d11e3089b505aae33a2dc713bbb5d76d.jpg

SOUTH BRUNSWICK: Holt says government must invest in high tech

By Charles Kim, The Packet Group
   SOUTH BRUNSWICK — U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-12, visited a high-tech company May 19 to push for more federal funding in turning research in college labs into viable commercial businesses.
   ”The debate (in Washington, D.C.) should be, ‘where should we invest?’” Mr. Holt said following a tour of Liquid Light, a startup bringing technology developed in a Princeton University laboratory that converts carbon dioxide into the fuel additive butanol alcohol for commercial applications. “Right now, our economy is deep in the hole. The only way to climb out is by supporting entrepreneurs and innovators like these.”
   The firm, one of several similar small technology-based business ventures located in an office and lab research complex on Deer Park Drive, recently was awarded a $149,000 federal grant to expand its work and develop the technology for commercial applications.
   The conversion of carbon dioxide into a fuel additive that even could be used to help power hybrid automobiles is just one of 19 patented processes developed so far by the company since its inception in 2008, said Kyle Teamey, one of five full-time employees at the firm.
   Mr. Teamey handles the business aspects of the firm while other employees like scientists Emily Cole, who holds a doctorate in chemistry from Princeton, and Narayanappa Sivasankar work on developing the technologies the firm uses.
   Ms. Cole came to the firm in 2009 and was instrumental in developing the chemical process to achieve the transformation from carbon dioxide gas to butanol by using visible light.
   ”It is very hard,” Ms. Cole said. “There are a lot of electrons, a lot of protons you’ve got to put into the molecule to get such high-value chemicals.”
   Before working at Liquid Light, Ms. Cole was a Princeton doctoral candidate in the laboratory of chemistry professor Andrew Bocarsly where she was able to develop a process to change the chemical composition of carbon dioxide into the alcohol molecule.
   Mr. Bocarsly, a veteran professor at the university with more than 30 years experience, said the idea for the project dates back to the late 1990s in an attempt to do something with the increased carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.
   Early on, the project was able to use electricity as a catalyst to change the carbon dioxide into wood alcohol, Mr. Bocarsly said.
   ”That was done in a purely electrochemical system using a fair amount of electrical energy to do it,” Mr. Bocarsly said. “Emily, for her Ph.D., demonstrated that instead of using electricity, we could do the same chemistry using visible light.”
   After success in the college lab, the team was able to use federal funding under the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Technology to help transfer the processes from the academic world to a commercially viable enterprise with the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs.
   According to its website, the programs help fund research and development by making sure small innovative businesses are part of government efforts to expand technology. A combined total of 11 different federal departments participate in both programs and award $2 billion per year in grants to such businesses, according to the website.
   In addition to Liquid Light, other small tech-based businesses in the complex also have come out of the Princeton University transfer program, and principals from those companies also met with Rep. Holt following his tour of Liquid Light to discuss how the federal government can do more to assist such efforts.
   ”I want to hear from you on what it takes to get an idea into a job-making form,” Mr. Holt said. “The SBIR program is intended to do that.”
   Mr. Holt said he is concerned about the programs because Republicans in Congress are looking to reduce funding in the area of research by about 17 percent.
   Mr. Teamey said one area of concern for Liquid Light is the length of time it takes the government to review the 19 patents they are applying for regarding the chemical processes they have developed.
   ”It takes four years just to be reviewed,” Mr. Teamey said.
   Another area that presents a challenge to these new startups is the business climate in New Jersey.
   ”I think the biggest problem the State of New Jersey has with creating a new ‘Silicon Valley’ (here) is the State of New Jersey,” Mr. Teamey said. “The business environment is not as good in New Jersey (as it is elsewhere).”
   Mr. Teamey said the problems here come from higher taxes on businesses and a large amount of regulatory requirements that are not as large obstacles to fledgling businesses in other places.
   Mr. Holt said he was frustrated dealing with the state in some areas regarding science and technology and the probability the state would no longer fund programs like the federal models to help incubate small companies like these.