UTEK Transfers Licence for Natural Composites

Trio Industries Group has acquired Cornboard Technologies, a subsidiary of UTEK Corporation, including the licence to a corn-based structural composite board.

Cornboard Technologies holds the exclusive license to the patented technology, developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, that uses the fibrous husk and stalk waste products of the corn processing industry to form a structural composite board that is said to be stronger and harder than wood-fibre composites.

The use of this otherwise discarded resource may provide significant cost savings and reduce the utilization of wood forests. The corn-based fibre is widely available, and the husks require no further processing prior to their use in the composite.

“With cornhusks, no processing is required other than cleaning and drying. The fibre is then layered into a mould that has been pre-treated with a releasing agent for easy removal,” said Inventor Scott White, Professor of Aeronautical Engineering at Illinois.

Professor White added, “Once the composite has been compressed and cooled, it is removed from the mould and can be cut or shaped as needed. First forming thinner composites and then compressing them together can prepare composites of any thickness.”

“Trio Industries Group, Inc. is enthusiastic about this technology and its potential for being a suitable and practical replacement to wood-fibre particle board. We are looking forward to expanding upon this technology,” said Rob Gyemant, Chief Executive Officer of Trio Industries Group, Inc.

“The overproduction of agricultural products like corn provides an abundant supply of renewable resources for industrial products as well as the opportunity to reduce undesirable effects on our natural resources.”

“UTEK is pleased to consummate this technology transfer with Trio Industries Group, Inc. and we look forward to continuing our efforts to identify additional technology acquisition opportunities for their consideration,” said Joel Edelson, Vice President of Technology Alliances for UTEK Corporation.

(Cf. News of Oct. 25, 2005.)

Source

netComposites.com Dec. 09, 2005.

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