Three i-Teams have won this year’s Cambridge University Entrepreneurs £100 for 100 words competition! The winners are:
3) Xin Yang, Michaelmas 2012
The fast-growing biopharmaceutical industry spends more than half of its total production cost on downstream purification processes. Current technologies are disappointing due to their low resolution, long processing time and very high cost. A new patented technology, porous micro-capillary film (MCF), provides 10,000 times higher capacity than non-porous matrices, better mechanical strength, very high flow velocity and extremely low cost than existing technologies such as beads and membrane. Moreover, MCF is biodegradable and easy to handle without packing requirement. We propose to explore the markets for this exciting technology (e.g. purification in biopharmacy or non-biopharmacy, dialysis and water/air filtration).
9) Sarah Bennett, Julia Frede, Francisco Hernandez Heras, Martin McBrien, Igor Romanov, Hannah Williams, Bella (Yuting) Wu, Michaelmas 2012
FlexiLens is a novel low cost polymer-liquid lens that will revolutionise optical systems by delivering zoom and focusing power within a single lens. It is perfectly suited to drive the miniaturisation of optical systems with the potential to transform the consumer electronics market. The lens is chemically and biologically inert and mechanically robust therefore it can lead markets for lens products in demanding environments, accessing a wide range of applications from battlefield optics to medical endoscopes. FlexiLens is an exciting business opportunity as its high quality technological and physical capabilities are delivered by an inexpensive and adaptable patented manufacturing process.
10) Roger Coulston, Michaelmas 2011
Microencapsulation is currently a multi-billion ($USD) a year industry with established applications in food, cosmetics, drug delivery, diagnostics, and electronic displays. The current unmet consumer demand is to produce inexpensive capsules that allow for the triggered release of a cargo. This is a critical industry challenge over the next decades. AQDOT has developed an economically viable method to produce capsules with the unprecedented ability to actively and passively release fragrances, enzymes, cells, and other high value materials. We are currently building a prototype for the consumer products industry that will act as a demonstrator for the many other possible applications.