Story provided by Meridian Technology Center
MITO Material Solutions, a tenant of the Meridian Technology Center for Business Development, was recently awarded a $ 729,982 Small Business Innovation Research phase two grant from the National Science Foundation.
This grant, along with two recent grants from the Oklahoma Center for Advanced Technology, total $1.1 million in funding to help MITO advance product research.
MITO’s product, a nano-additive named the “MITO T-Series,” can be mixed with an epoxy or resin to toughen composite parts.
“The T-Series additive is primarily used to strengthen fiberglass that is used in many industries including aerospace, recreation vehicles and watercraft,” said Haley Marie Keith, MITO’s president of business operations. “For companies using our product, the result is a product that is lighter, tougher and more durable.”
The National Science Foundation phase two grant allows MITO to expand its platform formula and also develop the chemistry to further enhance the properties of other composite types.
“We are currently working on variations to enhance composites used in wind energy and transportation,” Haley said. “Hopefully, this is just the beginning.”
Product development isn’t the only way the company’s footprint will grow. With this new funding source, the company plans to hire a new full-time employee and sponsor another graduate student at Oklahoma State University, where the technology got its start.
Dr. Ranji Vaidyanathan, a material science and engineering professor at OSU, developed the nano-additive used in MITO. Haley and her husband Kevin founded MITO Material Solutions after working on a business plan for commercializing technology developed at Oklahoma State University. Their plan placed in several business plan competitions across the nation, and in 2016, the couple decided to turn their assignment into a business. Two years later, MITO Material Solutions moved into the Center for Business Development. Space in the Center has allowed them to maintain a manufacturing lab that is close to OSU while successfully growing their company.
To learn more about MITO Material Solutions and how the company is solving the industry’s biggest problems with nano-sized solutions, visit mitomaterials.com. To learn more about the National Science Foundation program visit nsf.gov/SBIR.
From Research to Industry: Stillwater’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
Meridian’s Center for Business Development is dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs through networking, education, consulting and business incubation services. The Center provides office and manufacturing space for early-stage startups to help them accelerate through the most challenging phase of building a company. The Center is one of 29 certified business incubators in the state.
The Center offers programs and classes for entrepreneurs, ranging from classroom training to monthly programs to one-on-one consulting. As a key part of Stillwater’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, the Center’s built-in support services allow entrepreneurs to focus their efforts on growing their business by providing a full suite of amenities and consultation that entrepreneurs need to launch their company.
For more information contact the Center for Business Development at (405) 377-2220 or toll-free at (888) 607-2509 or visit meridiantech.edu/entrepreneurs.
Meridian Technology Center has been a driver of economic development since 1975. With a mission to educate, enrich lives and secure economic futures, Meridian offers full-time career training programs, short courses, Business and Industry services and entrepreneurial support to residents from the Agra, Carney, Glencoe, Guthrie, Morrison, Mulhall-Orlando, Pawnee, Perkins-Tryon, Perry and Stillwater school districts. Meridian is one of 29 schools within Oklahoma’s CareerTech system.