Acid Neutralizing Technology: An Entrepreneurial Student Business Idea Achieved Using Professorial Expertise [S-23-2]

Starting with an idea to make clothing able to neutralize acid on contact, student Matt Borowiak obtained chemistry advice from Professor Richard Partch. Nylon was chosen as the fabric and after modification proved able to neutralize acid instantly but also to be recyclable. Not only is the material useful in laboratory environments but also in baby diapers and adult underwear. Industrial interest in the patent led to expansion of the modified nylon for use as a floor covering.

Richard Partch has been chemistry professor at Clarkson University for 56 years and mentored many undergraduate and graduate students in a wide variety thesis topics. In addition to garnering over $7M of external funding and publishing over 120 journal articles he, is coinventor of 12 patents and honored to be selected a Fellow of the ACS, a Xerox Faculty Fellow, and recipient of the Tom Plastino CITEC Award for interfacing NNY industrial needs with local academic science and technology expertise.

Cap: 50