Paul Edmiston, a chemistry professor at Wooster College had been developing an experimental, patented nano-glass, but didn't know how to bring it to market. A chance encounter on an airplane with entrepreneur Stephen Spoonamore in January 2009 resulted in formation of Absorbent Materials, a reactive glass company that has developed Osorb, a stable engineered silica capable of swelling to absorb eight times its weight in liquids. One of ABS Materials' products, Osorb Water Mesh, separates dirty, toxic water mined as a byproduct to gas and oil, using Edmiston's hi-tech, patented embedded glass mesh. Another, Iron-Osorb TCE, soaks up and remediates excess chemicals in the ground near commercial production facilities.