NPRE students explore new intellectual platform for radiation detection

11/30/2016 Susan Mumm, Editor

Written by Susan Mumm, Editor

NPRE students explore new intellectual platform for radiation detection
UXG founders Byung Hui-Yoon and Dan Strat discuss product value proposition.
UXG founders Byung Hui-Yoon and Dan Strat discuss product value proposition.
A group of students in Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at Illinois have a plan to build a better radiation detector.

Over the past summer, several of the students reflected upon their experience in the radiation detection field. Collectively, they found that detectors on the present market are outdated and have not been significantly improved for many years. “The current state of the industry is concerning,” said NPRE undergraduate Dan Strat, one of the founders of the student startup group, Ultraviolet, X-ray, Gamma (UXG) Sensory Engineering. “(Current detectors are) so outdated. They’re still using what they used 50 years ago.”

UXG founder Andrew Groll during a product development discussion.
UXG founder Andrew Groll during a product development discussion.
Detectors ranging from tens of dollars to thousands of dollars are readily available online. But while these detectors should be expected to provide information about the number of events, the recorded energy and the type of radiation detected, they underperform on the last two jobs, the students maintain. “They’re so imprecise and inaccurate,” said NPRE graduate student Andrew Groll, a core member of UXG.

Realizing those shortcomings, the students searched for a platform to cultivate their ideas for improvements. They found a helpful resource in the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps Program (NSF I-Corps).

Groll and Byung Hui-Yoon, a bioengineering graduate student, had written a joint proposal in early February 2016 for a primary-care student competition that Massachusetts General Hospital had funded. With the proposal outlining a general framework for their interests, Yoon and Groll explored options for funding novel detection ideas. As interest in creating a student startup grew, Groll drafted a business proposal for the NSF I-Corps program headed by Jed Taylor of the Technology Entrepreneur Center at Illinois and Harlee Sorkin of Enterprise Works.

With input from Strat, Hui-Yoon, and NPRE graduate student Jon George, Groll’s NSF proposal maintained the following:

  • Advances in communication technology have not been incorporated into current detectors. “Communication needs to be accurate and dependable and last through possible military conflicts,” Groll said. “The detectors also need to have battery power that can last.”
  • “First responders and the military are relying on (current detectors) being self-sufficient, but they’re not the engineer trained to understand the core technology.” he continued. “I had a meeting with a Navy reactor specialist who told me the technology was the same as used 40-50 years ago. A soldier from the U.S. Navy informed me that the hand-held detectors weigh more than the armored plating they wear. They leave the detectors back at the base because it is counter to their ability to move.”

The students discussed these concerns with NPRE Assistant Prof. Clair Sullivan, a radiation detection expert, who confirmed the need for better detectors. The organizers of the NSF I-Corps program agreed and the proposal was accepted. “There is absolutely potential in their technology and the market is looking for better solutions in this area,” said Taylor.

Since working with Taylor and Sorkin in I-Corps, the students have gained a better understanding of the demands of business, and the members of the UXG board have slowly been acquiring infrastructure for their projects. The group has gone from four students to about a dozen individuals who help develop computational simulations for geometries, materials, and signal processing electronics.

NSF recently awarded the I-Corps program $3.5 million to support the hub of universities involved: Illinois, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Purdue, and University of Toledo. I-Corps helps student startup groups validate propositions and identify potential customer segments. Groll believes the NSF grant may increase potential resources Enterprise Works will be able to offer student groups.

UXG co-founders also have raised $11,000 independently to support the work, and third party vendors have sent UXG components to help build the detectors.

If the students can successfully develop a marketable detector by December, they may enter in the 2017 Cozad New Venture Competition, a TEC effort designed to encourage students to create new businesses. In the meantime, UXG has established a website presence, http://uxg.engr.illinois.edu/mission.html .

 

 

 

 


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This story was published November 30, 2016.