Monday, April 28, 2008

Shooting for the 100K

MIT 100K's IntAct Labs developing microbial fuel cells

By Brendan Lynch

Funded by NASA, IntAct Labs LLC's technology has potential applications for space shuttles, breweries and farms.

The company has developed a microbial fuel cell that converts "diffuse waste" -- liquid with organic matter such as that made by breweries, for example -- into electricity. The microbes donate electrons to electrodes in the fuel cell via conductive tendrils, according to Matthew Silver, the MIT $100K Business Plan Competition aerospace category semifinalist's CEO.

"It's just at the point now where it's ready to be commercialized," said Silver, a doctoral student at MIT's Engineering Systems Division and former researcher at the MIT Space Systems Lab.

The five-employee company would generate revenue by selling the fuel cells and providing services to breweries, dairy farms and others that produce diffuse waste.

Founded two years ago, Silver said IntAct has more experience than your average business plan competitor -- it already has an office in Kendall Square, a working prototype and grants from federal agencies. Iin 2006, IntAct won a $75,000 grant from NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts to develop a prototype fuel cell to reduce waste and generate power on shuttle missions. It also won an $80,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Silver said the waste-remediation outsourcing market was $700 million in the United States, and $1.2 billion in Europe. IntAct won a young-entrepreneurship award from the French consulate and has made two trips to France, where it is considering collaborations, Silver said.