Superconductor Wire Manufacturing

Through is leading-edge laboratory, AMI has a particular focus on scaling up technologies in the areas of superconductor wire manufacturing, flexible electronics, chemical processes, polymers and automation, and bio manufacturing. AMI has been awarded more than $25 million for its research programs, including $3 million from industry sponsors, $3.5 million from the State of Texas Emerging Technology Fund and $5.6 million from the Advanced Manufacturing Office of the U.S. Department of Energy.

AMI is also working to provide workforce development on advanced manufacturing technologies and will support the creation and growth of a new degree program: M.S. in Manufacturing.

LEADERSHIP

Dr. Venkat Selvamanickam – Director of AMI

Dr. Selvamanickam founded and established AMI and the manufacturing facilities and research operations at the UH Technology Bridge. Previously, he served as the Chief Technology Officer of SuperPower, where he established pilot manufacturing facilities, built a team of 40 personnel including scientists, engineers and technicians and scaled up superconductor wire technology from basic research level to pilot-scale manufacturing. Since coming to UH in 2008, Dr. Selvamanickam created major programs with several industry partners and acquired more than $25M in funding.  

Dr. Seamus Curran – Associate Director of AMI

In the last several years Dr. Curran has scaled up base technologies developed in the physics department at UH to full-fledged marketable products. Through his hands-on experience, he obtained valuable knowledge in addressing the numerous challenges in scaling up basic research to manufacturing through his company C-Voltaics (currently known as Integricote) where he produced both energy generators for the solar market and coating for the solar industry.

Dr. Curran re-purposed his coating technology from solar (glass) to fabrics, plastics, masonry and wood and he gained experience in meeting a broad range of customers. He also led the manufacturing scale up from lab beaker scale to mass production. Dr. Curran’s company has introduced products to the market, partnered with a distribution companies in the masonry arena for sales over multiple states along the east coast. The company’s products are expected to be available nationwide in the near future.