Innovation + Job News

For people who suffer from tinnitus, or an uncontrollable ringing in the ears, finding relief from the disorder can be frustrating and expensive.

That frustration is something Ohio University clinical affairs director Jeffery DiGiovanni and Chillicothe VA Chief Audiologist Stephen Rizzo Jr., know well through their work with sufferers. The duo's compassion and ingenuity led them to create a new device that uses readily available MP3 technology to alleviate the ringing.

They have created wireless ear buds -- that also double as a hearing aid device -- that wirelessly streams sounds from an iPod-like player designed to play customized sounds that counteracts the buzz.

"We're deeply entrenched in hearing aid technology," DiGiovanni said. "Many people who suffer from tinnitus also use hearing aids, and we were both disappointed in the inability for manufacturers to come up with a device that would serve the needs of tinnitus sufferers in an elegant manner."

The ear buds have been developed through DiGiovanni's and Rizzo's company Sanuthera. DiGiovanni is understandably vague on the types of sounds developed, but says it's an improvement on traditional music or other generated sounds. They were created with the specific knowledge of the human auditory system to maximize the therapeutic effect The sounds can be customized to individuals, and downloaded through an audiologist to a user's personal MP3 device.

This spring the company received a boost with $337,000 in VC funds from TechGROWTH Ohio, an entrepreneur service provider and investor organization created through Ohio Third Frontier.

The funds will allow Sanuthera to speed up its prototype manufacturing, which is in process now. The company will soon under FDA testing and hopes to have the product to market by the second quarter of 2012.

Source: Jeffery DiGiovanni, Sanuthera
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

You can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites http://www.twitter.com/feoshiawrites

Flyer Angels may sound like a World War II-era bomber squadron . . . It isn't.

It is the name of a venture investment group managed by a group of University of Dayton undergraduates and endowed by an alumnus.

The new program, launched with a $1-million gift from 1969 alumnus Ron McDaniel, has helped to make the school's entrepreneurship program one of the best in the country. As part of Flyer Angels, about 200 students receive hands-on experience in due diligence, in finding and securing sources of capital, and even decide which business plans to bankroll and which to walk away from.

In March, Flyer Angels made its first investment: Commuter Advertising, winner of the school's 2010 Business Plan Competition.  Commuter Advertising is a high-tech startup that sells ads on board public transportation. The company received $35,000 from the university, after students vetted its business plan. 

"So far we've made six investments, most of them through our collaboration with Ohio TechAngels," says Dean McFarlin, chairman of the university's management and marketing department. "We're looking at a number of companies for possible investment right now. Some of them are through our own sources, and others through our collaboration with OTA." 

McFarlin says all of the companies under consideration are technology-based.

"The main motivation for us is education. Making money and getting a great return is secondary. There are very few undergrad students in the country who can say they were doing private investing or angel-equity types of deals, and making decisions and doing due diligence as undergraduates."

Source: Dean McFarlin, University of Dayton
Writer: Patrick G. Mahoney

Fluence Therapeutics believes it's found a better way to treat skin ailments like psoriasis using a new light therapy.

The Akron company formed in 2009 to commercialize photodynamic therapy technology developed at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Case Medical Center.

"We are commercializing photodynamic therapy using Pc 4, a novel photosensitizer," says CEO Warren Goldenberg. "Our initial application is the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis." 

Goldenberg explains that "photodynamic therapy involves both a pharmaceutical (the photosensitizer) and a light source which activates the photosensitizer to kill certain cells. We are developing two products: a photosensitizer containing Pc 4 as its active ingredient and a light source (device)."

Current treatment for moderate to severe psoriasis is light therapy and systemic pharmaceuticals. Light therapy can involve the use of ultraviolet light B (UVB) alone or a combination of ultraviolet light A (UVA) combined with systemically or topically administered psoralen (PUVA).

"We believe our products will have higher efficacy than current light-based therapies and, since they use red light, they do not create the cancer risk of current UV therapies," Goldenberg says.

"Moderate to severe psoriasis is also treated with systemic (i.e., taken orally or by injection) pharmaceuticals distributed by major pharmaceutical companies and generic manufacturers. Many of these medications are used for other diseases, including arthritis. Biological therapies, however, do not work in all patients. They suppress the immune system and have been shown to have a number of side effects including increased rates of infections and potentially increased rates of certain kinds of cancers (particularly lymphomas). They are contraindicated in many cases (e.g., for patients with infections or compromised immune systems) and they are very expensive," he says.

Human clinical trials are underway at University Hospitals Case Medical Center with support from the National Institutes of Health. The technology has been developed with over $32,000,000 of funding from the NIH.

Fluence has three part-time employees. Provided it obtains sufficient funding, the company hopes to grow to 40 employees over five years, including management, product development (engineers and chemists), clinical, regulatory and business development.

Source: Warren Goldenberg, Fluence Therapeutics
Writer: Patrick G. Mahoney

A joint venture between the Regional Growth Partnership and the University of Toledo is expected to streamline administration of incubation services and support for technology startups in northwest Ohio.

Two programs administered by the RGP -- the Rocket Ventures program, which invests Ohio Third Frontier funds in technology companies, and Launch, a tech-based business incubation program -- will now be run from University of Toledo Innovation Enterprises.

Four technology-focused staff members from the RGP moved to the university earlier this month.

"The scope of work, the program itself, what your'e trying to accomplish, none of those things will change at all -- you simply are taking both organizations that should be very closely aligned and taking the best of both worlds," says Dean Monske, president and CEO of the RGP. "Each one had great resources but they each lacked something and the other one had exactly what the other one lacked. And we're going to do it with less dollars."

Some type of consolidation of business assistance programs has been discussed in northwest Ohio for some time, says Dan Slifko, chief operating officer of the partnership (which will operate under the Rocket Ventures name), and director of the Rocket Ventures Fund.

"Under one roof, RGP was doing the traditional economic development activities of attraction and retention, while also helping technology based businesses and early stage companies," he explains. "As time went on, many counties and a multitude of economic development agencies were doing the same things and competing for money."

While the RGP was able to provide only "virtual" incubation services through the Launch program, physical incubation space is provided at the University of Toledo. Additionally, the new arrangement will allow young technology companies working with Rocket Ventures to more easily tap the research and academic strengths of the University, which has been instrumental in spinning off companies within the solar industry and other technology sectors, Slifko says.

Sources: Dan Slifko, Rocket Ventures, and Dean Monske, the Regional Growth Partnership
Writer: Gene Monteith

Imagine seeing music converted into lightening. That's what you'll witness at a performance by Case Western Reserve University's Tesla Orchestra.

The group has the world's largest twin musical tesla coils. They're 13 feet tall and generate 13-to-18-feet-long lightening streaks to music that includes the theme from the movie "2001:A Space Odyssey" and songs by Lady Gaga, the B-52s and Girl Talk.

Ian Charnas, who received undergraduate degrees in computer engineering and mechanical engineering from Case in 2005, started the Tesla Orchestra in 2008.

"At schools offering engineering degrees, civil engineering students typically design a bridge, and mechanical engineering students design a car," he explains. "There wasn't a standard project for electrical engineering students. I thought this would be a cool electrical project with lots of facets and challenges to it that could also include mechanical engineering students."

Twenty undergraduate and graduate electrical and mechanical engineering students are involved in the Tesla Orchestra, as well as some alumni and staff.

Ed Burwell, the Sears Undergraduate Design Laboratory Director in Case's School of Engineering, provides guidance to the students.

Having both electrical engineering students and mechanical engineering students collaborate on this is important," he explains. "It gives electrical engineering students something unusual to work on with a lot of challenges they wouldn't experience with more mundane projects, and mechanical engineering students are solving problems that contribute to the form and function of the tesla coils. Students in both disciplines are getting valuable insights into real-world design."

The Tesla Orchestra performed in Croatia and the Netherlands last summer and recently entertained more than 600 fans at Cleveland's Masonic Auditorium. Through its new Open Spark Project, the Tesla Orchestra is inviting musicians everywhere to submit their songs to be performed.

Although Charnas has graduated from Case and runs a company that develops websites and i-phone apps, he is still very much involved in the Tesla Orchestra. "I interact and dance with the lightening in a full-body chain-mail suit during our concerts," he says, noting that the electricity goes through the chain mail suit and not through him. "Everyone needs a hobby," he remarks. "This is mine."

Sources: Ian Charnas, founder Tesla Orchestra, and Ed Burwell, Case Western Reserve University
Writer: Lynne Meyer

Zipline Logistics, one of central Ohio's fastest-growing companies last year, continues to expand, adding six new jobs since November and moving into a new headquarters building.

Zipline manages shipments for a number of large customers by employing trustworthy carriers to move loads of a truckload or less to clients across the country. The company reported revenues of $3.2 million in 2009, almost double that of 2008.

The company reports that receipts topped $4.4 million in 2010, and revenues are headed toward $10 million in 2011.

The company was founded in 2007 on the top floor of a Chinese restaurant. On April 15, it completed a move to new offices in Grandview Yard, tripling its office space to 3,600 square feet, says Melinda Zemper, a company spokeswoman.

"It's a great location for them because it's centrally located for the type of employees they are trying to attract -- college graduates who like to live in the city," she says.

The company continues to hire interns through a Columbus Chamber of Commerce program as a way to find and retain talent. In an interview with hiVelocity in November, Zipline Partner John Rodeheffer, noted that "retaining talent in Columbus is something that a lot of the business are working hard to do so that when students (leave college) they don't go to Chicago, they don't go to new York, they don't go to Miami, they stay in the area."

Sources: Melinda Zemper and John Rodeheffer, Zipline Logistics
Writer: Gene Monteith

Who wouldn't want to: Make Millions. Change the World. Wear Jeans? 

That's the motto of The Ohio State University's Business Builders Club, or BBC, a 10-year-old student-run group that promotes the entrepreneurial mindset to all interested students -- not just business majors. And 150 student members (many of whom already operate their own businesses or plan to) from varied backgrounds are proving the theory.

So, what can you do at a weekly BBC meeting?

- Take the floor for 60 seconds to pitch an idea or opportunity for collaboration on a new business venture.
- Embrace your inner nerd in an E-Ship Ed teaching moment to learn a basic business skill.
- Steal great ideas and laugh at the early failures of the weekly guest speaker.
- Critique each meeting component with your peers over pizza and cold beverages at a local tavern.

All of which will prepare you to enter one of the annual IdeaPitch Competitions and pursuade a panel of judges that you deserve their money and guidance.

As for the "Changing the World," part, incoming BBC President, Carol Walden says," the club's Alleviating Poverty Through Entrepreneurship Summit had over 1,000 people in attendance. The summit works every year to bring entrepreneurs from all around the country and globe to one place to talk about the social issues they are looking to resolve through innovative initiatives."

Ben Gilbert, a 21-year-old OSU senior and co-founder of Functional Delights, maker of Seize the Day (an app that has been downloaded by nearly 300,000 iPhone users) says he was heavily influenced by the Business Builders Club.

"We raised about 50 grand this year from the community. While most of those funds supported the summit, Gilbert notes, "We (also) funded a whole bunch of student businesses and gave away nine grand to businesses like mine. It's a pretty neat thing to be a part of."

Source: Carol Walden and Ben Gilbert, OSU Business Builder's Club
Writer: Dana Griffith

Endosphere was formed in 2006 to meet an urgent need for a less invasive, safer and more physiologic treatment for the growing problem of obesity.

Today, the Columbus-based company is attracting plenty of investors based on the promise of its SatiSphere duodenal insert, which company Chairman Christopher Thorne describes as "a breakthrough technology offering a safer and more effective solution for appetite regulation and weight loss compared to the market's currently available alternatives."

Thorne says current treatments involve potentially harmful chemical medications, invasive surgical procedures, or dramatic lifestyle changes that are difficult to maintain.

"The SatiSphere device is a small, non-invasive, pre-formed memory wire that uses the body's natural physiology to regulate appetite and satiation mechanisms which slow digestion and deter excessive eating," he says. Unlike other devices, it is not attached to the body but stays in place by conforming to the natural shape of the duodenum.

The device is inserted endoscopically in a 15-minute outpatient procedure. SatiSphere slows the passage of food through the duodenum and enables stimulation of the neurons along the duodenal walls, causing them to release the body's natural appetite-suppressing hormones. This enables an earlier feeling of fullness and extends the feeling of satisfaction between meals, Thorne says.

He lists its advantages as "its safety profile, patient tolerability, affordability, ease of reversibility and repeatability, and method for achieving satiation."

EndoSphere Inc. completed a clinical trial in patients in 2008. All of the patients lost weight, with an average excess weight loss of 12 percent during the first month. The company has been approved for an expanded multi-center clinical trial in Europe.

Earlier this month, the company announced completion of an oversubscribed Series A financing round led by Broadline Capital. Investors also include Glengary LLC, Physician Investment Group LLC, Ohio TechAngels, North Coast Angel Fund and Queen City Angels.

The company, which also focuses on innovative treatments for type 2 diabetes, has added two new Ohio employees in the past six months and plans to further expand in 2011.

Source: Christopher Thorne, EndoSphere
Writer: Gene Monteith

 

As a graduating student from Cincinnati's Moeller High School, Justin Bayer remembers having little information to go on when deciding on a college. He credits a high school counselor with steering him toward the University of Dayton.

Now, Bayer is hoping to give parents and students better college information up with his new company, Welcometocollege.com.

The Dayton-based firm, formed early last year, centers on an iPhone app called College Visits. The free download allows students to tap into information about 4,000 schools in the data base, track their impressions during college visits and provide anonymous feedback to the school.

The tool is intended not only to give the college-bound a better way to compare and evaluate their visits to different colleges and universities, but to give those schools better information to improve their visitation programs.

Bayer served as a tour guide while an undergrad at UD and, after earning his masters degree in higher education administration at the University of Vermont, ran that university's student tour guide program.

"One of the struggles we had at Vermont was actually capturing genuine feedback," he says. "What did these visitors want to see when they came to campus? Were we giving them the best experience possible?"

To capture feedback, Vermont -- and Bayer says most universities -- asked students to fill out cards at the end of their visits, a method marred by the tendency to rush through answers and tell the university what it wanted to hear.

Because Welcometocollege.com offers students anonymity, the feedback provided to date "has been unbelievable in terms of the honesty and genuineness," he says.

Unlike many other services, Bayer says, Welcometocollege.com does not sell students' names. Instead, the company receives its revenue from institutions that sign on as partners. Packages range from $2,500 to $10,000. Eleven institutions have signed on, with another three in the immediate pipeline and some marquee schools on the horizon, Bayer says.

Meanwhile, Bayer is traveling to college campuses around the country in MARV -- his mobile automated research vehicle, touted as "the world's smartest RV."

"Marv is going to help high school students everywhere have fun with the college visit," Bayer says. "We're going out and securing research, taking video clips for our YouTube page and visiting with (students) about why they should become a Tar Heel, or why they should become a Buckeye. And the response has just been phenomenal."

To date, more than 1,000 users in 35 states have downloaded Welcometocollege.com's mobile app, and the number is growing every day, Bayer says. The company employs two full-time people and four independent contractors.

Source: Justin Bayer, Welcometocollege.com
Writer: Gene Monteith

Recent Case Western Reserve University mechanical engineering graduates Austin Schmidt and Solomon Alkhasov won the 2011 Idea Competition, sponsored by LaunchHouse and CSU's Accelerated MBA program at Nance College of Business. They created a company called Affinity Algorithms, which develops proprietary computer arbitrage software to facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers in various online marketplaces. The software provides greater liquidity and price transparency in the marketplaces.

"We are developing a suite of online software that helps the seller in fragmented marketplaces better manage inventory," explains Schmidt. Although Schmidt and Alkhasov came up with the idea from their experiences buying and selling textbooks in college, they say it can be applied to many online marketplaces.

The idea for Affinity Algorithms came about in January, they set up shop in March, and landed at LaunchHouse this month. They plan to roll out a full build of the software in September.

Students from all Northeast Ohio colleges and universities were invited to pitch a business concept to a panel of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, CSU faculty and LaunchHouse staff. The contest primarily focused on students who had innovative ideas in the fields of software and internet technology, low-tech medical devices and clean energy.

The second winner is Ronny Shalev, also a student at Case. Shalev created a product known as an autonomous intravenous (IV) insertion tool that will be the most effective replacement for the current procedure of manual vein localization and needle insertion. Shalev's tool will completely replace the need for trained medical staff.

Contest winners were each awarded a $2,500 scholarship to the Global AMBA program along with a prize basket of support services from LaunchHouse, "Additionally, we received a $500 check from LaunchHouse, along with a bunch of services that include legal services, accounting, and free space for three months," says Schmidt. "All in all, a very comprehensive package with everything needed to get a business off the ground."

The winners will also have the opportunity to compete for up to $5000 in follow on funding.

Source: Austin Schmidt, Affinity Algorithms
Writer: Karin Connelly

This story originally appeared in hiVelocity's sister publication Fresh Water Cleveland.

A team of recent University of Cincinnati grads hope to commercialize a portable stroke detection device created in the Medical Device Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program (MDIEP) at UC's Department of Biomedical Engineering.

The device, Ischiban, has the potential to be a game-changer in the early detection and treatment of strokes, a life-threatening condition where minutes can make a difference in a successful recovery, disability or death.

Ischiban was developed by a group of UC student biomedical and computer engineers and an industrial designer: Pooja Kadambi, Joe Lovelace, Scott Robinson and Alex Androski. They developed the device, comprised of an elastic headband connected to an electronic diagnostic device, which can quickly determine the type of stroke a patient is suffering from. This allows for quick diagnosis and faster treatment for better recovery rates, according to the developers.

Ischiban relies on Impedance Spectroscopy, which can measure electrical property changes in the brain associated with strokes.

"We received the idea to use Impedance Spectroscopy from a group in Massachusetts General Hospital doing research in this area. We developed the device, made prototypes of the parts and built it by ourselves," explained Kadambi, a biomedical engineer.

Strokes are caused by a blood clot in the brain, or bleeding in the brain. Treatment is different based on the type of stroke.

Currently, such stoke differentiation is done by a CT scan, which is costly and time consuming. Ischiban can be used by EMTs at a patient's home or during the ambulance ride. Early detection is important because patients whose stoke is caused by a blood clot who are treated within three hours of symptoms are significantly more likely to survive and recover.

Ischiban is one of 90 entries in the ongoing Cincinnati Innovates contest. The third annual competition offers nearly $90,000 in prizes designed to push forward groundbreaking products and services. It ends July 15, and all entries are posted online. Kadambi said the competition could help Ischiban garner attention and investment.

"Medical device research and development is an expensive, complicated and long drawn out process. We are a passionate team but do not have the funds to carry this forward alone. Winning this competition would open doors for us, help us make great contacts and keep our project alive and on track. Putting Ischiban on the market will help save lives and prevent disability globally and that is a fact," she said.

Source: Pooja Kadambi, Ischiban co-developer
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

You can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites

This story originally appeared in hiVelocity's sister publication Soapbox.

The words petroleum and green are seldom mentioned in the same sentence.

But an industrial recycling company near Cleveland is working to change that perception by inventing processes that allow the refining industry to re-use some of its chemical by-products, saving both money and the environment.

Metaloy or Metal Alloy Reclaimers Inc., recycles non-hazardous equilibrium catalyst material, a by-product of the oil refining process that is necessary for turning crude oil into useful fuels. The catalyst contains chemicals needed by other manufacturers, such as the steel, abrasives and cement industries, making it valuable as a commodity that Metaloy can market.

Recycling the material, which is about the consistency of fine sand, saves money for the refineries by lowering their costs of disposing of the catalyst, and for Metaloy customers, by allowing them to use a recycled substance rather than a virgin material, says Metaloy CEO Claude Kennard. It also prevents thousands of tons of the stuff from ending up in landfills throughout the U.S.

"It's really a win-win situation," he says. "The real value proposition for our customers is that they are getting a recycled material at about 50 percent of the cost of a virgin material."

Metaloy was founded in 1983 by the late Aaron Berlin. The company has seen steady growth recently due to increased interest in recycled manufacturing materials. Kennard says he expects sales to be roughly $2 million this year, up from $1.4 million last year. This trend could continue as Metaloy finds more markets for its recycling, he estimates.

In addition, Metaloy has spun off two new companies that show significant potential in similar marketplaces, MAR Systems, an industrial water purification company, and MCAT Services, a catalyst separation technology. Both enterprises have received significant early stage funding and show strong growth potential, says Kennard, who is a founding principal in both.

Kennard says he expects to hire three to four new employees in both technical and clerical positions at Metaloy this year. He is currently the only employee as several former workers left to join the spin off ventures.

Source: Claude Kennard, Metaloy
Writer: Val Prevish

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but too much free time doesn't hurt.

That's how Ben Gilbert, along with business partner Ian Kono, came to launch Functional Delights and their successful iPhone app, Seize the Day.

Gilbert is a 21-year-old computer science major who will graduate from Ohio State University in December. Kono is a UCLA grad working at Cisco Systems. The two met in 2009 while Cisco interns in San Jose, Calif.

"I moved to a new city and didn't know anyone," Gilbert explains. "So, I decided I was going to tackle learning iPhone development. And I did so with my roommate Ian, who would eventually become my co-founder. Once we figured our skills were sufficient, it was like what better way to put them to the test than make something that we need?"

What they needed was a decent mobile "to-do" management solution that didn't cost an arm and a leg.

"Both of us noticed that with the existing solutions in the App Store there was a big divide between really crummy free ones . . . and these enterprise solutions where you end up paying 100 bucks," Gilbert says. "We launched, and within a two-day span we were featured on the front page of the App Store and generating like 10,000 downloads a day."

Seize the Day differs from other to-do apps in its simplicity and ease of use, Gilbert says. Users can choose from a simple task menu marked "today," "upcoming," "at some point" or "view all." Tasks can be tagged for easy searches and marked complete when fulfilled. The app also has a daily reminder that alerts users each morning to the tasks of the day.

Since its launch last July, iPhone users have downloaded nearly 300,000 copies and give it a 4.5-star rating. Revenue from ads are "paying somewhere between beer money and the salary I want to make when I graduate," Gilbert says.

Next to be released is Zero, a paid revenue model that offers users the ability to sync up their iPhone calendar with their computer.

Source: Ben Gilbert, Functional Delights
Writer: Gene Monteith

Dan Gilbert is a Detroit native, but he believes in Cleveland big time. And he has put his money where his mouth is.

The chairman and founder of Quicken Loans, headquartered in Detroit, is majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, operates Quicken Loans Arena, where the team plays, and is building a casino in downtown Cleveland.

Now he's bringing an opportunity to Cleveland entrepreneurs to help them succeed.

The opportunity is Bizdom U, which Gilbert launched in Detroit in 2007. "Bizdom U. is a non-profit program Gilbert created to provide entrepreneurs with the necessary training and funding to launch a business in exchange for a share of ownership in that business," explains Ross Sanders, Bizdom U CEO. The program has helped create 14 businesses in Detroit, and plans call for launching three more by the end of 2011.

Bizdom U is rigorous and extremely demanding, according to Sanders.

"We want people with strong drive and dedication," he states. "We make a definite distinction between entrepreneurs and those I call 'wantrepreneurs'. 'Wantrepreneurs' want to be their own boss and set their own hours but aren't willing to go through everything necessary to make it happen. We're looking for people with a successful track record and a good business idea."

Bizdom U Cleveland officially begins this fall. The full-time program is free, lasts four to six months and will accommodate 20 entrepreneurs. Participants receive training, books, laptops, personal data devices and a living stipend.

Participants who complete the program must develop and present a detailed business plan. If their plan is accepted, participants can receive start-up funding of up to $100,000 from the nonprofit Bizdom Fund, a share of their own business, an opportunity to earn a greater share of ownership over time and eight months of post-launch coaching, as well as ongoing mentoring. Proceeds from businesses developed through Bizdom U go back into the Bizdom Fund to invest in future companies.

Bizdom U Cleveland has already hired a Clevelander to recruit Cleveland entrepreneurs to the program and will also hire a Clevelander as training leader. They're currently seeking office space in downtown Cleveland.

Source: Ross Sanders, Bizdom U
Writer: Lynne Meyer

In the aerospace industry, weight is a big deal. An industry rule of thumb is that for every pound you can take out of a big bird like the Boeing 737, you save $1 million over the life of a plane.

Syscom Advanced Materials is helping to save weight on the 200 miles or so of wiring in a typical plane by providing electrically conducive polymer/metal hybrid fibers that are significantly lighter than the typically-used nickel-copper wires.

The Columbus company was founded in December 2005. Its products are based on needs that founder Jar-Wha Lee recognized while working at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton and were developed under a federal Small Business Innovation Research grant, says Jeff Martin, Syscom's business development manager.

"He was doing some research there around making lightweight wires and he saw an opportunity for a business that people in the Air Force and aerospace industry were looking for," Martin explains.

The company's first product was Amberstrand Fiber, which is widely distributed to the industry in products crafted by Glenair, a California-based maker of electrical connector accessories.

"It's been on the market commercially for three years now. It's used heavily in the aerospace industry for EMI shielding (electromagnetic interference -- think of the buzz you get in your cell phone if it's too close to a radio)," Martin says.

The company recently introduced its new Liberator fiber. That product, which uses a different polymer than does Amberstrand, is still being evaluated with customers to determine its range of applications, Martin says.

"If you're comparing us to a nickel-coated copper wire, we're about 87 percent lighter and up to 26 times stronger than the copper wire. From a flexibility standpoint it's orders of magnitude greater."

The company's administrative offices and product development labs are housed at TechColumbus, with its manufacturing facility nearby. Martin reports that the company is growing, adding 12 new jobs in the past three years. The company now employs 15, he says, and expects to grow further through the year.

Source: Jeff Martin, Syscom Advanced Materials
Writer: Gene Monteith