The Incubator program, managed by the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County, has welcomed five new business startups to its space in the Innovation Park Technology Center at Penn State. It is also adding two new affiliate members.

Don McCandless, Director of Business Development for the Ben Franklin Transformation Program, is pleased to introduce the new startups.

“Many of these new businesses are taking the step to move research and intellectual property developed at Penn State into a business enterprise,” he said. “There is certainly a great deal of excitement related to the new Invent Penn State program introduced by President Eric Barron.”

The additions to the incubator include the following:

  • Pan Computing, LLC: This company is led by Pan Michaleris, a Penn State Professor of Mechanical Engineering with expertise in 3D printing, welding, and modeling software, accounting for all the variables that exist in that process. The company’s finite element software CUBES ® enables virtual design and optimization of additive manufacturing processes, ultimately reducing design time, improving part performance, and reducing the overall development cost.
  • PEAK Diagnostics, LLC: This company was founded by Frank Dorman, Penn State Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, who has expertise in the forensic sciences and worked for Restek, a leader in the field of chromatography. PEAK Diagnostics is focused on chromatography products, services, and research.
  • HicoTech: HicoTech is a graduate of the Ben Franklin TechCelerator program. Led by principal Donghi Wang, Penn State Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, HicoTech is working with new materials to develop high capacity lithium batteries that cost less and have longer lives.
  • Solid State Ceramics, Inc.: Led by Safakcan Tuncdemir, the company is a spinout of Coretech, based in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Working with Penn State researchers, Chief Technology Officer Tuncdemir is developing motors for electronics and robotics as well as for micro-fabrication.
  • Aleo BME, Inc.: Aleo is focused on coatings and adhesives and is led by Penn State Professor Jian Yang, whose expertise is in biomechanical engineering.

The two new affiliate members are Materials Mantra and Chartlytics. Affiliate members of the Incubator program are invited to participate in workshops and training sessions held for entrepreneurial and business development and receive business consulting as desired from the Advisory Committee, among other benefits.

Materials Mantra is led by Sunil Patankar. The company focuses on nanoparticle research for space exploration and many other applications.

Chartlytics is led by Penn State Professor of Educational Psychology, Richard Kubina. The company's software allows users to precisely measure behavior and judge the outcomes of the performance intervention on a standard chart. The data it provides can track improvement and tell users if an adaptation is necessary for a learner to be successful.