Post Authored by Geoff Robson

Ken Wood, a seasoned entrepreneur, has led the development and product launch of a new product, the TriClean Pro, from Advanced Plasma Products (http://advancedplasmaproducts.com/).  The TriClean Pro is a new air purification product based on One Atmosphere Uniform Glow Discharge Plasma (OAUGDP)  licensed from the UT Research Foundation.  The TriClean Pro is designed to remove airborne contamination from the surrounding environment and utilize its plasma capability to kill bacteria such as MRSA and viruses such as Swine Flu.  The product is designed for use in markets including healthcare, senior and assisted living facilities, athletics, and hospitality industries representing multi-billion dollar target markets.  The company has recently engaged 20 independent sales representatives to begin distribution of the product across these markets. 

Advanced Plasma Products was founded in Fall 2008 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Applied Science Products.  Applied Science Products also acquired another company, Cummins Family Produce, that produces $8M - $10M in revenue annually and significant free cash flow that is being used to fund the development of products for multiple markets. OAUGDP technology is a platform technology that can be applied to multiple markets including air purification, chamber disinfection, medical waste disinfection, medical instrument sterilization, and active flow control for wind turbines.  The company has attracted additional funding from partners who will also act as distribution channels to further support the development and launch of specific products in medical waste pneumatic  transportation and wind turbine fields.

Mr. Wood and the Company’s CFO, Rich Rosenfeld, have significant experience in commercializing early stage technology and developing the necessary corporate infrastructure  to build a successful enterprise.  As President and CFO respectively of Barringer Technologies, they managed the development of embryonic spectrometry technology into the world’s leading trace detection  company.  Barringer Technologies produced the trace detection products currently used to detect explosive residues at airport security checkpoints and for numerous other law enforcement and security applications around the world. There are now over 15,000 systems across the globe.  Barringer Technologies was ultimately acquired by a multinational conglomerate for $82M after Ken and Rich grew it from just over $500,000 in research contract revenues to $160M revenue by the time they left.

Advanced Plasma Products is participating in the UT CEG program, a partnership of Technology 2020, the UT Research Foundation, and The University of Tennessee.  APP has worked with the CEG program on key milestones, strategic planning, and access to capital strategies.  Applied Science Products and Advanced Plasma Products are both based in Knoxville, Tennessee and recently appeared in an article in The Knoxville Business Journal that can be found here: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/feb/15/technology-gets-new-licensee-after-controversial/

Contact: Ken Wood, Advanced Plasma Products, 908-507-6239 kswood@optonline.net

The University of Tennessee Research Foundation, in partnership with the College of Business Administration’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation(CEI), the Center for Entrepreneurial Growth (CEG) and OutOfTheGarage.com, has launched a 9 seminar series called Vol Court.  The series is open to students and faculty from the University of Tennessee who are interested in starting their own businesses.

 The one-hour seminars will be held on Tuesdays, beginning on Feb. 9. Some of the sessions will be held at the University of Tennessee Research Foundation Technology Business Center while others will be held in the James Haslam II Business Building.  

 “Our goal is to create an entrepreneurial culture on the UT Knoxville campus,” said Tom Graves, CEI director of operations. "Participation in Vol Court is an exceptional opportunity to network and develop skills that also can be applied in competing for the additional $20,000 in prizes to be awarded to winners of the Annual Undergraduate Business Plan Competition this April. I strongly encourage interested competitors to attend." 

 Joy Fisher, UTRF director of marketing  and business development, said those interested in attending the seminar should include people  who’ve got great ideas, but no business know-how, as well as  people who have business know-how, but are looking for great ideas.  “This is a perfect way to bring people together to see if they can merge their talents and turn them into businesses,” she said.

 The first session of the series is "Going Pro".  We have two entrepreneurs, Chuck Witkowski, President and CEO of Protein Discovery, and and Andrew Dougherty, President and CEO of Medinteract both sharing their experiences to date... a few war stories, things they would do differently and generally how great is is to work building your own dream company.