WARRENDALE, PA—The Materials Research Society (MRS) has selected the first two materials-based startups, both out of Duke University—Multi3D LLC and Fetch Automotive Design Group LLC—to demonstrate their new technologies at the iMatSci Innovator Showcase, held November 27-28 during the 2017 MRS Fall Meeting in Boston. The iMatSci (Innovation in Material Science) Innovator Showcase offers early-stage startups a unique opportunity to meet and interact with industry and R&D leaders and early-stage investors, to spur collaboration and accelerate the adoption of new materials technologies for real-world applications. All early-stage materials startups are encouraged to apply; applications will be accepted through September 1, 2017.
About Multi3D LLC and the Electrifi Conductive Filament
The global Radio Frequency (RF) components market is expected to reach $17.54 billion by 2022, but fabrication techniques for commercial RF components have seen little innovation. Conventional RF manufacturing techniques, such as machining and photolithography, are accurate and reliable, but they are also expensive, time-consuming and produce unnecessary waste.
Multi3D LLC is a Duke University spin-out that offers highly conductive 3D printing filament for rapid prototyping and manufacturing of electronic and radio frequency components. Most recently, the company has created a new product called Electrifi Conductive Filament that is 100 times more conductive than the most conductive filament available on the market today. Their product will accelerate research in the United States by significantly reducing cost, weight and turnaround time. By creating customized components to fit the design space at hand, Electrifi Conductive Filament also eliminates the need to design technologies around commercially available parts.
Learn more by viewing this video: 3D Printing Electronics with Electrifi Conductive Filament
About Fetch Automotive Design Group LLC and the Carbon Nanotube Tire Wear Sensor
Automobiles are becoming increasingly smarter, with significant attention on sensors that ubiquitously monitor the cars’ environment and overall condition. However, one component that lacks data is the only part of the car that contacts the road—the tire. While most vehicles do allow for the measurement and communication of real-time tire pressure data, it has never been possible to monitor tire tread wear in real time.
Electrical engineers at Fetch Automotive Design Group LLC, another Duke University spin-out, have developed an economically priced, printed carbon nanotube device that they call Tire Wear Sensor, which can provide real-time, noninvasive material thickness measurements that allow for the mapping of tire tread from the inside of tire itself. The sensor relies on a simple mechanism, in which cross-capacitance between two metal electrodes is monitored. As the material thickness above the sensor is changed, the electrical response between the two electrodes modulates accordingly. The simple design of the sensor (2mm-scale conducting square electrodes) allows for a variety of manufacturing methods and materials which has the potential to add value to the new smart-car space, military vehicles and even race cars.
Learn more by viewing this video: Carbon Nanotube Tire Wear Sensor
About the iMatSci Innovator Showcase
Launched at the 2014 MRS Fall Meeting, the iMatSci Innovator Showcase provides a platform for technology leaders at universities, research labs and startup companies to demonstrate the practical applications of their innovative, materials-based technologies. The goal of this program is to convene innovators, industry leaders and investors in one location to spur collaboration that accelerates the adoption of new materials technologies for real-world applications.
iMatSci is designed to showcase technologies that have not yet been commercialized, but where there is a working prototype or evidence of a repeatable process. The entities behind these innovations are generally early stage and pre-revenue, however, iMatSci also displays innovative technologies that are emerging from an existing corporate entity.
About the Materials Research Society
MRS is an organization of over 13,000 materials researchers from academia, industry and government worldwide, and a recognized leader in promoting the advancement of interdisciplinary materials research and technology to improve the quality of life. MRS members are students and professionals hailing from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and engineering—the full spectrum of materials research. Headquartered in Warrendale, Pennsylvania (USA), MRS membership now spans 90 countries, with approximately 45 percent of members residing outside the United States.
MRS serves and engages members across generations to advance their careers and promote materials research and innovation. The Society produces high-quality meetings and publications, assuring that members of all career stages can present and publish their most important and timely work to an international and interdisciplinary audience. MRS continues to expand its professional development portfolio, as well as promote diversity and inclusion in the scientific workforce, with career services for researchers worldwide. The Society advocates for the importance of scientific research and innovation to policymakers and the community. And the MRS Awards program honors those whose work has already had a major impact in the field, as well as those whose work shows great promise for future leadership.
For more information about the Materials Research Society visit
mrs.org and follow
@Materials_MRS.