Technology Business Assessment Group funds five faculty projects with potential for commercial success

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

The Oklahoma State University Technology Business Assessment Group has awarded more than $111,000 to five faculty research projects that demonstrate a strong potential for commercial success.  The projects were indentified from a number of high-level proposals submitted in response to a solicitation earlier this fall. 

The five selected projects are:

Advanced Honeycombs for Aerospace Applications, Dr. Jay Hanan, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. This lightweight, high-strength material, which resembles a honeycomb, will be used in cutting edge aerospace applications.  While metal honeycombs are commonly used in the aerospace industry, Hanan’s material has several unique characteristics.  His is the first honeycomb made of metallic glass.  These honeycombs also show the highest specific strength of any known cellular solid.  Recent tests show ballistic trauma under prototype armor panels made using this material to be 25 percent better than the best plates used by the U.S. Marines.  Hanan will use his $25,000 award to work with existing contacts at Oklahoma aerospace companies to further develop and approve this material for use.

Fiber Optic Sensor for Measurement of Web Lateral Position, Dr. Prabhakar Pagilla, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. “Web” is a term used to describe materials manufactured and processed in a continuous, flexible strip form.  Examples include: plastics, paper, textiles, metals and films.  Guiding of the web on rollers through processing machinery is essential for successful manufacturing of all web materials.  In a project funded previously by the Technology Business Assessment Group Pagilla successfully developed a prototype of a fiber optic sensing device to measure the lateral position of a web.  With this new $20,000 award Pagilla will develop a robust commercial package for the sensor that can be sent to potential customers.  Commercial interest already exists for the device, and Pagilla has formed a spin-off company, Indus Technology LLC, to further the commercialization process.

Novel Method for Water Softening, Dr. Allen Apblett, Chemistry. With this $25,000 award, Apblett will develop a prototype of an advanced water softening system that mitigates the negative impacts associated with conventional water softening.  A recent market evaluation by the Freedonia Group placed the annual worldwide market size for water softening at $1 billion.  Conventional water-softening devices use a resin that exchanges sodium ions for the hard metal ions in water.  The resulting release of sodium into the water stream can cause increased galvanic corrosion and increased salt levels in sewer and septic systems.  The sodium release is also dangerous for people on reduced sodium diets since the amount of sodium released can actually exceed recommended daily intake if it is used for drinking water.  Apblett’s device will be tested on tap water at OSU’s Venture I Laboratories.

Solvent Protection Pellets, Drs. Allen Apblett and Nick Materer, Chemistry. The formation of potentially explosive peroxide build-up within bottles of solvent is a very real danger for lab workers.  The pellets proposed by Drs. Apblett and Materer will be used in university and commercial laboratories to safely and effectively monitor the shelf life of solvents.  The pellets will be placed in solvent bottles and will change color when peroxide formation reaches dangerous levels.  Apblett and Materer have partnered with a recent group of OSU master’s students to form Xplosafe, a company that will market both this new solvent protection technology and other related explosive detection technologies.  The $29,092 provided by this award will support continued testing and development of the pellets.

Comparison of the absorption rate and plasma level concentration of liquid and tablet dosing of glucosamine, chondroitin, and MSM in companion animals, Dr. Lara Maxwell, Center for Veterinary Health Sciences. Dr. Maxwell will use $11,934 provided by this award along with external, commercial support to further develop True-DoseTM, a patent-pending nutritional supplement for companion animals.  Specifically, the work will improve the marketability of a popular formulation, which is widely used for the treatment of degenerative joint disease in dogs and horses. The funding will also support development of a metered‐dose actuator for administration on pet food that delivers a precise amount of liquid and allows for accurate dosing based upon the weight of the animal.

About the Technology Business Assessment Group
Created in 2005, the Technology Business Assessment Group is comprised of private sector partners, early-stage capital investors, bankers, and representation from i2E, Meridian Technology Center and OSU.  The group makes awards bi-annually to projects in need of feasibility demonstration and/or prototype development for commercialization purposes.

To date the group has awarded more than $675,000 to OSU faculty projects.  Researchers have used the funding to leverage more than $7 million in additional, external awards.  The program has also resulted in the formation of 11 start-up companies.

Funding for this program is generated by royalties from OSU-licensed technologies.  The program is administered by OSU’s Office of Intellectual Property Management.