Innovative glue maker chosen for Japanese startup program

The eco-friendly glue product called D-Glue, designed through a public-private partnership with Cal Poly, will be part of a Japanese-based business incubator program

2024-12-20

(Press-News.org) The eco-friendly glue company D-Glue, co-created by a Cal Poly chemistry research team with student involvement in partnership with an East Coast company, has joined an international corporate incubator program as of Dec. 1.

Plug and Play, a global innovation platform that links startups, corporations, investors, universities and government agencies, has over 60 locations across the world, reaching across 25 industries. Plug and Play’s three-month international program matches startups with business investors among its 45 Japanese corporate partners.

D-Glue will partner with Plug and Play Japan Deeptech Program.

The debondable glue is an innovative adhesive designed to be broken apart at lower temperatures, requiring much less energy, while maintaining the integrity of the item and reducing landfill waste. Extreme heat is typically required to separate recyclable materials from glues currently in use, discouraging reclamation and adding to waste and environmental pollution.

The product, invented by Cal Poly chemistry Professor Phil Costanzo in coordination with Massachusetts-based Geisys Ventures, was patented in 2023. The team plans to expand production of D-Glue on a mass scale as a commercial product with the impact of reducing landfill waste.

“At this point, we’re really focusing on pushing our partnerships forward and advancing the scale-up of D-Glue in a variety of ways,” said Kris Stokes, principal scientist at Geisys Ventures.

Costanzo and Stokes will visit Japan from Jan. 13-21, 2025 to participate in Plug and Play’s Startup Showcase. Only 10 to 15 companies from outside of Japan are chosen to enter this round of the showcase. There, they will meet potential business partners and research and development scientists who could help scale and launch D-Glue as a commercial product.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to go meet more potential industry contacts,” Costanzo said. “I think we’re learning quickly that this program has much more of an impact than we thought it did. We really thought about apparel, electronics and energy, and now we’re hearing we have great potential to partner with automotive and construction companies and different types of manufacturing processes.”

Cal Poly students on the research team will continue to be involved in the process, conducting further study and preparing samples of the product to be given out during the showcase.

“This project has taught me how to think independently, analyze data, and propose ways to improve the performance of our materials and experiments,” said chemistry student Ryan Donnelly of Redwood City, California. “I have learned about the interactions between large corporations and smaller development labs and also mentored new students involved with the project and helped them learn about chemistry and work in an industry focused lab.”

Biochemistry major Sophia Newcomer, of Sacramento, California, said: “This research project has taught me how concepts I learn in class can be used to solve real-world problems in innovative ways. I have enjoyed learning from industry partners and gaining insights into how a product moves from research to development.”

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

Innovative glue maker chosen for Japanese startup program 2

Innovative glue maker chosen for Japanese startup program 3

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Digital labels can help grocers waste less food

2024-12-20

In 2022, U.S. grocers wasted 5 million tons of food, with 35% of it going to landfills, according to the food waste nonprofit ReFed. More than half of that waste — 2.7 million tons — was past the labels’ expiration dates. But there’s a potential technological solution to the waste problem, according to new research from Texas McCombs. By moving from paper shelf labels to digital ones, supermarkets can easily lower prices and move older stock from their shelves to consumers’ homes. Using technology to quickly change prices on labels, a process known as dynamic pricing, benefits more than just consumers, says Ioannis ...

Clever trick to cook stars like Christmas puds detected for first time

2024-12-20

Clever trick to cook stars like Christmas puds detected for first time Royal Astronomical Society press release RAS PR 24/33 Embargoed until 00:01 GMT on Friday 20 December 2024 The missing ingredient for cooking up stars in the same way you might steam your Christmas pudding has been spotted for the first time by astronomers. Much like a pressure cooker has a weight on top of its lid to keep the pressure in and get your festive dessert dense, moist and ready to eat, merging galaxies may need magnetic fields to create the ideal conditions for star formation. Until now, however, the existence of such a force had only been ...

By looking at individual atoms in tooth enamel, UW and PNNL researchers are learning what happens to our teeth as we age

2024-12-19

Teeth are essential for helping people break down the food they eat, and are protected by enamel, which helps them withstand the large amount of stress they experience as people chew away. Unlike other materials in the body, enamel has no way to repair damage, which means that as we age, it risks becoming weaker with time. Researchers are interested in understanding how enamel changes with age so that they can start to develop methods that can keep teeth happier and healthier for longer. A research team at the University of Washington and the ...

Volunteers should not become friends with patients

2024-12-19

When a volunteer supports a patient, a special and often rather unequal relationship can develop between the helper and the person receiving the help. Researchers have now investigated this relationship and offer guidance on finding the right balance. When people get sick, they often depend on family or friends to help them out. In Norway, there are also public services that usually support people who need it. “But public services or family and friends are not always enough. Volunteers and non-profit organizations are increasingly being used to provide care to the population,” says Associate Professor Gunhild Tøndel at ...

Men and residents of higher crime areas see greater benefit from community parks, in reduction of deaths from heart disease

2024-12-19

There’s a well-established link between greenspace and health benefits, including lower rates of heart disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Now, according to a recently published study, rates of deaths from heart disease — especially among men — are lower in neighborhoods with more greenspace. The findings, from researchers at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health, were recently published in the journal Health and Place. Studying heart disease deaths in Philadelphia from 2008 to 2015, the researchers also found that, ...

Getting rehab earlier improves concussion outcomes, OHSU study suggests

2024-12-19

People who suffer from continued symptoms of concussion should seek a referral to physical therapy as soon as possible, new research from Oregon Health & Science University suggests. Even though most people naturally recover from concussions within four weeks, the study revealed people who delayed physical therapy had lingering deficits related to their reaction times for balance, motor function — or body movements to perform tasks — and the use of sensory information — as in sight and touch — for balance. The research published this week in the Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Journal. “It means they’re ...

Potential culprit identified in lingering Crohn’s disease symptoms

2024-12-19

A study from University of Michigan researchers may provide an explanation for why some patients with Crohn’s disease continue to experience symptoms, even in the absence of inflammation. The resulting paper, “Why Symptoms Linger in Quiescent Crohn’s Disease: Investigating the Impact of Sulfidogenic Microbes and Sulfur Metabolic Pathways,” appeared in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Even in cases of quiescent inflammatory bowel disease—i.e. without the presence of inflammation—nearly one-third of all patients report persistent symptoms. The problem is especially common ...

Taking a cue from lightning, eco-friendly reactor converts air and water into ammonia

2024-12-19

BUFFALO, N.Y. — There’s a good chance you owe your existence to the Haber-Bosch process. This industrial chemical reaction between hydrogen and nitrogen produces ammonia, the key ingredient to synthetic fertilizers that supply much of the world’s food supply and enabled the population explosion of the last century. It may also threaten the existence of future generations. The process consumes about 2% of the world’s total energy supply, and the hydrogen required for the reaction ...

New molecule-creation method a ‘powerful tool’ to accelerate drug synthesis and discovery

2024-12-19

A team of chemists from Scripps Research and Rice University has unveiled a novel method to simplify the synthesis of piperidines, a key structural component in many pharmaceuticals. The study, published in Science, combines biocatalytic carbon-hydrogen oxidation and radical cross-coupling, offering a streamlined and cost-effective approach to create complex, three-dimensional molecules. This innovation could help accelerate drug discovery and enhance the efficiency of medicinal chemistry. Modern medicinal chemists face increasing challenges as they target complex molecules to address difficult biological targets. Traditional methods for synthesizing ...

New study highlights ethical challenges in conducting cannabis research in Canada

2024-12-19

December 18, 2024 (Toronto, Canada) – In the first study of its kind, research led by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) sheds light on the ethical complexities and systemic barriers facing scientists conducting cannabis research funded by the for-profit cannabis industry. Recently published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, the qualitative study titled Canadian cannabis researcher perspectives on the conduct and sponsorship of scientific research by the for-profit cannabis industry reveals that while researchers are driven by a commitment to public health and high-quality ...