NextEnergy Presents Advanced Energy Innovation Award to Optimal Process Technologies at Great Lakes Entrepreneur’s Quest Business Plan Competition
Detroit, Mich. (PRWEB) June 27, 2014 -- NextEnergy presented the $10,000 Advanced Energy Innovation Award to Optimal Process Technologies at the 14th annual MiQuest Great Lakes Entrepreneur’s Quest (GLEQ) Business Plan Competition Awards last week.
MiQuest, a statewide organization that seeks to catalyze entrepreneurship in Michigan, hosts the annual GLEQ Business Plan Competition for early-stage ventures launching or growing businesses with innovative technologies. This year NextEnergy sponsored the Advanced Energy Innovation Award, which was presented to Optimal Process Technologies of Ann Arbor for technologies that join dissimilar materials to enable vehicle electrification.
“We are thrilled to be an award sponsor for the 14th annual GLEQ Business Plan Competition,” said NextEnergy President and CEO, Jean Redfield. “The work being conducted by Optimal Process Technologies has the potential to change the landscape of the automotive industry. We are pleased to present them with this award.”
In recent years, automotive and aircraft manufacturers have prioritized vehicle weight reduction in an effort to improve energy efficiency and reduce overall pollution. Creating multi-material structures is an effective approach to reducing vehicle weight. However, the challenge in producing the structures is joining the materials together.
Optimal Process Technologies has developed innovative processes that improve weldability of dissimilar materials. These processes will support the production of multi-material structures, reducing vehicle weight. Ultimately, this will improve fuel efficiency for vehicles fueled by petroleum and enable smaller batteries and longer driving range for electric vehicles.
“With the advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) tools, sensor technology and computer speed, the time has arrived for highly sophisticated methods to be effectively applied to enable and improve innovative manufacturing processes,” said Song L. Young, CEO of Optimal Process Technologies, LLC. “After all, our company’s motto is ‘Making manufacturing smarter!’”
For more information about the NextEnergy Advanced Energy Innovation Award, visit gleq.org.
About NextEnergy:
Founded in 2002 as 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, NextEnergy is one of the nation’s leading accelerators of advanced energy technologies, businesses and industries. NextEnergy drives technology demonstration and commercialization; delivers industry and venture development services; and provides an authoritative voice in the public sector. Since its inception, NextEnergy has helped attract more than $1.3 billion of new investment in the state of Michigan, including programs in excess of $150 million in which NextEnergy has directly participated. For more information, visit nextenergy.org.
About the Optimal Process Technologies:
Founded in 2012, Optimal Process Technologies, LLC is a spin-off from the University of Michigan (UM) with an exclusive license agreement for 2 patented technologies in dissimilar material joining and intelligent quality monitoring system. The company’s vision is to be an effective contributor of innovative and intelligent solutions for manufacturing processes – making manufacturing smarter. Its current mission is to develop and commercialize a quality assurance system (QAS) for lithium-ion battery joining and a dissimilar material joining technology called “Rivet-Weld”. These technologies aim to enable electrification of vehicles and lightweighting of machinery. Two of the three principals of the company are from the UM faculty. They were part of the team which had developed a successful quality monitoring system implemented in the manufacturing of batteries for the GM Volt.
Amanda Roraff, NextEnergy, http://www.nextenergy.org, +1 (313) 3776600, [email protected]
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