WHO'S WHO: 3 Houston innovators to know this week

University of Houston's Dr. Seamus Curran. Photo courtesy of University of Houston

InnovationMap has shared Three Houston Innovators to know this week which includes Integricote CEO, Prof. Shay Curran.

Across industries, Houston innovation leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators are coming up with creative solutions for the coronavirus or its subsequent challenges — from digital resources to reliable face masks.

Water beading (green food color added for demo) on an ordinary mask coated with Integricote Premium Hydrophobic Coating (right) and uncoated mask (left)

Seamus Curran is well-known for his work commercializing nanotechnologies, and he is pulling from his past to deal with a future demand. The professor is using a hydrophobic coating he developed nearly 10 years ago to improve the ability of surgical masks to protect against transmission of the virus.

The world is in dire need of more face masks, and Curran notes that standard masks are "somewhat porous, and especially if they get wet, they can allow the virus to penetrate." People infected with the virus, he adds, could spread it even through a mask, while people who aren't sick could still become infected, despite wearing a less-protective mask.

Curran is hoping his solution can prove to be much more effective at preventing the spread of the disease. Click here to continue reading.

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Nanotech Coating Developed by UH Researchers Improves Protective Abilities of Surgical Masks

We would like to congratulate our CEO, Prof. Shay Curran, and the team for successfully developing a hydrophobic coating that can improve the ability of common masks to protect against the spread of the virus. Common masks are generally porous and can allow virus transmission when they are wet.

A snippet from the original article by-

Jeannie Kever (University of Houston)

HOUSTON, March 31, 2020— Seamus Curran never liked playing defense. Mention a problem, and he wants to take charge.

The coronavirus, it turns out, is no different. Curran, a professor of physics at the University of Houston who is well-known for his work commercializing nanotechnologies, is using a hydrophobic coating he developed almost a decade ago to improve the ability of surgical masks to protect against transmission of the virus.

“Standard masks are somewhat porous, and especially if they get wet, they can allow the virus to penetrate,” Curran said, noting that goes both ways – people infected with the virus could spread it even through a mask, while people who aren’t sick could still become infected, despite wearing a mask.

(Read more…)

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The link to Integricote’s media release about this work! https://www.integricote.com/news-events-1/2020/3/30/media-release

Coated mask

Uncoated mask

New Material Could Turn Clothing into a Health Monitor

Integricote family would like to congratulate CEO, Prof. Shay Curran, COO (Mr. Alexander J. Wang), Research Scientist (Dr. Surendra Maharjan), and CTO (Dr. Kang-Shyang Liao) for the wonderful work on a composite material that could turn clothing into a Health Monitor. The material is pliable enough to be woven into fabric but imbued with sensing capabilities that could serve as an early warning system for injury or illness. This work was published in ACS Applied Nano Materials.

Congratulations, Team Integricote!

This work was also selected for Supplementary Cover Art by ACS Applied Nano Materials.

A snippet from the original article:

Jeannie Kever
jekever@uh.edu
713-743-0778

The material, described in a paper published by ACS Applied Nano Materials, involves the use of carbon nanotubes and is capable of sensing slight changes in body temperature while maintaining a pliable disordered structure – as opposed to a rigid crystalline structure – making it a good candidate for reusable or disposable wearable human body temperature sensors. Changes in body heat change the electrical resistance, alerting someone monitoring that change to the potential need for intervention.

“Your body can tell you something is wrong before it becomes obvious,” said Seamus Curran, a physics professor at the University of Houston’s College of Natural Sciences & Mathe and co-author on the paper. Possible applications range from detecting dehydration in an ultra-marathoner to the beginnings of a pressure sore in a nursing home patient.

The researchers said it is also cost-effective because the raw materials required are used in relatively low concentrations.

(Read more…)

Integricote CEO named National Academy of Inventors Fellow

It is a really proud moment for us to announce that Integricote, Inc. CEO & Physics Professor at UH, Prof. Shay Curran, has been named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) in recognition of his outstanding contribution in the field of nanotechnology. Prof. Curran had been chosen by the academy for "a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on the quality of life, economic development and welfare of society.

Prof. Curran currently holds 19 issued and pending U.S. patents and 40 international patents. He will become the 15th faculty member to be named a fellow of NAI from UH. The NAI Fellows will be officially inducted at a ceremony during the NAI annual meeting, to be held on April 10, 2020.

Kudos to Prof. Shay Curran for his great achievement!

(Read more…)