by Bradley B. Fikes, North County Times
CARLSBAD — For a scientist eager to begin work, few things are more frustrating than being stuck without equipment. Michelle Khine turned that frustration into an entirely new technology and a new company.
Shrink Nanotechnologies Inc. is developing an array of products based on Khine’s creative application of a toy called Shrinky Dinks. The publicly traded company (traded over the counter as INKN) is applying Khine’s technology to a variety of medical and solar energy devices.
By using a manufacturing technique inspired by the toy instead of costly machinery, Shrink Nanotechnologies says it can greatly reduce the cost of these devices.
Last month, Khine was named one of 35 Top Innovators Under 35 Worldwide by MIT Technology Review, published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Khine, 32, and other winners will be recognized at Technology Review’s EmTech09 Conference next week.
Khine developed her technology as a faculty member at UC Merced, the state system’s newest campus. In 2006, Khine, now at UC Irvine, described the technology to her friend Mark Baum.
He and another investor, Jim Panther, decided to form a company around her technology. “We are in negotiations with several companies right now,” said Khine, the company’s scientific adviser. “I don’t know if I’m allowed to disclose their names, but they’re big companies.”
Khine’s goal was to develop ultra-small “microfluidics” devices for medical applications. But without the proper equipment, still on order for the new university, Khine cast about for other options.
Microfluidics involves channelling fluids into tiny passages where they can be processed.
The concept is analogous to the development of transistors, which made smaller, more powerful electronics devices possible.
So Khine turned to Shrinky Dinks, a childhood favorite of hers. Shrinky Dinks are thin plastic disks that can be printed with designs. When heated, they contract to be one-third the size and nine times thicker.
Khine printed a microfluidics circuit pattern onto a Shrinky Dink disk, and heated it in a toaster oven. The pattern shrank, and the lines of ink rose to form tiny channels, similar to those made with the more expensive equipment Khine was waiting for.
Baum said he and Panther founded Shrink Nanotechnologies in Carlsbad because of their ties to North San Diego County, and a desire to be close to UCSD, a major center of biomedical research. Baum lives in Del Mar and Panther lives in Carlsbad. “We wanted to build a business in a community where we had roots and we felt we could make a difference,” Baum said, “and Carlsbad and this part of San Diego County was a natural fit for us.”
Khine remains a full-time UCI faculty member but says Shrink Nanotechnologies is constantly in her thoughts.
“This is my little baby, so I spend most of my waking hours thinking about the technology,” Khine said.
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