"I want every drop of rain that falls in the state of Ohio to be drinkable," says Stephen Spoonamore, co-founder of
ABSMaterials in Wooster. He and his partner and co-founder, Dr. Paul Edmiston, have developed a material that does just that.
The material, called Osorb, is a nanoengineered glass that absorbs non-point source polllution -- pesticides, herbicides, oils, gases and pharmaceuticals -- that make up the constant runoff from impermeable surfaces. ABS has recently secured a patent for the material.
The company, with 35 employees, has just initiated a B-round of seeking growth capital for R&D and expanding its customer base. Areas of research include storm water management, cleanup of water in the fracking process, remediation of former industrial sites and clean-room cleanup. ABS is the industry leader in the technology that cleans the water used in silicon chip fabrication.
“We’re the chemical garbagemen of the clean-room industry,” says Spoonamore.
ABS co-founder Dr. Paul Edmiston, who is the Peterson Professor of Chemistry at the
College of Wooster, says, "Founding a technology based company is definitely a team effort. The science side has to be innovative and responsive, while letting the business side lead the efforts to market." Dr. Ediston won the
2011 Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award for the development of Osorb.
He adds, “It is incredibly exciting to see the innovations our team has worked on here at the College of Wooster labs move into the commercial space through ABSMaterials. Every day we are making things a little better for water quality. It is humbling to see the idea just keep growing."
Source: Stephen Spoonamore, Paul Edmiston
Writer: Catherine Podojil