MatSE startup wins Cozad competition

Hindered Polyurea Technology (HPT), a startup led by MatSE graduate student Hanze Ying was named a Grand Prize winner of the 16^th Annual Cozad New Venture Competition in the University Resource track (having used significant university resources in the development of their innovation).

HPT and Amber Waves Grain, an agtech company, each won $20,000 plus space in EnterpriseWorks (the University of Illinois Research Park incubator) and legal resources. The two companies beat out four other finalists, 19 semifinalists, and over 120 startups that entered the competition in total.

Prof. Jianjun Cheng and his Ph.D. student Hanze Ying created the Hindered Polyurea material two years ago, but Ying and the other HPT team members recently discovered that in addition to its self-healing qualities, the polymer’s sacrificial properties (ability to thermally evaporate) and lower cost give it added commercial appeal.

In addition to Hanze Ying, HPT includes Yichen Yang (MatSE undergrad), Garrett Chou (MechSE undergrad), Manas Gosavii (Finance and Physics undergrad), and Yingfeng Yang (MatSE grad).

Building semiconductors, orthopedic implants and hydrogen fuel cells are just a few of the potential uses of the new polymer material.

See the polymer in action

The Cozad competition, along with the Illinois Innovation Prize, is part of the Provost’s Annual Entrepreneurship Forum, hosted by the Technology Entrepreneur Center and the College of Engineering. Cozad is designed to encourage students to create new businesses and teams are invited to create a venture around a topic of their choice.