South Bend: A portal to progress and innovation
Feb. 16, 2009 - Today marks an important milestone in South Bend's heritage of innovation.
On this date back in 1852, Henry and Clement Studebaker founded a modest wagon shop which eventually evolved into one of America's largest independent automobile companies in the 20th century.
Yet the Studebaker brothers' success is merely one illustration of South Bend's pivotal role as a centuries-old portal to America's progress. There are countless other examples of discovery and innovation which continue into the present, as the city forges a new technology-based economy.
Photo: Studebaker Brothers
A flair for innovation since the beginning
In the 17th century, French explorers were perhaps the first to embrace South Bend as a "portal to progress" when they discovered it was a key connection point between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. Specifically, those using the Lake Michigan-St. Joseph River connection would use the South Bend portage as a short overland route to reach the Kankakee River, which ultimately connects to the Mississippi River.
"The portage made the area a very important center of trading activity," says Travis Childs, a historian at the Northern Indiana Center for History in South Bend. "Native Americans as far away as Canada and Mexico and our first settlers traded along this route."
In essence, South Bend served as a vital nexus between the east and west until the advent of railroads, which modernized cross-country transportation.
In the 1800s the transcontinental railroad and the first telegraph line came through South Bend, enhancing its status as a strategic transportation and communications link as the nation steadily grew agriculturally and industrially.
It perhaps comes as no surprise that South Bend soon became a leading manufacturing center.
James Oliver, one of America's most influential inventors and industrialists, created the Oliver Chilled Plow in 1857, which played an important role in developing the American west. Forged with Oliver's patented annealing process designed to make the blades substantially tougher, Oliver Chilled Plows lasted longer and cut through tough turf with ease, compared to traditional cast-iron plows that wore down easily and became caked with sticky western soils.
At about the same time in the 1850s, Henry and Clem Studebaker began designing and building the world's best wagons and carriages.
"They converted their South Bend blacksmith shop into the largest wagon manufacturer in the world, with production topping 75,000 wagons in 1885," says Childs.
Studebaker introduced its electric car in 1902 and began production of gasoline-powered autos in 1904. The company continued to produce some of the country's most advanced and stylish car designs until it ceased operations in 1966, ending more than a century of transportation manufacturing leadership.
Through the years, bright scientific and technical minds in South Bend developed their creative ideas into remarkable inventions and products:
- Notre Dame engineering professor Albert Zahm designed the first modern airplane, with movable wing parts and a double tail, in 1893 - 10 years before the Wright brothers' first flight. Interestingly, Miller Knoblock Co. of South Bend produced the first electric magneto that was installed in the engine of the Wright brothers' history-making plane.
- In the early 1900s, inventors John and Miles O'Brien designed lathes used for machining and metalworking, and founded South Bend Lathe Works in 1908. As of 1930, the company manufactured 47 percent of the engine lathes in the United States, and in the early 1930s, was the world's largest exclusive manufacturer of precision metalworking lathes.
- Jerome Green, a Notre Dame engineering professor from 1895 to 1914, was an early pioneer in wireless communication. He was the first American to transmit a wireless message, from Notre Dame to neighboring St. Mary's College.
- Vincent Bendix, founder of the Bendix Corp., designed, tested, and manufactured many new parts for the transportation industry, including the electronic self-starter for automobiles.
- The Rev. Julius Nieuwland, a chemist and botanist at Notre Dame, helped invent synthetic rubber in the 1930s.
Photo: Bendix Plant 1950's
"Our history shows we know how to make things," says Stephen J. Luecke, the longtime mayor of South Bend. "We have a proven track record of launching and supporting successful businesses. Our people know how to create quality products that are used around the world - it's in our blood. It's in our DNA."
Innovation leadership in the age of technology
A pronounced "can-do" spirit underpins South Bend's drive to innovate and excel.
Take, for example, the incredible success of PEI-Genesis, which manufactures connectors for electronic cables and equipment, which most commonly have a multi-pin plug-and-socket configuration like those found at the end of computer power cords. The company challenged its employees to find ways to improve the cycle time for assembling connectors. In 2000, the average cycle time was 15 days. Remarkably, PEI-Genesis shaved the turnaround time to a mere 1.2 days.
"Our competitors still need almost two weeks to assemble a connector," says Steven Fisher, president of PEI-Genesis. "We call it the South Bend Miracle' - it's a miracle because no one predicted it could be done, and none of our competitors can replicate it. We owe our success to South Bend and the loyal, dedicated, and skillful people who live here."
South Bend continues to build on its inventive, pioneering reputation in other ways, too.
It was an enthusiastic public-private partnership that created the St. Joe Valley Metronet, a 47-mile fiber optic network that provides high-speed data transmission. With virtually unlimited bandwidth, Metronet is one of the most advanced local networks in the country and a critical piece of infrastructure for high-tech companies relying on lightning-fast transmission of large volumes of data.
"Local bandwidth exceeds that which is available in most larger cities," says Luecke, whose city became the first in the nation to use its underground traffic conduit for such a network. "It has allowed Notre Dame to secure a fivefold increase in its broadband capacity for research and double its student Internet access, at essentially the same cost as its previous carrier."
"We would not be in a position to attract high-tech development and business without the critical communication infrastructure provided through the Metronet," adds Patrick McMahon, executive director of Project Future, South Bend's economic development group. "Without our Metronet's unlimited capacity, the multitude of national service providers and lack of local bandwidth charges, we would not be in a position to effectively translate MIND research into jobs."
MIND is the Midwest Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery - one of four such research centers in the country. The Semiconductor Research Corp., a consortium of the world's leading computer chip makers, selected Notre Dame as the site for the $61 million program that will develop energy-efficient, next-generation, nanoscale logic devices replacing the current silicon chip.
"When MIND was being discussed, the City of South Bend wanted to do whatever it could to show its support," says McMahon, "so the City administration pledged $50 million to support commercialization of research at MIND. IBM and other semiconductor companies have told us they have never seen a community make a commitment like this."
Proactive community support is essential for attracting and retaining this kind of world-class research and development that will undoubtedly have a global impact.
MIND has coincided with the development of a dual-site, state-certified technology park in South Bend: Innovation Park and Ignition Park.
While Innovation Park will facilitate commercialization for all forms of research, Ignition Park will concentrate on nanotechnology commercialization of MIND-inspired concepts, and on other high-potential technologies and ventures as they emerge.
Innovation doesn't always have to be high-tech - sometimes all it takes is old-fashioned common sense. South Bend and the University of Notre Dame recently joined forces to reduce energy costs in a simple yet highly effective way. Notre Dame moved a bank of its computers into the city's greenhouse and conservatory, where the excess heat emitted by the computers provides heat for the plants. A similar setup will be tested at the city's wastewater treatment plant.
"We plan to use the heat from the computers to keep the temperature of the waste liquid at 90 degrees year-round so the anaerobic bacteria can be more efficient," says Luecke. "The city pays less to heat the wastewater, the university pays less to cool its computers, and the increased efficiency of the wastewater treatment generates more methane that we can use to run our generators and equipment."
The next five years
South Bend will continue to create a business climate that embraces research and development, public/private partnerships, and the entrepreneurial spirit.
"Innovation Park, Ignition Park and MIND will greatly accelerate our economy and attract other innovative organizations to our city," predicts Luecke. "I think within five years two buildings at Innovation Park will be fully occupied and a third will be under construction. I'm also confident that several groundbreaking discoveries will be announced during this time, especially in the fields of bioscience, nanoscience and energy."
Companies already are moving to South Bend in order to capitalize on the area's continuing legacy of innovation.
After a long search, Odyssian Technology - a high-tech company that develops new products related to advanced lightweight composites, multifunctional structure and integrated systems - recently chose the East Bank arts and technology district in downtown South Bend for its new research facility.
"I wanted a location that was inspiring and creative," says Odyssian Technologies president Barton Bennett. "We underwent a long and exhaustive search for our new facility, and found an unusually high level of personal interest and enthusiasm from South Bend city officials. It's a great place to develop new ideas and concepts, and has tremendous potential for growing and attracting future high technology business."
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Contacts:
The Blue Waters Group, Inc.
Bill Shepard
southbendstory@yahoo.com
1-877-851-4163
