Great things come from small beginnings

A long-standing American proverb advises that “great things come from small beginnings.”

Synkera Technologies Inc., a Longmont-based research and development laboratory and manufacturing firm, is proving that maxim by using the tiniest of mechanisms to accelerate its own growth.

The company’s bread-and-butter always has been its breakthroughs in manufacturing devices through the development of nanostructures, which are themselves one output of nanotechnology—the manipulation of matter on an atomic or molecular scale. The devices that Synkera manufactures are measured in nanometers, a metric unit equal to one billionth of a meter.

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Some of the products produced in its 20,000-square-foot-plant in The Campus at Longmont include ceramic membranes, which can be used for gas separation or microfiltrations; ceramic nanotemplates, which provide other firms a platform for fabricating their own nanostructures; and chemical sensors, which are providing the thrust for the company’s explosive growth.

“A big driver in our recent success has been our ability to miniaturize the size and power of these sensors to the point where they are attracting a lot of interest from companies that make mobile phones,” said Debra Deininger, strategic business manager. “Focusing on chemical sensors puts us in a place where we have precise control over these nanomaterials, create a societal benefit, and offer a viable business proposition.”

The potential applications of Sykera’s chemical sensing technology are varied. The company has the ability to detect chemical agents ranging from carbon dioxide to ozone in miniscule proportions.

That means Synkera’s sensors could make possible devices ranging from mobile app-driven breathalyzers to complete environmental monitoring of a home or office.

The research was partially funded by a study funded by the Department of Homeland Security called “Cell-All,” which focused on the concept of crowd-sourced monitoring of chemical threats using cellphones already present in a given environment.

“There are many different sensors in cell phones already, and the next step forward is chemical sensors,” said Clayton Kostelecky, director of operations. “What this technology brings — whether it is in a smartphone or in small, low-cost modules mounted around your facility or your home—is the ability to understand what is around you and whether or not you are in a safe environment.”

Synkera uses a unique manufacturing process to create its sensors and membranes using anodic alumina, a self-organizing nanostructure that resembles a honeycomb. The substance is chemically inert and works well for many different nanotechnology applications. It can also be used by other firms to create their own structures.

“You can grow nanowires inside the pores of the anodic aluminum and then etch away the remaining membrane, and do whatever you want with your own nanowires,” Deininger explained.

Using nanotechnology for more than theoretical experiments puts Synkera in the enviable position of being able to offer real-world products based on cutting-edge technology.

“Commercially viable technology makes us fairly unique in the nanotechnology space. We are in a very limited subset of companies that actually commercialize products based on nanotechnology in a way that will make a difference in the life and health of real people.”

Another interesting aspect of Synkera’s process is that the self-organizing nanostructure is created within the device itself, which makes it cleaner than other free-flowing nanostructures, such as nanopowders.

“This business is clearly greener than every other process that makes your cellphone, which is a great advantage,” said Stephen Williams, the company’s president and chief technology officer.

Synkera’s recent progress has also been partially due to its expansion. Roughly three years ago, the company moved from its original 10,000-square-foot facility into a 20,000-square-foot manufacturing center.

“It’s been fantastic, and we still have room to grow,” Kostelecky said. “We moved in and immediately expanded because we were crawling on top of each other. Now we’ve outfitted this facility so the manufacturing process flows better.”

While the company’s primary focus for many years was to function as a technology incubator, co-founder Stephen Williams predicts a shift in the company’s profile.

“Going from being a developer to being a manufacturer is not an overnight process,” he said. “I think we still incubate ideas and we want to keep the pipeline full for future products. At the same time, we want to leverage the products and technology that we have developed. With these recent developments, we see this moment as an opportunity to take this relatively small business and transform it into something much larger.”

Taking a product like Synkera’s chemical sensors from a relatively small niche market and putting it on the global stage takes significant resources. The leadership of Synkera is actively looking for investors to help them reach a potential market that includes more than 6 billion mobile subscribers worldwide.

“We see a real opportunity here for scaling up from creating 100,000 devices a year to manufacturing millions of devices annually,” Kostelecky said “We will still always continue to make cool new products, but our growth will be based in manufacturing.”