Auburn Hills-based Octillion Corp. Monday announced a sponsored research agreement with Oakland University to further the development of Octillion's NanoPower Window technology.
In addition to working to advance the company’s solar photovoltaic technology, scientists and collaborating researchers will explore additional nanotechnology applications that may be derived from their efforts.
Octillion president and CEO Nicholas Cucinelli announced the agreement at the 2008 Nanoscale Science and Engineering Conference at Oakland University (www2.oakland.edu/research/nanotech).
“Nanotechnology research and development requires a highly collaborative and flexible approach to achieve commercially viable outcomes, and that sentiment is very much alive here at Oakland University,” Cucinelli said in a statement. “There is a rapidly growing ‘nanotechnology corridor’ developing here in Southeast Michigan, and we look forward to working with Oakland University to access and enhance those resources.”
The two-year agreement will be focused on transparent photovoltaic device construction on glass substrates, and also includes provisions to explore related innovations such as flexible substrates, hybridized solar cell designs, and other photovoltaic innovations.
Cucinelli didn't return a phone call Monday seeking more details on the agreement.
In addition to furthering Octillion’s efforts to develop a transparent window capable of generating electricity, the agreement also allows Octillion and Oakland University to jointly benefit from nanotechnology innovations that may broadly apply in other applications and markets, creating incentives for the commercialization of peripheral discoveries and the potential for spin-off activities and sub-licensing agreements.
The research will be carried out under the direction of micro/nano-electromechanical systems expert Hongwei Qu, in close consultation with other Octillion collaborators. Qu holds a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Florida, where he worked within the Interdisciplinary Microsystems Group to develop CMOS-MEMS inertial sensors and optical MEMS devices. He also holds an master's degree in physics from Florida International University, where he studied ferroelectric thin films, and a master's degree in electrical engineering from Tianjin University, where he concentrated on semiconductor devices and solid state sensors.
More at www.octillioncorp.com.
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