The business plan for this green chemistry won graduate student Ming Cao
second place in this year's Paul J. Holloway Business Prize Competition at UNH.
"We are excited to see a winning plan in this competition come to life so
quickly," said UNH President Mark Huddleston, who predicted in May when the
winners were announced that "one or more of the plans presented in this
competition will be the next big success story in the local - or even the
national - business community."
Robert Dalton, director of UNH's Office of Research Partnerships &
Commercialization, said "Seeing this green chemistry pioneered at UNH
progressing to the market is a great example of UNH's commitment to
sustainability and to having the creative efforts of its talented faculty and
students brought into public use."
Itaconix was founded by Yvon Durant, associate research professor in material
sciences, and John R. Shaw, president of Kensington Research, to develop
renewable polymers for commercial use. "With this license we expect to develop
large scale production of poly(itaconic acid) to replace petroleum based
chemicals in detergents and other applications," Durant said. For more
information, visit http://www.itaconix.com/.
Kensington Research Inc. is a professional management firm that launches new
products and businesses for companies, inventors and investors. For more
information, visit http://www.kensingtonresearch.com/.
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