Junhong Chen, UWM associate professor of mechanical engineering (right), is commercializing his nanotechnology research. Photos by Alan Magayne-Roshak
A Milwaukee startup company founded by an engineer at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM) has completed a licensing agreement with the UWM Research Foundation for intellectual property that the company will use to develop nanoscale products and devices.
NanoAffix Science LLC, founded by Junhong Chen, UWM associate professor of mechanical engineering, aims to commercialize technologies Chen has developed. Those include novel techniques for creating custom nanoparticles and also depositing them onto carbon nanotubes.
“We have found new ways of combining nanocomponents to produce valuable technologies which are superior to existing approaches,” said Chen. His methods of combining structures are not only low-cost, but also yield very high-performance materials that have potential uses in medical diagnostics, green energy technology and sensors.
NanoAffix Director Ed Corrigan says the company objective is to bring practical nanosensor products to market and pursue other innovative manufacturing technology applications. The company currently is pursuing federal SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) grants to focus on commercial development of gas sensors.
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This is the sixth licensing or option agreement completed by the UWM Research Foundation.
“The caliber of UWM technology resulting from one of our excellent research programs is evident in the formation of this new company,” says Colin Scanes, UWM vice chancellor for research and economic development. “‘Growing our own’ is another way of bringing companies and universities together supporting economic vitality in metropolitan Milwaukee.”
“We’ve been fortunate to work with Dr. Chen for several years to protect intellectual property and foster this research, in part through our Catalyst Grant Program,” says Brian Thompson, president of the UWM Research Foundation. “This technology needs an organization committed to helping it realize its potential, and we believe NanoAffix is the company that can do that.”
The UWM Research Foundation Inc. is a nonprofit corporation that supports research and innovation at UWM through a variety of programs including patenting and licensing.
For more information visit www.uwm.edu