NC State's Centennial Campus Announces New Corporate Partner - Phononic Devices

Sept. 21, 2010 - PRLog -- Phononic Devices, an early-stage company  commercializing advanced thermoelectric materials and devices, is the latest company to partner with Centennial Campus, North Carolina State University's research park and campus.

Phononic Devices’ proprietary approach combines thermopower with a thermally insulating and manufacturing-friendly  semiconductor platform to dramatically improve the efficiency of heat-to-electricity conversion.

"We are very excited to have Phononic Devices on our campus," said Dennis Kekas, associate vice chancellor of the Centennial Campus Partnership office. "Not only are they the kind of innovative company we like to partner with, but their work in energy efficiency  is exactly the kind of cutting edge research that is occurring on Centennial."

The company’s focus is designed to  enable Thermoelectric Generators (TEG) that harvest waste heat for power generation; and when  applied in reverse, enable Thermoelectric Coolers (TEC) that can pump heat out of a system for cooling and refrigeration. Phononic Devices’ technology stands to unlock the latent $125 billion market for thermoelectric energy harvesting, cooling, and refrigeration, enabling mass manufacturing and customer adoption at price points undercutting incumbent technologies.

“We’re excited to be a part of Centennial Campus with access to world class semiconductor equipment, process capabilities and personnel,” said Dr. Anthony Atti, President and CEO of Phononic Devices. “Having this infrastructure available is a huge asset as we continue development efforts toward advanced solutions for energy efficiency.”

The company will partner with leading semiconductor and thermoelectric institutions including the University of Oklahoma, the University of California Santa Cruz, the California Institute of Technology, and North Carolina State University in order to commercialize thermoelectric devices for power generation (TEG) and active cooling (TEC).

The company is funded by Venrock and Oak Investment Partners and was  awarded a $3 million grant from Department of Energy's new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) in their first solicitation in 2009.

About Centennial Campus and NC State University
Centennial Campus (http://www.centennial.ncsu.edu) is an internationally recognized 1,314-acre research park and technology campus owned and operated by North Carolina University. Home to more than 60 corporate, government and non-profit partners, such as Red Hat, ABB, and the USDA, collaborative research projects vary from nanofibers and secure open systems technology to serious gaming and biomedical engineering. Four university college programs also have a significant presence on campus – College of Engineering, College of Veterinary Medicine, College of Textiles and the College of Education. NC State is one of the top research universities in the country, with expenditures in research approaching more than $325 million annually. The university ranks third among all public universities (without medical schools) in industry-sponsored research expenditures. (http://www.ncsu.edu)

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Centennial Campus a research park and campus located at NC State University and has become a major hub of research activity associated with smart grid energy, biotechnology and life sciences, materials science, veterinary medicine, and nanotechnology.