and solar energy research, and gave a speech on American
energy at the student center.
At the same place, in the same room where President Obama stood a few days ago, Don Butler, Assistant
Director for Research Products at the Center, said to this journalist that as the largest interdisciplinary center for
automotive research among American institutions of higher learning, the Research Center has a unique methodology
in dealing with the relationship between scientific research and teaching, as well as emulating research institutions in
companies. The Center pays particular attention to the relationship between education and practical development
and has explored a set of new educational models. Students from different majors come to the Center to conduct
research and experiments, focus on developing abilities of practical application, and pay equal attention to diplomas
and certificates. They are jointly trained by different universities, and companies feel talents trained from this new
model are superior to those through the conventional model of education. One hundred percent of the graduates
from the Center are snatched up by companies before they even graduate. In addition, having experienced an
economic crisis, some auto companies feel that the burden of research and development is rather heavy. One after
another, research institutions in companies seek help from the Center for Automotive Research at The Ohio State
University. The Center uses its unique advantages to attract talent from near and far, replenishes its research funds
and improves its level of scientific research. Besides daily operating expenses, its research and development
expenditures are as high as US$ 21 million. Research partners include more than 30 auto companies, such as Ford,
Honda, Toyota and Nissan from the automotive industry, more than 10 power companies such as Eaton, and 12
federal and state government agencies, including the US Department of Energy. Currently, priorities of the Center
for Automotive Research are automotive research on clean energy and use of clean energy in fields such as housing
and buildings, as well as applications of clean energy in mining industries. In addition to providing world-class
education and research in the automotive industry and promoting inventions in automotive technologies through
multidiscipline cooperation, the three missions set by the Center for Automotive Research also include providing
regional and national support for economic development.
In places such as the Edison Welding Institute and “Ohio Manufacturing Institute” of The Ohio State
University, this journalist also saw examples of many scientific and technology research institutions participating in
the development of the local economy. They all play a leading role in the economic development process of the
Columbus area.