From Research to Innovation: Federal Minister Polaschek Visits JKU Spin-off Moldsonics

August 2023 | General, info@moldsonics.at

Another milestone in the development of our company Moldsonics was marked by the visit of the Austrian Federal Minister Martin Polaschek today. Our innovative company, which was substantially supported in the initial phase by the FFG Spin-off Fellowship Program 2017-21 of the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research(BMBWF), demonstrates the successful transfer of research results into groundbreaking innovations.

Visit of Federal Minister Polaschek to Moldsonics

In the period from 2017 to 2021, the Spin-off Fellowship Program of the BMBWF has funded a total of 24 promising research projects, from which a remarkable 16 start-ups have emerged. One of these success stories is the founding of Moldsonics GmbH. Today, Federal Minister Martin Polaschek honored the company with his visit and once again emphasized the importance of the program:

"The impressive development of Moldsonics illustrates the significant contribution of the Spin-off Fellowship program to fostering entrepreneurship and innovation from research. It is precisely such success stories that show us how important and meaningful research funding based on research ideas is and that prove that every euro we invest in science and research is worthwhile," emphasizes the Federal Minister.

In view of its considerable success, the Spin-off Fellowship Program will now be continued until 2026, with a budget of 15 million euros. This is intended to further support the direct transition from scientific ideas to revolutionary innovations such as Moldsonics. The company Moldsonics, which received funding as part of the Spin-off Fellowship Program in 2018, was finally founded in 2021 by Bernhard Praher, Thomas Mitterlehner and Klaus Straka. Since then, we have been dedicated to the production of innovative ultrasound-based sensor systems that enable contactless monitoring and precise measurement of quality parameters in plastics processing, for example in the field of injection molding or extrusion.

Our team around the three founders developed a pioneering ultrasound-based sensor system that precisely records wear conditions and specific product characteristics during production. This leads to economically and ecologically optimized processing, which results in more accurate measured values, reduces waste and improves the overall quality of the end products.

Thomas Mitterlehner, one of the three founding members of Moldsonics, expressed his delight at the company's success: "The transition from the university research world to the world of entrepreneurship is undoubtedly a challenge. The support from the FFG Spin-off Fellowship Program as well as other advisory services such as tech2b proved invaluable to us budding entrepreneurs. The opportunity to anchor our research in the form of real products on the market is the greatest appreciation for our application-oriented research results."

Moldsonics is proud to have established itself as an outstanding example of a JKU spin-off in the plastics industry. The visit by Federal Minister Polaschek underscores the importance and triumph of university spin-offs like Moldsonics, which make a significant contribution to Austria's innovation landscape.

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State Minister of Economic Affairs Achleitner Presents the tech2b Winner Certificate to Moldsonics

June 2023 | General, Awards, info@moldsonics.at

Moldsonics successfully completes the tech2b Incubate program and is presented with the winner’s certificate by State Minister of Economic Affairs Achleitner.

We at Moldsonics are absolutely thrilled to announce that we recently received the Winner Certificate from the tech2b Incubate Program! Completing this highly successful program means the world to us, and we’d like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude and share our exciting journey with you.

In this blog post, we’d like to briefly share how the Incubate program has helped us bring our vision to life and how we plan to reach new heights with the momentum this award has given us.

Achleitner presents the tech2b winner's certificate

Photo:State of Upper Austria / Andreas Krenn

The tech2b Incubate program has proven to be an incredibly enriching experience for Moldsonics.

Through the program, we not only received valuable feedback and coaching from top-notch mentors, but also forged valuable partnerships that have been instrumental in our success.

The opportunity to learn from experienced experts and connect with other promising startups has broadened our horizons and helped us reach our full potential.

We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who has supported us on this exciting journey. Without the guidance, detailed support, and words of encouragement from our supporters, this milestone for Moldsonics would not have been possible.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to each and every one of you. Your support has inspired us and strengthened our resolve to develop innovative solutions and take our startup to the next level.

Photo:State of Upper Austria / Andreas Krenn

Photo:State of Upper Austria / Andreas Krenn

The presentation of the winner's certificate by State Secretary for Economic Affairs Achleitner marked the ceremonial conclusion of the program.

Although we have completed the tech2b Incubate program and received the Winner Certificate, our journey doesn’t end here. We are more motivated than ever to continue developing innovative solutions and growing our business.

With tech2b’s expertise behind us, we are ready to take on new challenges and continue to drive our growth. We are confident that our groundbreaking technologies and passionate teamwork will lead to even greater success.

In addition to Moldsonics, we would also like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to Autonoma, Bergardi, CarbonCleanUp, Danube Dynamics, qapture, Sendance, and Windpuls, who were also part of the tech2b Incubate program and impressed us with their innovative ideas. It is inspiring to be part of a community of talented startups that are pushing the boundaries of what is possible together.

In closing, we would like to once again express our sincere gratitude to everyone who has been a part of our success story. We are deeply grateful for your support and look forward to the exciting future that lies ahead.

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Moldsonics in Kepler Society Magazine

April 2021 | General, info@moldsonics.at

Moldsonics is a spin-off project of the Institute of Polymer Injection Molding and Process Automation at JKU Linz. The three JKU graduates and founders of MoldSonics Bernhard Praher, Klaus Straka and Thomas Mitterlehner are an interdisciplinary team of plastics engineers, mechatronics engineers and measurement engineers with the aim of transferring state-of-the-art measurement methods from research to industrial applications. The focal points are divided into the two main processing methods in the plastics industry. These are the injection molding process and the extrusion process. Customized process solutions are offered for both areas. Specifically, the company manufactures ultrasonic-based sensor systems, which are installed in the respective machines. The use of these highly accurate sensors enables the optimization of the overall process as well as the reduction of plastic waste.

"In addition to the aforementioned 2nd place at the 2017 EDISON Prize, our concepts were previously honored at the 2015 Houskapreis by reaching the finals. However, the really most important success was the acceptance into the Spin-off Fellowship Program of the FFG and the BMBWF, which was newly launched in 2018."

INTERVIEW WITH JKU ABSOLVENT THOMAS MITTERLEHNER
How did the idea and concept for MoldSonics come about? At the Institute of Polymer Injection Molding and Process Automation, we have been working on ultrasound-based measurement technology for more than 10 years now in order to better understand plastics processing operations or to test and observe individual elements of the processing machines in operation. It became clear to us relatively quickly that these methods, which were developed purely for research and development, could also have great potential for industrial use. Initial ideas for the product concept and its commercialization were submitted to the 2017 EDISON Ideas Competition and awarded the silver prize in the technology-oriented idea category. This was certainly the initial spark for further serious considerations in the direction of a spin-off.

What exactly does your start-up do and what is special about your business idea?
Most plastics processing machines have two things in common: High pressures and high temperatures. We're talking about pressures up to several thousand bar and temperatures up to 350 °C. In order to measure properties such as pressure and temperature in these ranges, direct contact with the plastic melt is usually necessary. However, our patented ultrasonic sensor technology does not require direct contact with the melt, which clearly sets us apart from the current sensor market. At the respective measuring position, our sensors send ultrasonic pulses - through several centimeters of steel - in the direction of the plastic, and from the reflections we can then determine not only pressure and temperature but also the wear status of individual elements in the machine.

What has been your biggest success so far?
In addition to the aforementioned 2nd place at the EDISON Prize 2017, our concepts were previously honored at the Houskapreis 2015 by reaching the finals. However, the really most important success was being accepted into the Spin-off Fellowship Program of the FFG and the BMBWF, which was newly launched in 2018. Here we were able to spend 18 months, with a sufficiently high level of funding, developing our prototypes and refining the business idea or strategy. At the beginning of this year, we were able to record another special success with our acceptance into the tech2b Pre-Scale-up.

What are the next steps and when will the product be on the market?
We are currently in the middle of the founding phase of the GmbH. This means that we are drawing up contracts, further refining our business model and fine-tuning our public image. The tech2b mentoring is proving to be very helpful here, since all three founders are rather technically versed and we sometimes lack a view of the economic aspects. In parallel, we are in constant exchange with our pilot customers to prepare our products for market entry, which is planned for the end of 2021.

... click here for the full issue of Kepler Society Magazine: Career News - April 2021 issue.

... here you can find our products: Products Moldsonics

Source: https://www.jku.at/jku-alumni/kooperationen/weitere-moeglichkeiten/karrierenews/

Visit of Landesrat Markus Achleitner

January 2019 | General, info@moldsonics.at

Moldsonic 2 land OOE Grilnberger scaled Moldsonics achleitner

Moldsonics as a trend-setting spin-off project at the Johannes Kepler University Linz

Markus Achleitner, State Councillor for Economics and Research, says: "Spin-offs are an ideal way to quickly make university research marketable. We want to further expand entrepreneurship in the university sector."

Those who make their research results usable as quickly as possible in the form of marketable innovations are ahead of the game. This is the case with Moldsonics, a spin-off of three researchers from Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU), whose research innovation is making important improvements in the plastics industry possible. University spin-offs receive support not only from the state incubator tech2b, but also from the federal Research Promotion Agency (FFG).

"He or she who is first reaps the laurels. This is not only true in sports, but also in research. Therefore, as a successful business and science location, it is essential to transform research results into marketable innovations as quickly as possible. This was also emphasized by Prof. Dr. Teodoro Cocca as a key success factor for a region at last Friday's dialog on Upper Austria as a business location in Linz. The university spin-off Moldsonics is a prime example of how this can work," says Markus Achleitner, the provincial councilor for economics and research, referring to the successful university start-up.

The three researchers Bernhard Praher, Klaus Straka and Thomas Mitterlehner of JKU enable with their research results a non-contact inspection or measurement of parameters during the injection molding process in the plastics industry, which they make available to companies through their spin-off Moldsonics. "The non-contact measurement eliminates the high wear of conventional detectors due to friction and heat. This makes the injection molding process more economically efficient, ecologically better because less scrap is produced, and overall improved because more accurate measured values are available. The end product is better overall," says Landesrat Achleitner, outlining the multiple advantages of ultrasound-based measurement.

"Spin-offs are an agile and cost-effective way to turn research results into marketable innovations. We already support them now through our state incubator tech2b. Due to the excellent research performance at JKU, there is still a lot of potential for university spin-offs in Upper Austria. The new start-up platform 'Hub'ert' provides an additional service tool for potential founders," says Economics Provincial Councilor Achleitner, who wants to further strengthen spin-offs in Upper Austria.

The Austrian Federal Research Promotion Agency (FFG) also sees great potential in university spin-offs: Last year, for the first time, it awarded fellowships to support start-ups by researchers employed at the university. The program was endowed with a total of 15 million euros. The founders of Moldsonics were also able to benefit from this.

"The transition from a university research environment to entrepreneurship poses many challenges. Here, as a budding young entrepreneur, one is very grateful for consulting services and financial support such as the FFG Spin-off Fellowship. The greatest joy, of course, is to see one's own research in the form of products on the market - that is the greatest appreciation for application-oriented research results. My team and I are therefore very proud to have been awarded an FFG Spin-off Fellowship and are now in the process of positioning our product in a sustainable and strategically correct way. This new career path away from a purely scientific career is a win-win situation for both the university and the researchers involved," explains Bernhard Praher, one of the three founders of Moldsonics.

Source: https://www.land-oberoesterreich.gv.at/225909.htm

FFG Spin-off Fellowship

January 2019 | Awards, info@moldsonics.at

Acceptance into the FFG's Spin-off Fellowship Program.

The research project

The goal of the program

The Spin-off Fellowship funding program, run by the BMBWF and the FFG, aims to transform suitable research findings into marketable products in a relatively short period of time. The program allows spin-off fellows to spend 18 months preparing to launch their startups within the familiar university environment. In addition to product development, training sessions and workshops provide fellows and future founders with the necessary foundational knowledge in the areas of startup creation and management.

Our Project

After submitting our project proposal, we had the opportunity to present our project to a distinguished jury at a hearing and, along with seven other projects from the first submission group, were accepted into the Spin-off Fellow Program—to this day, we remain the only project from Upper Austria to have been selected.

The prototype

Sensor: Can be positioned at any distance from the cavity. No direct contact with the melt is required.

Base Module: Includes the developed ultrasonic hardware for 4 sensor positions and analog signal processing of the received signals. The system can be used for flow front detection, determining the flow front velocity, and the boundary layer growth rate. In addition to these parameters, the internal mold pressure profile, the sealing point, and the shrinkage time of the molded part can be displayed.

Digitizer Module: If other applications—such as those implemented in the Base Module—are required, this optional module can be used to digitize and process the ultrasonic data from the tool.

Analyzer Module: This module can read data from the Base and Digitizer modules and display the data—organized by cycles or cavities—in a browser for further analysis.

Spin off fellowship logos e1617823086598 Moldsonics achleitner

More information about the program:

FFG Spin-off Fellowship

2017 Edison Prize

July 2017 | Awards, info@moldsonics.at

Certificate Edison 2017 All scaled Moldsonics achleitner

Silver Edison Award for the technology-driven Moldsonics concept. In 2017, we received the Silver Edison Award for Moldsonics and the optimization solution we developed for injection molding processes using cost-effective measurement and analysis methods.

Pricing information:

The EDISON Award is a two-stage ideas competition aimed at creative, technology- and innovation-oriented inventors. The competition is organized by tech2b in collaboration with TECH HARBOR, the University of Art and Design Linz, and CREATIVE REGION.

In the first phase of the competition, ideas are evaluated based on their feasibility and potential. In the second phase, the best ideas in each category are further developed into a coherent business concept in collaboration with experts. Coaches prepare the finalists for meetings with investors through workshops and work with them to define implementation strategies. The goal is to make the transition to starting a business and entrepreneurship easier for participants and to alleviate their fear of taking risks.

www.edison-der-preis.at

Edison booth sensor technology Moldsonics achleitner