ITEK Signed a Licensing Agreement with Hyflux
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Business
Adelaide Company Charged with Ensuring Commercial Returns on Innovative Research is Making Waves After Signing a Deal to Licence a Breakthrough Water Filtration Technology
ITEK, which has been part of the University of South Australia since 2000, has clinched a global licensing deal with Singapore headquartered Hyflux, a world leader in fully integrated water solutions.
The new technology is a polymer coating that transforms a stainless steel or plastic mesh into a filter that allows water to pass through while retaining oily components. The filtration can be used when separating the liquid mix of oil and water found in contaminated water scenarios through to recovering oil spills after tanker or oil platform accidents.
One of the hydrophilic filtration inventors, professor Dayang Wang from UniSA's Ian Wark Research Institute, said the technology could separate oil and water at very low pressures.
"The mesh filters are produced through an easily accessible coating process, which allows large-scale production," he said. "It could ultimately be used to remediate situations such as BP's 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico," he said.
Hyflux, with operations across south-east Asia, China and India, will further develop the hydrophilic filtration system for use in its water treatment products globally.
ITEK CEO Dr Stephen Rodda said the Hyflux agreement was just the first of three licensing deals for the technology.
ITEK is currently in discussions to licence the second and third components and is talking to a major American player in relation to licensing the industrial waste Dr Rodda said.
ITEK was set up by UniSA to turn its research into financial returns that can fund future research. It has 10 employees and is looking to expand over the next six months said Dr Rodda, who holds a PhD in biochemistry allied to a MBA.
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