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Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The Pitch
Neotron builds business around neutron detection of bombs
By Brendan Lynch
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Neotron Inc.
Headquarters: Boston
Web: www.neotron-inc.com
Email: stoops@neotron-inc.com
Founded: 2009
Employees: 2
The Pitch: Neotron is looking for $1.5 million to develop a Lithium-6 neutron detector, add personnel and buy space and equipment.
Neotron Inc. is developing a neutron detector for the homeland security market, which would be able to detect radioactive material that could be used in a bomb. The company’s detector is intended to be more accurate and wider-ranging than available models.
The company’s technology is based on the research of its chief technology officer, Steven Ahlen, a professor of physics at Boston University. For the past 13 years, Ahlen has been working on the ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS) Experiment, a project of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) related to its Large Hadron Collider, which smashed two proton beams together at the end of last month after a series of delays. Ahlen helped design the five-story-tall installation in Geneva, which measures the trajectory of particles called muons to 80 microns, Ahlen said.
“In the beginning, my interest was doing something to benefit society, but I think there’s also a good business opportunity there,” Ahlen said.
Building the technology
Conventional neutron detectors work using Helium-3, an exotic, non-naturally occurring isotope, as a converter gas. This is problematic, according to Ahlen, because the isotope is in short supply. But the shortage also creates a market opportunity — older systems dependent on Helium-3 will have to be replaced, and Neotron is working on using Lithium-6 in its neutron detectors. Ahlen said there’s plenty of Lithium-6 to go around, but no existing technology to replace the helium detectors.
“What’s interesting is how few, if any, other people are pursuing Lithium-6,” he said.
Building the business
Neotron, which is moving into space at BU’s Photonics Center business incubator this month, is looking for about $1.5 million in funding to build its business. With funding, the company plans to continue R&D on the Lithium-6 detector, add personnel and buy space and equipment. In year three, the company plans to field test the device and begin generating revenue. The company has already landed a Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research, or SBIR, grant from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency. The startup is hoping to get a Phase 2 grant, but Kristen Stoops, Neotron’s chief business officer, said the company is open to any source of funding.
“We’re interested in going after government funding as much as we can, but there is a time sensitivity in solving this problem,” Stoops said.
"The Pitch" takes a look at a company, its executives and its technology-related business plan. To nominate your company for The Pitch section of Mass High Tech, please fill out the submission form.
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