MIRTHE Engineering Research Center at Princeton Establishes Investment Focus Group to Nurture Mid-Infrared Technology Start-ups in Tri-state Area

Co-chaired by general partners of Battelle Ventures, group holds conference on October 5, when scientists, industry, entrepreneurs present new technologies and MIRTHE unveils its roadmap

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The National Science Foundation MIRTHE (Mid-InfraRed Technologies for Health and the Environment) Engineering Research Center led by Princeton University, working with regional venture capitalists, has created an Investment Focus Group to introduce investment and industry professionals to emerging mid-infrared technologies and application opportunities.

“At this pivotal moment in MIRTHE’s growth trajectory, where increasing efforts are being placed on connecting academic research and the industries in which the technologies can be deployed, the Investment Focus Group has been created to provide guidance during the transition from R&D to realizing new profitable opportunities”

“At this pivotal moment in MIRTHE’s growth trajectory, where increasing efforts are being placed on connecting academic research and the industries in which the technologies can be deployed, the Investment Focus Group has been created to provide guidance during the transition from R&D to realizing new profitable opportunities,” says Joseph Montemarano, the center’s executive director.

Bernadeta Wysocka, MIRTHE’s industrial liaison, continues: “In the last four years the center has successfully developed its industrial membership program, integrating strong partnerships across a broad spectrum of commercial applications. Adding the technology investment community to the mix supports taking our technologies from test-beds to the marketplace.”

“Representatives from industry, financing and entrepreneurship comprise the Investment Focus Group,” explains Group Co-Chair Morton Collins, general partner of Princeton, N.J.-based Battelle Ventures, a national fund that creates and accelerates the development of early-stage technology companies. “Our purpose is to provide insight into how products and systems navigate today’s competitive marketplace.”

At the Investment Focus Group’s first conference, to be held on October 5, Collins and Group Co-Chair Ralph Taylor-Smith will open the event with an overview of the current investment climate.

Taylor-Smith notes that during the day’s program an audience of investors, business people, professors and students will hear from the National Science Foundation, as well as MIRTHE scientists, industrial partners and entrepreneurs who will present their newest technologies. In addition, he said, the center will release its “Roadmap,” an outline that includes the center’s most commercially viable technologies.

MIRTHE Investment Focus Group Conference Basics

• Oct. 5, 2010
• 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
• Princeton University Friend Center Convocation Room; 35 Olden Street, Princeton, NJ 08540
• For registration details, contact Denise Ritzmann at [e-mail] or 609.258.4912
• A podcast recording of the conference will be available a few days following the event by clicking here.

MIRTHE Investment Focus Group Board Members: Co-chairs Mort Collins and Ralph Taylor-Smith (Battelle Ventures); Maxine Ballen (New Jersey Technology Council); Kathleen Coviello (New Jersey Economic Development Authority); John Dexheimer (LightWave Advisors Inc.); Debbie Hart (BioNJ); Randy Harmon (NJSBDC); Cornelia Huellstrunk (Keller Center, Princeton University); Eric Kutner (Princeton Entrepreneurs Network); Mike Lucca (The Incubation Factory); Mark V. Laurenzi (RedScript Ventures LLC); Steven Lorenzet (Kean University); Lawrence Newman (Rider University); Tom Melzer (RiverVest Venture Partners); Joseph Michels (One Equity Partners); Greg Olsen (GHO Ventures); Katherine O’Neill (Jumpstart New Jersey Angel Network); Cole Van Nice (Chart Venture Partners); John Weaver (Princeton Entrepreneurs Network); and Richard White (Silicon Valley Bank).

About MIRTHE

MIRTHE was created in 2006 as a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center with Princeton and five other university partners: City College of New York; Johns Hopkins; Rice; Texas A&M and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The center’s goal is to develop mid-infrared (3-30 µm wavelength) optical trace gas sensing systems based on such new technologies as quantum-cascade (QC) lasers or quartz-enhanced photo-acoustic spectroscopy, with the ability to detect minute amounts of chemicals found in the environment or atmosphere, emitted from spills, combustion, or natural sources, or exhaled. MIRTHE works closely with industrial partners, academic institutions and government laboratories to commercialize affordable tunable-laser sources (especially QC lasers), detectors and ultrasensitive sensor systems that are compact, portable and reliable. The center operates test-beds and technology demonstrations in environmental sensing and human health with prototype systems nationally and internationally deployed. MIRTHE’s work was seen in action during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where its laser-based sensor systems measured the air quality in the city center. For more information, please visit www.mirthecenter.org