DURHAM, N.H. - Nine New Hampshire companies recently received project awards from the New Hampshire Innovation Research Center (NHIRC) at the University of New Hampshire to support research conducted at academic institutions throughout the state. These partnerships encourage innovation in New Hampshire businesses which in turn improves their competitive capabilities and potential for economic growth. The state benefits through the creation of new businesses, jobs and enhanced tax revenues. Listed are the companies awarded for 2011.

Albany Engineered Composites, Inc., Rochester develops and commercializes advanced composite components for landing gear and future jet engine applications using a unique 3-D weaving technology. Funded research is to develop an analytical model for composite materials that incorporate three-dimensionally woven fiber reinforcement.

AxiSol, Inc.,* Lebanon develops low cost, efficient and robust solar concentrator systems to enable local construction throughout the world in emerging markets such as India. Funded research is to refine designs for the innovative AxiSol high temperature receiver, develop a working prototype and test the new design. 

Conductive Compounds, Inc., Hudson develops and manufactures materials for the global electronics assembly market, specializing in custom formulations for new and unique high-tech applications in the printed electronics industry. Funded research is to develop integrated scheme for in-situ production of inks meeting strict criteria of uniformity, thin-layer stability and conductivity. 

Design Mentor, Inc.,* Pelham designs and develops medical and biotech devices. The VentriFlo™ pump mimicks the physiological performance of the human heart in a unique, compact, economical, quiet and robust package,  reducing negative complications of heart surgery and providing both better patient care and substantial cost savings to hospitals. Funded research is to conduct pre-clinical activities for evaluation of end organ perfusion efficacy.

Hitchiner Manufacturing Co., Inc., Milford produces the highest quality investment cast parts available today. It is investigating innovative technologies to recover and re-use waste heat from several of its manufacturing processes to reduce energy consumption and its carbon footprint. Funded research is to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions in the Investment Casting manufacturing process.

Itaconix LLC, Dover develops and produces super absorbents, dispersants, binders, and adhesives made from renewable resources to replace petroleum-based chemicals used in detergents, pigments, diapers, and water treatment. Funded research is to evaluate liquid-liquid extraction technologies, minimize energy and materials need & minimal environmental impact.

M2S, Inc., West Lebanon develops medical data and image management software which allows technicians to automatically segment and differentiate tissues and anatomical structures from two-dimensional imaging data in order to construct accurate three-dimensional models and make extremely accurate measurements of vascular disease with increased efficiency, lower cost and increased physician use. Funded research is to fully automate segmentation task, (3D data using 2D procedures) as fully 3D.

The New Hampshire Innovation Commercialization Center, Portsmouth accelerates the development of early stage high technology startups in the area of high performance organic semiconductors enabling high rate, low cost manufacturing in the clean energy and high efficiency lighting markets.  Funded research is to conduct development & testing to bring product to prototype stage and to produce a business development plan.

Unified Office LLC, Portsmouth provides reasonably priced business voice offerings with select high-value cloud-based IT applications, integrated and delivered as a communication service, previously available only to large enterprise accounts. Funded research is to develop, test and implement a prototype of open systems based on Voice over IP service architecture.

* These awards are supplemented by federal funds through the National Science Foundation's EPSCoR program.

The New Hampshire Innovative Research Center (NHIRC), created by the New Hampshire Legislature in 1992, is funded by the NH Department of Resource Economics and Development and is administered at the University of New Hampshire. For more information visit http://www.nhirc.unh.edu or call 603-862-0123.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.

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