GUIA will develop a mine monitoring system to help prevent dangerous accidents.
University of Arizona (UA) has spun out mine monitoring system developer GUIA with an undisclosed sum of funding from the Asset Development Program for UA-owned intellectual properties.
The Asset Development Program is managed by Tech Launch Arizona, UA’s tech transfer office, which also helped organise GUIA’s legal and operational affairs.
GUIA is developing a mine monitoring suite called Smart that tracks worker health and safety, mine air quality and ground stabilisation, as well as communication and asset geolocation.
The technology will attempt to pinpoint a miner’s location and body temperature to flag up potential problems and avert dangerous, costly accidents.
GUIA’s inventors include Moe Momayez, an associate professor for rock mechanics and geophysics in UA’s College of Engineering, and Mary Poulton, a professor emerita in mining and geological engineering.
Sergio Cardona, an entrepreneur who once led US-based internet-of-things vendor NMode Solutions, is also part of the founding team.
Moe Momayez said: “GUIA is the only company on the market addressing this serious issue by offering a single, integrated technology.
“Smart Suite is at the vanguard of today’s available technologies to monitor mine environment, worker health, reduce operational risk and improve safety.”
