Startup focuses on findings in nanotechnology
A startup nanotechnology company focusing on renewable energy and co-founded by Washington State University and University of Idaho researchers has licensed technology they developed at the schools.
GoNano Technologies Inc. acquired several patents relating to nanotechnology discoveries by UI physicist David McIlroy and M. Grant Norton, a WSU materials engineer and associate dean, its CEO said. The company plans to move into a new, approximately 1,200-square-foot research and production lab at UI’s Business Technology Incubator on Jan. 1.
“This is an example of, rather than the ‘Battle of the Palouse,’ … what the two universities should be doing, which is taking advantage of mutual resources,” McIlroy said.
Terms of the deal with the WSU Research Foundation, which also covers UI intellectual property, were not disclosed. But the specifics were within what the company’s counsel, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Seattle, deemed OK, McIlroy said. The law firm helps get startups money and takes them public and was involved in Google’s initial public offering.
GoNano employs five people, but it plans to add at least three in coming months, said Tim Kinkeade, CEO.
Nanotechnology involves creating materials by manipulating atoms and molecules.
Typically, nanoparticles are considered zero-dimensional. But McIlroy said the company has a capacity to construct one-dimensional nanostructures in a way that is commercially viable.
“They’re really a platform (into) which we can engineer a lot of capabilities, and that’s really what’s lacking in a lot of nanomaterials,” McIlroy said.
The company also bills its nanostructures, made of silicon and oxygen, as a “clean” technology because it claims they don’t involve energy-intensive creation or toxic chemicals.
GoNano’s technology could be used in a new type of fuel being developed by Redmond, Wash.-headquartered Asemblon Inc. The specialty chemical company is testing the technology in its Hydrnol liquid, said Asemblon CEO Pat Quarles.
Asemblon envisions a reusable fuel that combusts hydrogen while leaving the basic liquid intact, Quarles said. Initially, it could be injected into diesel engines to boost fuel efficiency.
“It does look good from the standpoint of what we need it for,” Quarles said. “It might offer us a valuable opportunity.”
GoNano could supply materials or license its technology to other firms, Kinkeade said.
GoNano in 2002 received about $900,000 from the WM Keck Foundation, which allowed it to do “unbridled” research, McIlroy said. It has already received an undisclosed amount of private investment, and it’s seeking millions of dollars more, Kinkeade said.
The company uses equipment similar to that used by the semiconductor industry, McIlroy said.
Like many young companies, its greatest challenge may be figuring out where to focus. There’s a “vast array of applications and intellectual property yet to be discovered based on what we’ve done so far,” McIlroy said.