A Delaware chemical ID startup earns a state grant
AlphaSense is working on developing a prototype, which will look like a shoebox; the user will put a swab of the material into the box and the device will sense emissions in the terahertz range to identify the chemical compound
A startup research and development company near Hockessin, Delaware has received a state grant to assist it in developing an optical device for safely detecting explosives. Governor Jack Markell on Monday presented the $50,000 award to AlphaSense, which is trying to design a device the military can use to detect potentially explosive chemicals on the battlefield. The money will come from the Economic Development Office’s Delaware Strategic Fund, a $9 million annual fund used mostly to support small businesses.
Delawareonline’s Josh Shannon writes that in November, AlphaSense received a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration for research and is applying for a second phase of the funding. The state money is intended as a “bridge grant,” designed to let the company continue its research until the rest of the federal funds come through.
Pengcheng Lv, co-founder of the company, said he and his team are working to develop a prototype, which he said will look like a shoebox. The user will put a swab of the material into the box and the device will sense emissions in the terahertz range to identify the chemical compound.
Like infrared radiation or microwaves, waves emitted in the terahertz range can penetrate materials including clothing, wood and plastic — but not metal or water. “Using terahertz, you can tell the difference between material A and material B,” Lv said.
The product is being designed for the military to use in identifying substances found on the battlefield. “The explosives are the main concern because of [improvised explosive devices] so they’re trying to develop some sort of sensor to tell them if a material is an explosive of not,” Lv said.
AlphaSense was founded in 2007 and has remained small. The company’s four employees work out of Lv’s garage on Hillstream Road, though he is looking to move to a bigger location soon.
Right now, Lv and his team design experiments and analyze results in the garage, but have many of the actual experiments done at the University of Delaware and other universities, such as Oklahoma State University.
Lv hopes the technology will be perfected within two years and then can be developed for commercial use in chemical process monitoring. He hopes to be able to hire at least two more employees soon.
In a statement, Markell praised the company for its work. “They represent the kind of entrepreneurs and small-business owners that will help create good jobs for Delawareans and grow our economy,” Markell said.
