Event
CHBE Seminar: Dr. Srinivasa (Srini) Raghavan, University of Maryland (CHBE)
Friday, November 4, 2022
11:00 a.m.
Room 2108 Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building and Via Zoom
Patricia Lorenzana
301-405-1935
plorenza@umd.edu
TITLE: Translating Fundamental Discoveries From the Lab into Useful (and Life-Saving) Products
ABSTRACT: Recently, an invention from our lab has reached the market. The product, Rapid-Seal Wound Gel, rapidly stops bleeding from minor wounds and is available in pharmacies (CVS). This talk will present the story of this invention. We began with a fundamental study on a polymer and blood – we found that the polymer transformed liquid blood into a gel, which meant that it could stop bleeding. This won an ‘Invention of the Year’ at UMD in 2009. My student, Dr. Matt Dowling (Ph.D., 2010), recognized the commercial potential and established a company (now called Medcura) to take this forward. The company went on to secure FDA approval and finally in 2021 brought out a product for the consumer market. This talk will then discuss a few other promising technologies from our lab, which have commercial potential. These include: Polymer gels that can absorb and dissipate impact. These could be used to protect fragile objects like eggs, fruit, or Smartphones – or even to protect football players. Gel-sheets, which are flexible and foldable like paper towels, but can absorb large amounts of water or organic liquids. Electroadhesion as a way to affix a flexible gel over a torn tissue by applying a DC voltage for a few seconds. This could enable a simpler way of doing surgery. We won a second ‘Invention of the Year’ at UMD in 2022 for this. My student, Dr. Leah Borden (Ph.D., 2022), has founded a company (Gelectric) to take this forward.
BIO: Srinivasa (Srini) Raghavan is the Patrick and Marguerite Sung Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD). He received his B.Tech. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and North Carolina State University, respectively. His research on self-assembly, nanostructured fluids, and soft materials has resulted in more than 180 publications and 20 U.S. patents, which have been cited more than 16,000 times (h-index of 72). At UMD, he has been recognized both for his teaching and his research, including being designated a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher in 2017. He has been a four-time nominee for a UMD Invention of the Year and won this award in 2009 and 2022. He is also the scientific co-founder of four startup companies based on technologies invented in his laboratory.
