Idea Foundry Launches Materials Science Accelerator
PITTSBURGH, PA (PRWEB) February 03, 2015 -- Idea Foundry, a Pittsburgh-based non-profit innovation acceleration and commercialization organization, has launched an accelerator program focusing on advanced materials.
This new program joins similar ventures run by Idea Foundry in the areas of Healthcare & Life Sciences, Social Enterprise, Entertainment & Education Technology, and Water, said Idea Foundry CEO Mike Matesic.
Concurrent with Idea Foundry’s launch of the Advanced Materials Accelerator, comes the dissolution of the PA NanoMaterials Commercialization Center.
“In discussions with the board at PA Nano, both sides realized that efforts to strengthen and sustain growth in nanotechnology ventures locally would benefit more by becoming part of an accelerator model that has been proven successful at Idea Foundry across a number of different disciplines,” Matesic explained.
“The PA Nano board also agreed that nanotechnology ventures were more accurately defined as part of the larger advanced materials field, which led to the new program to be administered by Idea Foundry,” added Robert Kumpf, a PA Nano board member, formerly with Bayer Materials Science now CTO of Elevance Renewable Sciences.
With this transition, as of Jan. 1, 2015, the PA NanoMaterials Commercialization Center is dissolved, along with its board.
“It is very important to state that PA Nano, since its formation in 2006, has accomplished a great deal of significant work in commercializing nanotechnology across Pennsylvania and the nation, including the creation of nearly 400 jobs locally and the development of roughly 30 new commercial products,” Matesic noted. “We thank the members of the PA Nano board and its staff for their valuable contributions to materials science-based innovation, and look forward to carrying that mission forward in an even stronger manner as the new advanced materials program here at Idea Foundry.”
Founded in 2002, Idea Foundry is a Pittsburgh-based non-profit innovation acceleration and commercialization organization focused on creating high-potential, innovation-related jobs. With more than 150 companies in its portfolio, Idea Foundry is a pioneer in hands-on business development and technology transfer.
Nehal Bhojak, Idea Foundry, http://www.ideafoundry.org, +1 412-682-3067, [email protected]
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