Royal Society of Chemistry / MPP Image Creation
Andrew Marsden, CEO of Immaterial and 3rd year PhD student in Professor Jane Clarke’s Group in the Department of Chemistry, has won the 1st prize at the RSC Emerging Technologies Competition.
Andrew has joined forces with 2 researchers from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology to form Immaterial, a spin out company looking to commercialise technology invented by David Fairen-Jimenez and Tian Tian. They have patented a material that has superb gas storage and separation properties. If you fill a gas tank with the material, you can store 16x as much gas at the same pressure, and in the same space. The £20k in prize funding will go towards scaling the reaction to 1kg.
The Royal Society of Chemistry held their annual Emerging Technologies Showcase two weeks ago. Over 200 technologists, scientists and academics attended a day of talks and pitches at Burlington House from the 30 shortlisted finalists. Now in its third year, the Competition accelerates the commercialisation of the most impactful ideas in healthcare, energy and sustainability, and materials.
Check here for more details: http://www.rsc.org/redirect/des-index.asp?path=competitions/emerging-tech&episerver=true and http://www.rsc.org/news-events/rsc-news/articles/2015/jul/emerging-technologies-showcase-2015