ONAMI’s portfolio companies in this segment represent a wide variety of breakthrough technologies that affect the everyday lives of Oregonians. How we measure, move and monitor the world around us. These companies help us breathe, see and feel better. Lives are enriched.
Some of these companies already have successful products in the marketplace. Others are advancing their inventions in the lab. Still others are actively seeking investors and/or commercial partners.
If you’re an inventor, you might find technologies like yours. If you’re an investor, you can be assured these companies have been thoroughly vetted by the ONAMI Team. Any questions? Contact us.
Project Title: Next Generation No Fog Applications
Prinicipal Investigator: Chih-Hung Chang, Oregon State University
Company Principal: Don Megrath, CFO, ABOM, Inc.
Project Description: Working with the Oregon State University (OSU) School of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering (CBEE), Abom intends to develop the next generation of transparent, thin-film conductive materials for eyewear. This collaboration will enable Abom to extend its reach into smaller, and more complex, protective eyewear systems.
The OSU team will develop state-of-the-art, visibly transparent nanocoatings using innovative, scalable manufacturing processes. This ONAMI project is built on the infrastructure and expertise made possible by an ongoing Scalable Nanomanufacturing project supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Company Website: abom.com
Project Title: Advanced Robotics Development
Prinicipal Investigator: Dr. Jonathan Hurst, Oregon State University
Company Principal: Damion Shelton, CEO, Agility Robotics Inc.
Project Description: Agility Robotics designs and builds legged robotic platforms for a diverse set of industries, including academic and corporate R&D, telepresence, military and law enforcement, and logistics and delivery.
Agility's flagship robot, Cassie, is one of the first commercially available bipeds that can operate both indoors and outdoors over a variety of terrains. Building on technology licensed from Oregon State University, in this project the Agility team is working to expand the capabilities of Cassie walking untethered utilizing virtual reality technology.
At Agility, our philosophy is that mobile robots should adapt to and move through human spaces, without requiring re-engineering of existing infrastructure.
Company Updates:
Company Website: agilityrobotics.com
Project Title: Diode-Based Display Backplane
Principal Investigator: Douglas Keszler, Oregon State University
Company Contact: John Brewer, Amorphyx
Project Description: The goal of this project is to demonstrate proof-of-concept process integration and testing capabilities that will enable the realization of a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) diode-based display pixel switch employing discrete MIM diodes fabricated with amorphous metal electrodes. This effort supports the team's vision for replacing the thin-film transistor (TFT) in backplane switching technology with a MIM diode that supports a 3x improvement in display backplane manufacturing line throughput and capacity for current e-ink, liquid crystal, LED, organic LED (OLED) and 3D displays.
In addition, the MIM diode’s physical flexibility offers the potential to uniquely enable the coming generation of flexible OLED-based displays that promises to redefine mobile electronic communications, entertainment, and computing devices. Amorphyx plans to initiate work with a leader in the flexible display industry with the goal of establishing a joint venture for the design and production of flexible displays in Oregon.
Company Update:
Company Website: amorphyx.com
Plastic recycling needs a better solution.
9% of plastic is recycled in the United States, a number unchanged over the past 15 years. Most recycled plastic is lower in quality and higher in cost than 'virgin' plastics from petrochemicals. As a result, there is limited plastic circularity today, and we depend on new plastic made from oil or gas for most of our plastic products.
Birch Biosciences is fixing this. Their recycling process uses enzymes that act as molecular scissors to break down plastic naturally and efficiently. Unlike recycling today, their process yields high quality, environmentally sustainable, and cost-competitive recycled outputs, truly enabling a ‘circular’ plastics economy.
Contact the company at https://www.birchbiosciences.com/contact
Working to Make Healthy, Locally-Grown Produce Affordable And Accessible For All Through Environmentally Conscious Means
Canopii incentivizes farming through the creation of turn-key urban farms that utilize novel end-to-end labor automation and energy management systems to reduce costs.
By automating the entire food-growing process and controlling each farm remotely, Canopii can remove the unpredictability, inefficiencies, and expertise associated with industrial agriculture. This will allow us to create a reliable and sustainable network of farms in the communities they serve.
Get in touch with the company here - https://canopii.us/contact/
Project Title: Anti-microbial Fabric Treatment using Nanosilver
Prinicipal Investigator: Kurt Langworthy, University of Oregon
Company Principal: Richard Geiger, Ph.D., Dune Sciences, Inc.
Project Description: Dune Sciences, working with researchers from the University of Oregon and with access to facilities and equipment at the Lokey Laboratories, is working to develop a protocol for increasing the manufacturing scale of their wash-on, durable, antimicrobial fabric treatment that prevents bacterial contamination of treated textiles. The product can be safely and economically applied to virtually any textile at any step in the textile manufacturing process from treating thread to treating finished products at home by consumers in their own laundry. The company is also using ONAMI funds to gather the data required to gain EPA regulatory approval for their antimicrobial treatment.
Company Updates:
Company Website: defunkify.com
Project Title: Improving Indoor Air Quality Using A BioEngineered Self-Cleaning Paint Additive
Prinicipal Investigator: Drake Mitchell, Portland State University
Company Principal: Adrian Polliack, CEO, Diatomix Corp.
Project Description: Working with Portland State University, the Diatomix team is developing and characterizing a paint additive to be inserted into paint mixes to improve indoor air quality by photocatalytically reducing VOCs.
Company update: Diatomix has expanded its product application space beyond paint and now see applications as floor cleaning products and air filters. The company believes their photo-catalytic technology actively and continuously improves indoor air quality by adsorbing and degrading airborne toxins to safe byproducts.
In 2018, Diatomix was named a TechConnect Innovation Awardee and won the Impact Invention Award at the 2018 Elevating Impact Summit by The Lemelson Foundation.
The company has since launched Airprizm®, an air purification device that fits directly into standard residential ductwork. Airprizm destroys household pollutants that aggravate conditions such as asthma, eczema, and allergic reactions. The technology breaks down chemical pollutants into harmless molecules using Photoregenerative Adsorbent Technology (PAT). Inside the AirPrizm, dirty air comes into contact with a special material called Ditanium that has the unique ability to adsorb chemical pollutants at the molecular level.
Company Website: diatomixcorp.com, airprizm.net
Project Title: Inorganic Printed and Spin-On Materials for High-Performance, Low-Cost Printed Electronics
Principal Investigator: Douglas Keszler, Oregon State University
Company Contact: Dr. Andrew Grenville, Inpria Corporation
Project Description: Oregon State University and Inpria used ONAMI Gap funding to demonstrate application of a new technology that provides highly efficient deposition of and patterning of functional materials for device applications at all length scales.
Company Status: Inpria has focused it's technology on the development of metal oxide photoresists, seeking to unlock the full potential of EUV patterning for the fabrication of latest generation semiconductor devices. Inpria received a prestigious NSF SBIR award in 2010, and in May 2011 announced receipt of Series-A venture funding.
Company Updates:
Before the JSR acquisition Inpria worked with the following clients and investors: Samsung Ventures, ASML Ventures, Applied Ventures (the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, Inc.), Intel Capital, and ALIAD, the investment arm of Air Liquide.
Company Website: inpria.com
Project Title: Stretchable Printed Electronics
Company Principal: Mark Ronay, CEO, Liquid Wire Inc.
Project Description: Liquid Wire enables low resistance stretchable electronics with stable performance through a patent pending class of materials called "metal gels". With room temperature processing and no loss of conductivity through fatigue, their high conductivity gels provide an ideal solution for wearable sensing, power and signal transmission. Through ONAMI GAP funding Liquid Wire has developed scalable roll to roll processes to print antennas, interconnects, strain gauges and capacitive sensors onto a wide variety of common stretchable substrates. From silicone rubber to polyurethanes, nearly any plastic can now be the support layer for elastic circuitry, revolutionizing electronics form factor and function.
As part of their GAP project, the Liquid Wire team is undertaking several business development tasks designed to build strategic relationships, and expand product offerings and customer relationships.
Company Update:
Company Website: liquidwire.com
Project Title: Magnetically aligned Copper Nanowires
Prinicipal Investigator: Dr. Shankar Rananavare, Portland State University
Company Principal: John Brewer
Project Description: Through its patent-pending use of a magnetic nickel coating on copper nanowires licensed from Portland State University as the foundation for uniformly highly conductive and optically transparent metal films, Magwire seeks to improve the performance and manufacturability of touch interface for the new generations of communications devices.
The initial goal of Magwire's operation validates the ability of the company’s Nickel-plated Copper Nanowire (NiCuNW) materials and transparent conductive films (TCF) fabrication processes to produce prototype bespoke TCFs on customer-supplied substrates in quantities suitable for initial flexible smartphone display product development.
Company Website: magwire.org
Project Title: Commercialization of Laminated Micromixers
Principal Investigator: Todd Miller, Oregon State University
Company Contact: Steve Leith, Microflow CVO
Project Description: Microflow CVO is working to commercialize high performance micromixers developed at OSU's Microproducts Breakthrough Institute (now the Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Institute) in Corvallis, Oregon. The efficient fluidic mixing offered by Microflow CVO's micromixers finds utility in many research and industrial applications including nanoparticle synthesis, precision stream blending, and laboratory automation. Micromixing technology improves reaction control, reduces waste, and lowers capital costs associated with production of chemicals and nanomaterials in industries ranging from pharmaceutical and fine chemical to petrochemical and consumer products.
Company Update:
Microflow CVO now designs and manufactures microfluidic devices and flow chemistry systems using patented technologies. The company offers standard products ideal for application development, but specialize in custom devices for your exact process and process scale-up. Devices include:
Company website: microflowcvo.com
Project Title: Characterization of Self-Assembled Catalytic Nanolayers and Selective Electroless Adhesion/Barrier Layers
University Partner: Prof. Dave Johnson, University of Oregon
Commercial Partner: Dr. Val Dubin, Nano3D Systems LLC
Project Description: The goal of this project is to characterize and optimize nano-particle assisted electrochemical deposition process for selective electroless adhesion/barrier layers to enable CMP-free and PVD-free fabrication of 3D through-Si via interconnects that will drastically reduce the cost of Cu metallization technology. A novel nanoactivation process based on photosensitive and self-assembled nanolayers with catalytic nanoparticles is being developed to initiate electroless metal plating on the isolation surface (SiO2).
The self assembling catalytic nanolayer followed by electroless Ni (Co) adhesion/barrier layer deposition will eliminate the current issue of the poor adhesion for electrochemically deposited Cu films on SiO2 surface which limits reliability of copper interconnects. This project will attempt to accelerate the mass-scale adoption of low cost and scalable selective electrochemical metallization technology in semiconductor manufacturing.
Company Website: nano3dsystems.com
Project Title: Microwave enabled Flow Synthesis for Industrial Manufacturing of nanoparticle materials
Principal Investigator: Greg Herman, Oregon State University
Company Contact: George Williams, Nanovox, LLC
Project Description: The VoxtelNano team led by Dr. Greg Herman of Oregon State University, in partnership with commercial partner VoxtelNano Inc., are using ONAMI Gap funding to develop a high throughput, automated, microwave-assisted continuous-flow, High-volume, Nanoparticle Engine (MACHINE). The team's development targets also include continuous product monitoring, quality feedback, and process control with low product composition size and morphology variation. This development is aimed at meeting the market's need for full-scale manufacturing of high-quality, low cost nanomaterials - a capability not currently available.
Update: The technology associated with this project was acquired by Shoei Electronic Materials, Inc. Shoei is a provider of tailored nanocrystalline quantum dots (NQDs) and nanoparticles (NPs). They provide high quality, mono-disperse NQDs and NPs that are tailored to meet customers’ specifications. Using proprietary processing capability, they produce these custom materials at low cost with high batch-to-batch reproducibility. Shoei uses the shared user facilities of OSU's Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Institute (ATAMI) on the Hewlett Packard Campus in Corvallis, Oregon, for continuing product and process development.
Company Update:
Make it bright the first time.
Phosio serves the tech hardware industry with nano-imprintable high index optical materials for use in components such as Augmented Reality, OLED, μLED and more. Materials are only as good as they are manufacturable. We make transparent high refractive index, 1.6 < n < 2.4, solutions viable for mass production.
Contact the company here - https://www.phosio.com/welcome#contact
Project Title: SolarBag® Plus: High Performance Photocatalyst for Purifying Drinking Water
Principal Investigator: Tyler Radniecki, Oregon State University
Company Contact: Heather McKenna, Puralytics Corp.
Project Description: Puralytics is a water purification equipment company located in Beaverton, Oregon. Puralytics has developed a patented photochemical water purification process that harnesses light energy from LEDs or sunlight to remove contaminants. The light energy activates an advanced nanotechnology coated mesh to result in photocatalytic reactions and interacts with contaminants directly in photolysis reactions. Water is purified through these simultaneous photochemical reactions, breaking down organic compounds (such as petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals) and sterilizing bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens.
Puralytics' has recently made improvements to its advanced nanotechnology coated mesh that effectively doubles the reactivity of their SolarBag product and enables it to be produced at a lower cost. Working with Oregon State University, the team is validating the new nanotechnology and demonstrating its performance enhancements to purify drinking water to meet to meet EPA Microbiological Purifier Guidelines and WHO health based performance objectives.
Company Website: puralytics.com
Project Title: Soil sensor for real-time nitrate fertilizer measurement in situ
Principal Investigator: Darren W. Johnson, University of Oregon
Company Contact: Calden Carroll, SupraSensor Technologies
Project Description: Working with the University of Oregon, SupraSensor Technologies is developing a real-time wireless sensor capable of in situ measurement of nitrate anion concentration in soil. Agricultural non-point source pollution from nitrate fertilizers is the major contributor to ground and surface water fouling, and reducing the millions of tons of nitrate fertilizer wasted annually through runoff and over-fertilization is one of the National Academies’ “Grand Challenges” faced by the sciences in the 21st century. SupraSensor is a UO startup launched from a collaboration between the labs of Profs. Darren Johnson and Mike Haley. Its initial nitrate selective environmental interface is being developed with support from an NSF SBIR Phase I grant, and the underlying hardware development is supported by this ONAMI Gap grant.
Company status: Following funding from ONAMI, Suprasensor continued to develop a nitrate sensor for agricultural applications and in December 2016 was acquired by Climate Corporation, which works with farmers to sustainably increase crop productivity with digital tools. Climate Corporation is a division of Monsanto.
Project Title: Development of automated water quality monitoring system
Principal Investigator: Gary Klinkhammer, Oregon State University
Company Contact: Matt Johnen, ZAPS Technologies, Inc.
Project Description: ZAPS Technologies, working with the Keck Collaboratory at Oregon State University, is working to develop a means to quickly, reliably and automatically measure water quality. The ZAPS / OSU team have been granted funds under ONAMI\'s Gap program to expand the ZAPS compound library which is expected to enable expansion into new markets. Funds from this collaboration will be used to apply the LiquiID(tm), the first solid-state optical water quality monitoring instrument developed by ZAPS, for rapid detection of TOC, BOD and multiple compounds in large amounts for flowing water.