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ROTTERDAM — A Rotterdam startup firm has been awarded a $50,000 grant in order to further new technology that utilizes hemp as a building material.
Structural BioComposites was chosen as one of 10 recipients statewide to receive funding through FuzeHub’s Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund.
The nonprofit group supplies more than $1 million in funding annually to spur technology development across New York.
Structural BioComposites inventor and CEO T.J. Fiala said on Monday that the funding could be critical to getting his startup company off the ground.
“My tech is industrial hemp lumber,” he explained. “It’s a tree-free alternative to traditional forest service products. It’s a new building material that I’d like to take to market, but as an engineer I need to know how my new building material is going to perform. So I’m going to use the FuzeHub money to refine the resins that I’m using for the matrix so I can make it as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible.”
Fiala said the company would also use the award money to conduct performance testing on his product.
“I’m going to use the money for research and development and testing,” he said.
Fiala, who also has a full-time job as an engineer, produced the first prototype for his product in 2018 and recently secured a patent for his technology.
“I took my time and this was kind of a pet project on the side, but now it’s getting serious because now I recognise the value in the product that I have,” Fiala said.
Fiala applied for the grant in conjunction with CITEC Business Solutions, a nonprofit business consulting organization based in Plattsburgh, with Structural BioComposites set to receive the award funding.
Industrial hemp lumber is resistant to insects and rot, with Fiala hoping to franchise his technology in order to establish textile mills and industrial hemp lumber manufacturing hubs across the country.
“We are happy to see a focus on sustainability, as well as the desire to solve some very pressing problems. From agriculture to medical issues to industry 4.0, this is such a well-rounded list of projects,” Elena Garuc, executive director at FuzeHub, noted in a statement. “Since the pandemic, we have seen an increase in partnerships amongst organizations in different regions, and this opens a new set of opportunities for collaboration. That is exactly what these grants were made for.”
Contact Ted Remsnyder at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @TedRemsnyder.
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