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Advanced Materials
 
 
As of 2002, 70% of the world’s optical fiber capacity is within a few hours driving time of the Upstate. Source: Clemson University
 
The Upstate’s 25 colleges and universities serve more than 72,000 students annually.
 
60% of the goods shipped out of Charleston, the largest container port in the Southeast, originate in the Upstate.
 
South Carolina’s productivity has been ranked third highest in the nation.

 
Upstate, SC

Technology-Driven Materials Manufacturing
 
Home to some of the world’s largest companies and a worldwide leader in manufacturing technology, there is no other place like Upstate South Carolina for advanced materials and manufacturing. Located here are world leaders developing and using cutting-edge technologies in life sciences, plastics, advanced textiles, photonics and composites. The automotive industry, which relies heavily on these technologies for fuel sensors, braking sensors and EDs, is expected to spend more than $275 billion on materials-related companies by 2010. To complete the technological arsenal, highly-trained graduates, world-renowned professors, state-of-the-art facilities and a dynamic workforce continue to make South Carolina a global player in supplying the world market’s advanced materials.
 
Upstate Overview
 
Aside from being one of the most progressive and beautiful parts of the country, the Upstate provides an exceptional business climate for some of the world’s leading companies. With generations of industrial experience and one of the nation’s strongest workforces, the Upstate has an unparalleled track record in manufacturing excellence—so strong, in fact, that Upstate South Carolina has the highest international investment per capita in the United States.
 
The Latest in Optical Materials
 
One of the premier institutions on South Carolina’s technology landscape, Clemson University plans to invest $70 million over five years in the COMSET: Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies. As the national academic focal point for optical fiber and related photonic materials and with advanced studies in electron imaging underway, COMSET is just one way Clemson is leading South Carolina into the future of technological excellence. One reason COMSET is one of the leading optical materials programs in the country is due to the opening of its $21 million Advanced Materials Lab. Housing state-of-the-art equipment for study in electron microscopy, nanotechnology and fuel cell-related research as well as photonics and optical fibers, the COMSET Advanced Materials Research Lab facility is one of the very best university facilities in the nation.