UA start-up company receives $1.5 million award from Department of Energy
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – July 17
A University of Alabama-based company has received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy … The company is called 525 Solutions, and they’re using shrimp shells to help extract uranium out of the ocean. Until now, most scientists have used plastic to pull the scarce resource from bodies of water. “We went in and we said why are you using a plastic when you are going to put it in the ocean? Why not use an ocean-based bio renewable polymer that if it ever broke free, it would be biodegradable.” 525 found this in a shrimp shell polymer called chitin. When hit with electricity, chitin turns into transparent sheets that act as magnets for uranium. “You have the right bait and only uranium is going to go after that bait. Once it has it, it’s hooked and it’s stuck there until you bring it back and then you remove it and can use it.” Director of the University of Alabama’s Center for Green Manufacturing Dr. Robin Rogers says this way of extraction is also a more eco-friendly alternative to mining. “If we could develop what I’d call a chitin economy, and take the shells and be able to develop a highly valuable polymer, that would add jobs to the Alabama economy.” CEO of 525 Solutions, Gabriela Guro and chief technology officer Dr. Julia Shamshina are in the process of starting a spin-off company devoted directly to chitin. “Basically, what we want to do is take the technology we have developed through 525 and take it to the next level. Chitin is really important. Chitin has a lot of applications in medical extraction but in medical field.”
Robot invasion: Big Island to host college competition
Hawaii Tribune-Herald – July 17
In the first competition of its kind on the Big Island, seven college teams will put their robots to the test in an inaugural space mining simulation on the slope of Mauna Kea. The five-day event will kick off Monday with a public demonstration of the rover-like machines on Hilo bayfront. But the real action will take place at the analog test site used by Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems, which is hosting the competition. The site is located at about the 9,000-foot elevation on Mauna Kea, and organizers say its volcanic landscape is as close to a lunar or Martian surface as the teams can get without a space launch. “If you want realism, this is about as real as it gets here on Earth,” said John Hamilton, PISCES outreach and test logistics manager. The teams from across the United States will face off July 23-24 at the site to see whose machines make the best extraterrestrial excavators. Their task is to collect and transport as much soil, made up of basaltic tephra and ash, as they can within 10 minutes. An awards ceremony will follow July 25 … The teams — University of Alabama — University of Alaska, Fairbanks— Florida Institute of Technology— Kapiolani Community College— Iowa State University of Science and Technology— University of New Hampshire — University of West Virginia.