Washington Technology
Center (WTC) has awarded an Entrepreneur's Access grant to the University
of Washington to support an advanced material research collaboration with Modumetal,
Inc. of Seattle, Washington.
Modumetal, Inc., a Seattle-based developer of nanostructured materials, is
collaborating with the University of Washington's Department of Materials Science
and Engineering on a project titled "Functionally-Graded Preceramic Polymer
Coating for Corrosion Resistant Commercial Sulfuric Acid Pipelines."
"We are excited about this opportunity to partner with the exceptional
researchers at the University of Washington to create this cutting-edge material
for new commercial anti-corrosion application," says Leslie Warren, Modumetal's
Project Manager and senior engineer in this effort. Christina Lomasney, the
company's CEO confirms that "with support from partners like the WTC and
University of Washington, Modumetal is poised to create a new technology that
will have broad industrial application and will result in new jobs and economic
growth in our region."
Sulfuric acid is a highly corrosive substance used extensively in industrial
processes. Typical anti-corrosion coatings have a weakness – if breached,
they leave the metal surface underneath the coating vulnerable to acid attack.
Modumetal has a unique production method that eliminates this surface weakness
by allowing anti-corrosion materials to be functionally combined with metal.
With this project, the team of Modumetal and UW Professor Rajendra Bordia,
Ph.D., plans to modify a preceramic polymer system developed at the University
to merge with a functionally graded materials system developed by Modumetal
for corrosion protection of commercial sulfuric acid production pipelines for
ConocoPhillips.
"This project combines the research that has been done at the University
of Washington and at Modumetal to develop a novel solution for a significant
problem in the area of corrosion," said Dr. Bordia. "The short term
EA funding from WTC gives us a chance to initiate this joint development and
prepares us for long term collaboration with Modumetal. The need for corrosion
resistant coatings is widespread and the proposed solution that we will be exploring
with Modumetal has the potential to impact a broad range of industries."
Modumetal expects that successful application of this technology will lead
to many opportunities in the $300 million corrosion-prevention market.
The $5,000 award for this project comes from an Entrepreneur's Access grant
from Washington Technology Center (WTC). WTC competitively awards around $1
million in state funding annually for research and technology development projects.
State funding enables collaboration between companies and non-profit research
institutions on technology projects that show strong potential for commercializing
products and creating jobs. Since 1996, the state has funded 330 research and
technology development projects.
"This grant is a great example of state government at its best,"
said Washington State Representative Jamie Pedersen (D-Seattle). "The seed
money from WTC, combined with world-class research facilities at the University
of Washington and the innovative entrepreneurs at Modumetal, will create jobs
and help the state maintain its lead in technology."
More information about the research and technology development program is available
online at http://www.watechcenter.org/rtd.