The research team plans to further develop a technology for measuring permeation rates of gas mixtures through barrier materials. The team has built permeation testing equipment that utilizes an approach to interface a gas permeation test cell with a high vacuum mass spectrometer (MS). The cell/MS interface design reduces measurement delay time and enables real-time measurement of gas permeation using a MS detector. The result is a test system that can measure the permeation rate of any gas or gas mixture through barrier materials. This single-instrument system can measure the permeation of any gas, eliminating the need for separate pieces of equipment for each type of gas to be tested. The instrument can also measure permeation of gasses and gas mixtures for which there are few available instruments. The technology also enables multiplexing of many sample cells with one detector, leading to accelerated test throughput.
The versatility and accelerated testing capability of this instrument has the potential to produce an increase in test result data per unit of personnel time and capital investment. There is a growing need to measure ultra-low rates of gas permeation due to advances in gas barrier performance of packaging materials. The technology is an enabling technology, which will give users new and more expedited technologies to test permeability and create new materials.
This I-Corps project attempted to chart a commercialization roadmap for recently patented technology for measuring permeation rates of gas mixtures through barrier materials. Our I-Corps Team included Dr. Xiaoming Chen (Entrepreneurial Lead), Mr. James Clark (I-Corps Team Mentor), and Dr. Harry J. Ploehn (Principal Investigator). This team has worked together for several years to advance our gas permeation measurement technology, including equipment development, patent filing and prosecution, formation of a startup company (Parallel Permeation, Inc.), and courting of potential industrial partners. We entered the I-Corps program seeking to develop a viable commercialization roadmap supported by the findings of an appropriate innovation process. After learning the basics of the Lean Launchpad approach and the business canvas model, we began the Customer Discovery process. We believed that we had unique value propositions and that it would be easy to find customers who would be interested in talking to us. However, our initial interviews during the workshop in New York showed us that we had very few clues about whom our customers might be. We quickly stepped back and refined our value propositions before heading back to the University of South Carolina. After a slow start in gaining useful interviews, we decided to travel to the Process Expo, a big packaging trade show in Chicago, where we talked to more than 40 customers and finally reached almost 90 interviews. These interviews provided a much deeper understanding about the packaging ecosystem and customer pain points. Based on the data we gathered, we concluded that our prospective customers were not really excited about our value propositions. Our analysis of the market and revenue streams told us that the demand for our products would be too low to support a business. Therefore, we reached a NO GO decision with respect to further development of the commercialization roadmap for Parallel Permeation. Since the end of the project, Parallel Permeation, Inc. has been dissolved, and we have moved on to other ventures. The broader educational impacts of this work have been significant. The I-Corps educational experience gave Dr. Chen an exceptional introduction to entrepreneurship and innovation processes. Since the project end, he accepted full time employment as an R&D manager with Wellman Plastics Recycling; the exposure to the plastics and packaging industries certainly played a role in equipping and qualifying him for this position. Dr. Ploehn was promoted to Vice Provost at the University of South Carolina with responsibility for many research-related initiatives. His I-Corps experience had a profound impact on his approach to engaging faculty and students in entrepreneurship and commercialization activities. Dr. Ploehn is actively working with the university’s Office of Economic Engagement to infuse I-Corps inspired learning opportunities into a wider array of research projects and student professional development programs.
