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University
Industrial Partner Receives Grant to
Commercialize Instrumentation Developed at Clarkson
One
of Clarkson University's industrial partners has received
a $50,000 grant to commercialize measurement instrumentation
originally developed in the Clarkson laboratory of world-renowned
air quality researcher Philip K. Hopke, Bayard D. Clarkson
Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry
and director of the Center for Air Resources Engineering and
Science at Clarkson.
New
York State Assemblyman William Magnarelli (D-Syracuse) announced
recently that Rupprecht & Patashnick Co. Inc. of Albany in
collaboration with Clarkson University was one of four companies
to receive a grant offered through the New York Indoor Environmental
Quality Center (NYIEQ) Inc.'s Commercialization Assistance
Program(CAP).
The
grant was received for commercialization of the Ultrafine
Particle Counter, an instrument that is capable of measuring
the concentrations of aerosol particles down to two nanometers
in size.
Rupprecht
& Patashnick Co. works with leading researchers worldwide
to design, manufacture, and market technologically advanced
instrumentation in the areas of ambient air quality, diesel
particulate exhaust, power plant emissions, and catalyst research.
"The
research project was launched through an Environmental Protection
Agency STAR grant," said Professor Hopke. "It took about four
years to develop a prototype in our laboratory with the more
recent work done in collaboration with Rupprecht & Patashnick
and with support and assistance from NYSERDA and Clarkson's
Center for Advanced Materials Processing. The CAP grant will
enable the company to engineer a commercial prototype from
our lab prototype. In the system we developed, air containing
the particles to be measured is turbulently mixed with a stream
of air saturated with condensable vapor so that the vapor
cools and nucleates onto the particles. The resulting droplets
then grow to a size where they can be effectively detected
by light scattering. Our design provides better detection
efficiency and greater ease of use."
The
collaboration is one example of Clarkson's ongoing commitment
to an entrepreneurial focus that turns research discoveries
and intellectual property into business opportunities and
jobs.
"By
partnering with Rupprecht & Patashnick, we were able to produce
a functional, stand-alone particle counting prototype system
that could be the basis for a commercial product," added Professor
Hopke. "The particle counter will then provide an economic
benefit to New York State, where it will be manufactured and
sold, as well as an environmental benefit as an effective
tool for measuring small particle concentrations in air."
CAP
was established in partnership with the Metropolitan Development
Association (MDA) and the Empire State Development Corporation
with grants received under the auspices of Assemblyman Magnarelli.
The $50,000 grants are designed to encourage innovation, product
development and entrepreneurship in the field of indoor environmental
quality (IEQ). CAP projects must demonstrate commercialization
potential and economic benefit to New York State.
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