High-tech Indiana company to develop device for use in International Space Station lab
July 18, 2012
NEW ALBANY, Ind. - A company based at the Purdue Research Park of Southeast Indiana has signed a contract to develop a device that could be used by astronauts and researchers in the International Space Station National Laboratory.
Techshot Inc. has earned a contract worth approximately $750,000 from NASA to develop the Analytical Containment Transfer Tool (ACT2), which will facilitate the safe transfer of chemical and biological material from sample processing equipment to analytical devices while in space. The contract follows a $100,000 agreement for the preliminary design work done on ACT2.
John Vellinger, COO of Techshot, said the amount of research being conducted at the International Space Station is expected to increase dramatically now that construction has been completed.
"There is a real need for tools such as ours that can help get samples analyzed while still in space rather than after they've been returned to Earth," Vellinger said. "To date, most research payloads have been completely sealed because spilling even a single drop of what is inside could be hazardous to the crew. But ACT2 is being designed with multiple redundant containment features, which ensure that astronauts can use it to safely extract samples from one part of the space laboratory and process them in another."
Vellinger said ACT2 also will have applications for laboratories and clinics on Earth that work with infectious diseases or other materials requiring multiple levels of containment.
About Techshot Inc.
Founded in 1988, Techshot is a new product development company. Besides NASA, its customers include Procter & Gamble, MobileMedTek, Prosolia, Mavizon Technologies and FAST Diagnostics. Techshot provides product development solutions to the consumer products, medical, green tech, automotive, aerospace and defense industries.
About Purdue Research Park
The Purdue
Research Park has the largest
university-affiliated business incubation program in the country. The park's
four Indiana sites are in West Lafayette, Indianapolis, Merrillville and New
Albany. The nearly 200 companies located in the park network employ about 4,000
people.
Purdue Research Park contact:
Steve Martin, 765-588-3342, sgmartin@prf.org
Source:
Rich Boling, Techshot Inc., 812-923-9591 ext. 246, rboling@techshot.com
