When serial entrepreneur and Boulder resident Bart Foster is successful with a startup of his, he makes sure others win. It鈥檚 part of his philosophy.
鈥淚t just makes sense,鈥� says Foster, who years ago was hugely successful, raising over $50 million in capital for one startup 鈥� self-service biometric health kiosks found in grocery stores and other retail locations. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e wildly successful, if the thing you鈥檙e working on goes nuts (in a good way), the people who helped you early on should win.鈥�
There are a handful of people at 抖阴旅行射 Boulder 鈥� faculty, staff and students 鈥� who will win if Foster triumphs with his current quandary. In fact, they might say they鈥檙e already benefiting from the project. Together, they鈥檙e figuring out how to recycle the swarf, or shavings, produced in the making of eyeglass lenses. Several tons of the stuff is dumped into landfills each year.
Foster, who has more than 15 years of experience in the optical industry, began pondering the problem after perusing a听听that sells nothing but reclaimed or repurposed furniture and accessories.
鈥淭hat store was one of my inspirations,鈥� says Foster. 鈥淎s I walked through, I asked myself, 鈥榃hat else is in abundance and going into landfills, but could be recycled?鈥� And then I made a list of a hundred items.鈥�
Most lenses are made out of a synthetic material, not glass. Initially about the size of a hockey puck that鈥檚 filed down to shape by machinery, a lens鈥檚 swarf looks like fake snow 鈥� the type you might see in a wintertime storefront display.
But it鈥檚 a challenging material to recycle, a code no one has yet cracked. The substance is comprised by three or more types of plastic that each respond differently to heat, so it can鈥檛 simply be melted down. The byproduct also can contain coolant and metals and is moist, so an efficient cleaning and drying process needs to be devised if it鈥檚 going to be reused.
If certain unwanted parts of the material could be removed and other substances could be added at the molecular level, perhaps a new material could be created,鈥� says Foster. 鈥淧erhaps we could turn the swarf into building materials, outdoor clothing and gear, or safety equipment, like helmets.
However, to analyze the material and explore its possibilities, as well as plan and prepare for commercialization, should the project succeed, Foster needed technical guidance and research prowess.
Enter 抖阴旅行射 Boulder. Foster reached out, seeking cross-campus expertise to advance his idea. One ongoing resource for him is the听, which supports partnerships between the university and outside entrepreneurs, as well as business and industry organizations.
鈥淗e saw an industry problem, had some thoughts on possible solutions and needed support to determine if the problem could be solved,鈥� said Caroline Himes, director of the office. 鈥淗e also had a track record of success in taking new ideas to market, had high-level connections in the industry and probable access to funding.鈥�
The Office of Industry Collaboration facilitated introducing Foster to听, assistant professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering, and听, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry. And a research project was born.
鈥淥ur preliminary results have been extremely promising,鈥� says Srubar. 鈥淥ur team here at 抖阴旅行射 Boulder has discovered critical reprocessing pathways that allow for the material to be recovered and re-engineered for future uses.
鈥淚ndustry-university partnerships offer much value to companies,鈥� adds Srubar. 鈥淏art had to invest little in startup costs related to equipment and expertise, instead leveraging the world-class resources we have here. My research team has been able to identify novel technologies that, in turn, are patentable and licensable, and we are able to share our knowledge with the broader scientific community through patents and publications.鈥�
Foster also connected with the听, which 鈥� on behalf of both Foster and 抖阴旅行射 Boulder 鈥� will help secure intellectual property rights and set the course for any licensing options to come out of the project. Additionally, he linked with and was advised by a 抖阴旅行射 Boulder law student and five MBA students.
But Foster hasn鈥檛 been on the receiving-end-only of this partnership. During the process, he鈥檚 focused on building capital, securing over $250,000 from a number of major organizations in the optical industry. He also became a mentor to 抖阴旅行射 Boulder鈥檚 entrepreneurial community through the annual听.
鈥淚t is an ideal combination of connecting an experienced entrepreneur with 抖阴旅行射 Boulder skills and talent,鈥� says Himes.
The environment and optical companies, which are seeking sustainable options, according to Foster, benefit from any advances as well.
鈥淚 see this as the formula, pulling together a whole team of people who can help create a business where everyone wins,鈥� says Foster. 鈥淪o I鈥檓 hopeful to do it again, multiple times. It鈥檚 what I like to do.鈥�
It鈥檚 also what 抖阴旅行射 Boulder likes to do.
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Photo: Bart Foster (front-left) and Wil Srubar (front-right) look through a pair of eyeglass lenses with graduate research assistants Sankar Ravichandran (back-left) and Elizabeth Delesky (back-right) standing behind them. (Photo by Casey A. Cass/University of Colorado Boulder)
