OSU Startup Earns Investments
PRESTIGIOUS COMPETITION: MITO Material Solutions, LLC, which was founded by Oklahoma State University students, won second place in the Rice University Business Plan Competition for its materials-strengthening additive. From left are Dr. Richard Gajan, Thoma Family Clinical assistant professor for the School of Entrepreneurship; MITO co-founders Kevin Keith and Haley Marie Kurtz; and Dr. Ranji Vaidyanathan, OSU-Tulsa professor of materials science and engineering.
Courtesy photo
An Oklahoma State University startup company that sells a materials-strengthening additive took second place in the prestigious Rice University Business Plan Competition, overtaking teams from Harvard and Stanford universities and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Material Solutions, , presented its business plan in Houston recently for its nano-additive that can double the lifespan and reduce the weight of fiber-reinforced composite materials used in the automotive, aerospace and wind energy industries. The company was awarded $90,000 in investment prizes.
The nano-additive was developed through extensive research by -Tulsa graduate student Muthusubramanian Mohan at the Helmerich Research Center. Mohan is the recipient of an Graduate Research Excellence Award for his nano-additive project.
Forty-two teams drawn from 1,100 university teams from across the world participated in the competition. previously took second place at a similar competition at Baylor University.
was founded by students from the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology and the Spears School of Business, including Haley Marie Kurtz, chief executive officer and business administration graduate student, and Kevin Keith, chief operations officer and mechanical engineering student.
The -Tulsa Helmerich Research Center is the home of the School of Materials Science and Engineering, where students and faculty partner with business and manufacturing to support product development from concept to commercialization.
The approach provides students hands-on experience in research and entrepreneurship while contributing to the local and state economy.
Updated 06-17-2017
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