SynMatter would like to wish all a peaceful, safe and joyous holiday and new year. May 2022 deliver on its promise.

SynMatter is pleased to announce that Mohammad Rostampour has joined the company as a Postdoctoral Fellow under the Innovative Postdoctoral Entrepreneurial Research Fellowship (I-PERF) program. Funded by the NSF, the I-PERF program (https://iperf.asee.org) recruits, trains, mentors, matches, and funds early-career Science and Engineering (S&E) doctoral degree recipients to participate in innovative entrepreneurial activities at some of the nation’s most promising startup companies.

In his capacity as a fellow, Mohammad will support the on-going activities under SynMatter’s NSF SBIR Phase II grant, as well as create his own research effort, all while learning the inner workings of a small startup. SynMatter would like to thank Mohammad for joining the team, and NSF and ASEE for funding and program support.

SynMatter has received a Phase II SBIR award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop high-performance anticorrosion coating additives for protection metals. Please review https://www.sbir.gov/sbirsearch/detail/1840781 for a brief synopsis of the project.

SynMatter is seeking a PhD graduate in Chemistry, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Life Sciences or related academic programs to join our fast-growing company as a Postdoctoral Fellow through the I-PERF program (described below). Preferred areas of expertise are:

• Expertise with polymers, nanomaterials, composites, or any other smart or functional materials, hybrids synthesis, design and evaluation
• Expertise with coating formulation or experience handling resins or other polymer materials
• Touch-on level of microbiology knowledge is preferred but not required
• SynMatter encourages creation of new product ideas and that enrich SynMatter’s technology portfolio
• Technical writing skill is required

NSF I-PERF (Innovative Postdoctoral Entrepreneurial Research Fellowship)

Funded by the NSF, the Innovative Postdoctoral Entrepreneurial Research Fellowship (https://iperf.asee.org) recruits, trains, mentors, matches, and funds early-career Science and Engineering (S&E) doctoral degree recipients to participate in innovative entrepreneurial activities at some of the nation’s most promising startup companies. I-PERF addresses a national need to accelerate small business innovation in support of federal government research by providing small businesses with doctoral level expertise at a reduced cost and training the next generation of S&E PhDs in high-tech entrepreneurship.

I-PERF Fellows receive an annual base stipend of $78,000 per year, optional individual health and life insurance benefits, relocation assistance to the approved host company, a professional conference travel allowance, and scripted professional development training funded by the National Science Foundation. Spaces are expected to go quickly with more than 200 NSF approved companies expected to be eligible to participate in this program. Emphasis is given to persons from underrepresented groups, first generation colleges students, persons with disabilities, veterans, and persons from socio-economically disadvantaged groups from all racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Contact Information

Candidates should confirm program eligibility at https://iperf.asee.org/eligibility/#1552845485099-1c8f870f-2db9 prior to emailing resumes to Benny@SynMatter.co. We look forward to hearing from you.

SynMatter is delighted to announce that Dillon Campbell has joined the company. He has an education in Chemical Engineering and extensive experience working on particles and coatings. In his capacity as Chemical Engineer, Dillon will conduct coatings formulation and optimization work, spearhead coatings testing and be instrumental in guiding scale-up design and manufacturing. Please join us in welcoming him to the team.

SynMatter LLC has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant of $1M to commercialize products based on its next-generation Smart Particle technology. This grant is a continuation of the successful Phase I that demonstrated the high performance of its durable, highly hydrophobic, anticorrosive Smart Particles that have the potential to deliver a step change in corrosion protection.

A landmark study published in 2016 by the National Association for Corrosion Engineers estimated the direct cost of corrosion as 3.4% of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or $2.5T every year. In the United States, the annual cost of corrosion is estimated at 3.1% of GDP, equivalent to $635B (2018). These costs double when accounting for indirect costs, such as offshore platform or refinery downtime, ship drydocking, and the impact of bridge collapses. Without protection, metals corrode quickly leading to a loss in structural integrity and ultimately failure of metal assets, such as buildings, bridges, oil & gas platforms, airplanes and cars.

To deal with this significant corrosion issue, SynMatter created a completely new class of materials, termed superhydrophobic Smart Particles, that exhibit both corrosion inhibitor release and superhydrophobic properties. When incorporated into coatings, superhydrophobic Smart Particles impart excellent passive corrosion protection to coatings through water repellency at loading rates as low as 2.0 wt%. Importantly, the coatings retain their high levels of hydrophobicity even after sandpaper abrasion, demonstrating their ability to withstand significant use and abrasion without losing their protective performance. The superhydrophobic Smart Particles were designed such that, should corrosion occur, e.g. due to physical damage, the superhydrophobic Smart Particles released corrosion inhibitors that delivered a secondary line of active protection. This unprecedented dual function coating –water repellency + active inhibitor release – dramatically increased the corrosion protection performance of coatings.

In Phase II, SynMatter will optimize the performance of the superhydrophobic Smart Particles, design an efficient scale-up process, improve coating formulation and demonstrate the performance of its materials in extensive internal and third-party corrosion testing. Superhydrophobic Smart Particles have the potential to deliver a step change in corrosion protection to even the most corrosive environments, such as the offshore oil & gas industry – who are in desperate need for new solutions – and the larger marine market.

SynMatter would like to thank the NSF and its wider network for their support.

SynMatter was selected from a pool of over 50 startups and small businesses to present at Florida Venture Forum’s 2nd annual Florida Aerospace Capital Forum. Held at the Guidewell Innovation Center in Lake Nona, the event featured 16 presenting companies, four showcase companies and an opportunity to engage with the Florida Venture Forum investment community and aerospace industry leaders.

A panel of judges that included investor, entrepreneurs and Space Florida leaders reviewed each selected company’s presentation and supporting materials. SynMatter LLC was awarded an Accelerating Innovation Award, a prestigious recognition of the company’s technology, team and trajectory, along with $30,000 in prize money from Space Florida.

SynMatter would like to congratulate all other presenters, thank the Florida Venture Forum and Space Florida for putting on the event, inviting SynMatter to present and awarding the prize.

For the Florida Venture Forum press release, see: https://flventure.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/2019_FACF_Press-Release.pdf

As one of the top 21 startups, AkzoNobel flew SynMatter to Amsterdam to participate in an accelerator program. Filling in holes, seeing how colors are made and measured, painting in VR and reality with paints we made ourselves, and most importantly, meeting with AkzoNobel experts ranging from coatings to sustainability to IP to marketing was eye-opening and helped clarify SynMatter’s value proposition as a company in general with regard to AkzoNobel.

SynMatter would like to thank AkzoNobel for putting on the challenge, inviting us to Amsterdam and look forward to how we can Paint The Future together.

See SynMatter’s short pitch for its inorganic, trigger release Smart Particle Platform technology:

For more on the event and future events, please follow Paint The Future on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/paint-the-future/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/letspaintfuture) and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/akzonobel/featured)

SynMatter is pleased to announce that it has received a 2019 TechConnect National Innovation Awardee at the TechConnect World Innovation Conference 2019 taking place in mid-June in Boston, MA.

The TechConnect Innovation Awards identify the top 15% of submitted technologies as ranked by the TechConnect Corporate & Investment Partner Committee. Innovation rankings are based on the potential positive impact the submitted technology will have on a specific industry sector. Innovations are submitted from global academic technology transfer offices, early-stage companies, small business innovative research (SBIR) awardees, and government and corporate research laboratories.

SynMatter is being recognized for its Smart Particle Platform Technology that enables the creation of inorganic, trigger release microparticles to produce smart and functional additives for corrosion protection, corrosion detection, antimicrobial, superhydrophobic and personal care products.

SynMatter will be exhibiting its technology at the TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo in Boston, MA from June 17-19, 2019 at booth 24 and giving a presentation on June 18, 2019 at 11.35am ( https://www.techconnectworld.com/World2019/tuesday.html)

SynMatter would like to thank the organizer for the award.

For more information about the award, other awardees and the event in general, visit https://www.techconnectworld.com/World2019/participate/innovation/awards.html