Public-private corrosion-control collaboration receives $2 million
Andrew Sherman, CEO and founder of MesoCoat.
The University of Akron and MesoCoat Inc. of Euclid will merge their expertise in corrosion control, thanks to $2 million in Third Frontier funding. The collaborative effort will focus on developing and commercializing advanced inorganic metal coatings, ultimately fast-tracking MesoCoat's growth and job creation potential while reducing corrosion's $400 billion annual cost to the U.S. infrastructure economy.
The collaboration centers on development, qualification and technical risk reduction for an advanced inorganic cladding called CermaCladTM. The high-energy density, large-area coating and cladding technology is being developed and commercialized by MesoCoat, and tested by UA.
Energy and cost savings projected
"This inorganic nanocomposite coating provides reductions in emissions and cost for conventional and alternate energy production infrastructure. It also makes possible energy savings and cost reductions through the life extension of the steel used in transportation and energy generation," says Andrew Sherman, CEO and founder of MesoCoat.
Targeted for tubular steel, steel plate, valves and flanges used for infrastructure, including oil and gas pipelines, the metal cladding and hybrid powder coating will be developed by MesoCoat and tested for life extension and cost reduction projections by Mark Soucek, UA professor of polymer engineering, and his student research team.
Kent Miller, a polymer engineering Ph.D. student at UA, applies powder coating to a steel plate, which will be tested for corrosion resistance after exposure to light, moisture and temperature extremes.
The joint-use laboratory, located at UA, also will develop the powder coating based on previously published and unpublished work, and also scale-up the powder coating with equipment funded by the Wright project.
"The University of Akron will provide third-party testing and validation to the process and end performance of the coated steel for MesoCoat," says Soucek
Students studying corrosion and reliability engineering at UA will serve as project interns trained and poised for future engineering positions, which are expected with MesoCoat's anticipated growth.
The powder coating developed at UA also may transfer as a startup company.
Learn about UA's undergraduate program in corrosion engineering.
Media Coverage
MesoCoat Inc., University of Akron receive $2 million in Third Frontier money, Crain's Cleveland Business, March 16
$2M Grant Fuels R&D On Greener Infrastructure Coating, PaintSquare.com, March 14.
About MesoCoat Inc.
MesoCoat, the new Duracell of the coating industry, is a venture-backed nanotechnology materials science company fast becoming a world leader in metal protection and repair through their revolutionary "long life" coating and "high speed" cladding technologies. The company's transformational surface engineering technologies have already been the recipient of three prestigious R&D 100 awards, a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) award for "100-year life coatings for infrastructure," and the NorTech Innovation Award for environmentally friendly coatings.
Through partnerships with the Departments of Defense and Energy, and leading oil and gas companies; MesoCoat has developed high strength, high toughness ceramic-metallic materials and high speed fusion cladding processes providing unparalleled wear and corrosion resistance; and has verified performance, productivity and cost benefits with industry leaders in oil and gas, aerospace, energy generation, and maritime industries.
MesoCoat is now commercializing several of its products and services that are a direct replacement for hard chrome plating, as well as weld cladding processes to address the needs of both Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and Maintenance and Repair Organizations (MRO). MesoCoat, Inc.is a JumpStart, Inc. and Abakan, Inc. Portfolio Company.
Media contact: Denise Henry, 330-972-6477 or henryd@.uakron.edu.