The 5th edition of World Materials Forum 2019 (WMF) dedicated to the theme “Future of Materials: Make It Happen!” took place in Nancy, France from June 12th to 14th. One of the highlights of the event was the WMF Start-up Challenge, for which several applications were received globally. The jury, which included SpecialChem’s CEO Christophe Cabarry nominated 18 Start-Ups as the finalists on April 15th. Top 3 winners who were successful in exhibiting their impact in “Using Materials Smarter, Less & Longer" were announced during the WMF Gala Dinner on June 13th.
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WMF Grand Prix winner Jelena Stojadinovic from MEMBRASENZ with Prof. Victoire de Margerie,
Jury Chairman, Prof. Stéphane Mangin, Jury Vice Chairman and SpecialChem’s CEO Christophe Cabarry |
Here is a preview of the innovations showcased by the Winners and Finalists.
The Winners
MEMBRASENZ (Bochum, Germany) - Gas-separating Membranes
MEMBRASENZ received the WMF Grand Prix Award for its gas-separating membranes. These membranes can be used in alkaline electrolysers (in order to split water into H2 and oxygen) while achieving excellent gas barrier properties and with 50% higher ionic conductivity compared to state of the art Zirfon membranes.
MOMENTUM TECHNOLOGIES (Dallas, Texas) - MSX Membrane Technology
MOMENTUM received the Special Award Critical Materials for its MSX membrane Technology (reverse osmosis). It extracts high purity rare earth oxides from a wide range of magnetic waste feedstock (MRIs, cell phones, electric motors) without requesting the use of high temperatures or pressures.
AERONAUTICAL SERVICES (Roma, Italy) - Customized Nano-structured Materials
AERONAUTICAL SERVICES received the Coup de Coeur Award for its customized nano structured materials. These materials are used for extreme tasks and related mathematical models to predict the performance of such materials noticeably in the field of high temperature shielding & fireproof, electromagnetic waves absorbing & shielding and Sound Absorbing.
SpecialChem and World Materials Forum 2019 Partnership
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SpecialChem teamed up with the World Materials Forum (WMF) to
accept applications on their
behalf for their 2019 Start-up Challenge. |
SpecialChem teamed up with the World Materials Forum to accept applications on their behalf for 2019 Start-up Challenge. Finalists were selected by an international jury which included SpecialChem's CEO Christophe Cabarry. The winning company CEO was awarded 50,000 euros by the Jury President, Victoire de Margerie.
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Special Award Critical Materials winner MOMENTUM TECHNOLOGIES (left) and Coup de Coeur Award winner
Marescotti Ruspoli from AERONAUTICAL SERVICES (right) |
List of Other Nominated Companies:
TRIMATERIALS (Brescia, Italy)
Paints that prevent buildings from collapsing in an earthquake.
DEMETA (Rennes, France)
New class of polymer manufactured from an underutilized by-product of the petroleum industry (dicyclopentadiene), with a simpler production process, lower carbon and energy footprint and superior performances (toughness, lightness) than existing materials (epoxy, polyester, vinylester or PU).
FLUENCE ANALYTICS (New Orléans, USA)
Big Data to monitor real time polymer reaction and achieve optimum reaction efficiency/product quality. Thanks to adjusting process variables, such as temperature, pressure, reagent feed rates, and reaction time.
KEBOTIX (Cambridge, USA)
Combining data and AI with robotics to discover and create advanced chemicals and materials at a faster rate and at the push of a button.
MATERIALSZONE (Israel)
Research platform for Scientific Data and AI modeling with an aim to accelerate the advent of new technologies. Thanks to harvesting, interpreting, and exchanging materials science related data.
OPUS 12 (Berkeley, California)
Technology that bolts onto any source of CO2 emissions and with only water and electricity as inputs transforms it into chemical products, such as ethylene & methane.
SAFI Organics (Kenya)
Novel chemical process in order to break down cellulosic chains 100 times faster than traditional composting without any external energy or heat and locally produce a substrate sufficiently organically rich to support microbial growth and retain nutrients moisture in the soil effectively.
NAWA (Le Rousset, France)
Electrode material that combines nano/clean technologies for a Carbon Battery that stores more electricity, more rapidly - telephones, cars, renewable energies and buildings.
MOSAIC MATERIALS (Emeryville, California)
Separation technology that reduces the capital and operating expenses of carbon capture from nearly any mixture, including large point sources, natural gas, biogas, and ambient air.
ALIGNED CARBON (San Jose, California)
Carbon Nano Tubes that would support further transistor scaling (so called Moore Law). Thanks to their integration into the semiconductor manufacturing process (in combination with FinFet).
ASTRILEUX (Berkeley, California)
Advanced materials for EUV Lithography to manufacture ICs at 7 nm and smaller.
FREDSENSE (Calgary, Canada)
Innovative, faster and more sensitive (1ppb) electro chemical sensors for detecting very low concentrations of Arsenic and other contaminants in industrial water, such as for gold mine effluent treatment.
FULL MOON (Stanford, California)
First low power and low-cost sensor capable of quantifying and differentiating between various molecules with 1
st used case in detecting leaks of natural gas with the same performance as existing expensive IR spectroscopic sensors.
HYMAG’IN (Grenoble, France)
Hydrothermal oxidation of ferrous wastes into high performance magnétites for water treatment.
RAMLAB (Rotterdam, NL)
Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) that makes additive manufacturing of large parts feasible at acceptable cost, speed and quality.
Source: SpecialChem