HomeCCMR Industry OutreachCCMR Industrial ProgramsINVEST ProgramCCMR Success StoriesNew Technologies

New Technologies

 

Cornell technologies attract not only the attention of multinationals eager to use innovative materials for new applications. They are also the focus of new businesses. An energy-focused startup located in California collaborated with a Cornell chemical engineering expert to develop a scalable gas-assisted electrospinning manufacturing process for energy storage materials. Electrospinning, a conventional fiber-making process, applies an electric field and a whipping motion to draw droplets out of a polymer solution or melted polymer. Adding high-speed controlled air as the second driving force makes the process more effective and more importantly scalable. Further optimization led to an electrospray process that could be used in nanocoatings, sensor-making, and many other applications, opening up a wide variety of markets for the startup.

An established industry leader in vacuum coating with international partners in Europe, and Asia, developed a new physical vapor deposition (PVD) process to replace the toxic electroplated chromium coating process for applications on plastic substrates from automobiles to appliances. A Cornell faculty enabled the company to study each step of its PVD process and overcome process variabilities helping the company finalize contracts with large customers.

The semiconductor industry is developing smaller and smaller transistors, but is still unable to test quickly and efficiently their basic electrical and physical properties. A manufacturing startup in upstate New York is on the cusp of a technological breakthrough that will help the industry solve this problem and identify production faults in the early stages of fabrication of semiconductor devices. The company, which began as a two-year CCMR funded project in the lab of an electrical engineering professor, is developing a scanning probe that enables testing and characterization of semiconductor materials at the nano-level. The company is building multiple tips along with supporting sensing, actuation and electronics onto a single probe chip, using advanced nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) technologies. The multiple integrated tip device allows accurate electrical characterization of transistor performance at a fraction of current cost and time. As a result of the CCMR funded projects, the company has been granted a 10-year tax abatement and secured funding from agencies such as NYSERDA, DARPA, and NSF to pursue the development of this innovative technology, an advancement that could save the semiconductor industry millions.

A Cornell Startup developing a unique enzyme immobilization technology, that should optimize all enzyme reactions to their full potential, was looking at diversifying its offering in enzyme carriers. The company wanted to develop advanced biocatalytic new tunable materials. CCMR provided matching funds for a collaborative project with an expert in Fiber Science. This enabled the company to achieve its goal: producing engineering enzyme-carrying materials that are compatible with processes for the manufacturing of chemicals.

Powered By: AcademicsWeb