Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

CES 2024, originally known as the Consumer Electronics Show, opens next week in Las Vegas, and three current or alumni members of the “Innovation Crossroads” program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will be participating.

• EarthEn, a member of the 2023 cohort as it is now known, was named among eight finalists for the “Deep Tech Climate Innovation Challenge” presented by the Cadence Foundation by Cadence Design Systems. Manas Pathak, the start-up’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, will deliver his company pitch during an event on January 10 as part of CES, and the winner will be announced the next day.
• Also among CES presenters are Cohort 2022’s Rajan Kumar with Ateios Systems and Cohort 2018’s Don DeRosa with Eonix. Both will present their technologies from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) booth in the Las Vegas Convention Center.

First held in June 1967 in New York City, last year’s event attracted 115,000 attendees.

Updates from Cohort Companies

Sarah Jordan of Skuld reports that her start-up “has grown dramatically this year,” and one of those accomplishments was being accepted as a member of the 2023 “Innovation Crossroads” cohort. Other achievements include:

• Growing revenue by about 500 percent, and “we also anticipate a similar amount of growth for the next several years,” Jordan wrote.
• Installing aluminum melting with a capacity of 1000 tons per year as part of Skuld’s Defense Logistics Agency Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project related to the company’s Additive Manufacturing Evaporative Casting (AMEC) process for legacy aluminum components.
• Working with a University of Dayton capstone student team on a project to develop a print testing device.
• Submitting a provisional patent on AMEC equipment and the patent for the AMEC process.
• Renewing Skuld’s Solar Impulse“Efficient Solution” Certification for its thin walled ductile iron alloys which is for vehicle lightweighting and working with a vehicle Tier 1 on component redesigns.
• Delivering our first piece of equipment and beginning development of the Lightning Metal 3D printing/casting system designed for use with single phase power at places that aren’t foundries.

For 2024, Jordan identified several goals including:

• Working to get three induction furnaces installed which will quadruple capacity and also allow Skuld to add melting capability for iron, steel, nickel, and copper alloys.
• Getting our equipment installed for heat treatment (five furnaces), foam blowing (two presses), and more.
• Achieving ISO 9001 certification.

Tommy Gibbons of Hempitecture, a member of the 2021 Cohort which completed its two-year fellowship in 2023, listed eight “Top Moments” for the company in 2023. Leading the list was the mid-February commissioning of the first hemp insulation manufacturing facility in the U.S. “This achievement not only signifies a major milestone in sustainable building materials but also reflects our commitment to making innovative products more accessible to our valued community,” Gibbons wrote.

Other key accomplishments included:

• Expansion of Hempitecture’s distribution footprint to seven key centers nationwide;
• “Our momentous partnership with the Department of Energy through Oak Ridge National Laboratory”;
• Revenue growth every year since 2018 with 2023 witnessing the start-up’s largest revenue and year-over-year revenue gain in its history, topped off by a $1.1 million contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority;
• Intellectual property filings; and
• Launch of the Greener Guild Affiliate Program.

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