GOLDEN, Colo., April 11, 2013 – Two research projects have been chosen to receive funding through the Colorado School of Mines Proof of Concept Fund to aid in bringing the products to the marketplace.

The Mines Proof of Concept Fund is provided by the Colorado School of Mines Foundation. The money will be used to advance these research projects down a commercial pathway with the intent the technology will eventually be licensed to private companies or serve as the basis for start-up companies.

Mines researchers submitted proposals to a nine-member committee of outside entrepreneurs, business leaders and venture capitalists. Each proposal will receive coaching from the Innovation Center of the Rockies.

The chosen projects are:

• Measuring Blood Clotting Potential in Microfluidic Flow Assays: Keith Neeves, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering

“The focus of our laboratory is to develop technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of bleeding and clotting disorders. Over the past four years, we have developed a suite of technologies that are integrated into a single device called the microfluidic flow assay (MFA). This technology captures the dynamics of blood clot formation under flow, which is absent in all traditional clotting assays. The intellectual property for the MFA includes novel methods for patterning proteins and lipids on surfaces that induce clotting, as well as the integration of these patterned substrates into microfluidic devices.”

• A Low-cost Sensor for Detection of Catalyst Coking: Jason Porter, Mechanical Engineering Department

“Hydrocarbon catalyst reforming is widely used for hydrogen production, fuel cell systems, and other industrial processes. In these processes, hydrocarbon-based gases (methane) are mixed with steam and or oxygen and exposed to a catalyst (nickel), converting the hydrocarbon gas to a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and other trace species. Although widely used, a mjor limitation to these processes is the formation of carbon on the catalyst surface (coking). This carbon layer deactivates the catalyst, often causing permanent damage. Systems are currently designed to operae with excess steam or oxygen to avoid coking conditions, but this inefficiency could be avoided if a direct measurement of coking were available.”

Contact:
Karen Gilbert, Director of Public Relations, Colorado School of Mines / 303-273-3541 / KGilbert@mines.edu