West Virginia Company Among Four Winners In 2014 Shale Gas Innovation Contest
Anne Barth, TechConnectWV, Tony Anderson, NG Innovations, Lindsay Emery, WVU LIINC, and Guy Peduto, Innova, celebrate the NG Innovations success.
NG Innovations of Cross Lanes, West Virginia was among four companies selected as winners in the 3rd Annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest. The contest, which was held on May 15 in Southpointe, PA, provides an opportunity for entrepreneurs and early-stage companies in southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia to submit business ideas and technology innovations connected to the region’s shale industry. Those ideas are reviewed by a judging panel, and then finalists are given an opportunity to provide pitch presentations.
NG Innovations, Inc. (http://www.nginnovations.com) won a $25,000 award for its “C-FIT” unit that identifies the density and amount of fluid being transported from drill sites, and identifies the loading/unloading points, tracking and date/time stamping truck movement via satellite.
Mike Gardner, CEO of NGInnovations, was thrilled to be chosen as the first winner from West Virginia. “This is a great honor for our company! We’ve worked very hard to provide a product that provides the shale energy producers peace of mind that when frac or produced water leaves their site, it will be handled in an environmentally responsible manner by use of the NGPureTM C-FIT system. It’s exciting that the SGICC was afforded the opportunity to expand the contest to include West Virginia. We want to thank both Bill Hall as well as the Benedum Foundation that provided the center the funding to include our state in the contest. The exposure that we’ve already received has been great.”
More than 80 applicants entered this year’s competition, from which 13 finalists were chosen. Of the 80 applicants, 22 came from 18 companies in West Virginia. Carbon Fiber Composites of Ona also made it to the final round of competition for its “out of autoclave” process to produce lower cost, high strength carbon fiber composites for use in oil and gas applications where corrosion resistance is paramount.
This year’s contest was expanded to include a winner from the state of West Virginia thanks to a grant provided to the Shale Gas Innovation Commercialization Center (SGICC) from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.
“TechConnect was pleased to join the SGICC in promoting the contest in the state because it helps to identify and develop shale gas technologies that could potentially turn into jobs for West Virginians,” said Anne Barth, executive director of TechConnect. “I’m proud that we had so many applications and hope there will be even more next year,” she added. TechConnect partnered with the INNOVA Commercialization Group and WVU’s Office of Research & Economic Development to help market the 2014 contest.
The other three winners are:
- KCF Technologies, Inc. – SmartDiagnostics® wireless sensor system that enables low cost predictive maintenance for rotating O&G Equipment
- OPTIMUM Pumping Technology – High-performance manifolds for reciprocating NG compressors that eliminates pulsation control bottles and their vibration-related failures, and significantly improving compressor reliability and operating efficiency
- TM Industrial Supply- Filtration technology to effectively separate for removal the NGL’s and other contaminates from natural gas through the use of their Gas Flow Membrane Technology
The entire list of the 13 finalists with technology descriptions can be found at: http://www.sgicc.org/shale-gas-innovation-contest.html