The university has spun out Mac Panther Materials, its first spinout using an external team of co-founders.
Saarland University has spun out metal foam producer Mac Panther Materials through its tech transfer office Universität des Saarlandes Wissens- und Technologietransfer (WuT).
The company creation marks a first for WuT, as it involved an external team of co-founders rather than relying on internal talent or the researchers who developed the technology to lead the business.
Andreas Kleine and Michael Kleine will head Mac Panther Materials, with WuT and researchers Anne Jung and Stefan Diebels also owning shares.
Mac Panther is exploiting PhD research undertaken by Jung in the laboratory of Diebels, with the support of Harald Natter and Rolf Hempelmann. The patent, filed in 2009, relates to a metal nanocoating for porous foams.
The technology has applications in construction and energy absorption products.
Since filing the original patent, Jung has continued developing the technology, which can now also be used to coat thick sheets of polyurethane foam in metal homogenously.
