PreScouter

Technology scouting is an art and a science. Based on my experiences working with numerous corporate clients on their technology scouting needs, here are some tips to help you become a technology scout. 1- Clear up ambiguity with the customer, at the very start. Whether you are a technology scout as just part of your job, or all of your job, you have a customer. Based on your circumstances, the customer could be: The end customer, who uses your company’s products A marketing team, that comes to you with end customer needs they want solutions for A strategy team, that has determined it would be in the best interests for your company to acquire certain technologies or competencies A product development or R&D team, that would prefer for a solution to be found externally – perhaps because the solution is not core to your company’s competency Whoever your customer is, clearing up any and all ambiguity at the start will ensure the technologies your find are best targeted to thei...

Have you ever wondered about the strength of steel? Well, you will be surprised to know that nanocellulose (NC) is 8 times the strength of stee l . It is also known that NC is stiffer than Kevlar®. In addition to strength, nanocellulose has many properties that make it a sustainable and versatile material for the packaging industry. Brief overview of the packaging industry: The packaging industry has been using materials, based on glass, aluminium, tin and fossil-derived synthetic plastics to protect consumer goods. Owing to the growing economical and environmental concerns of these materials, alternatives are being considered. Recently, the benefits of cellulose-based packaging materials, particularly, nanocellulose, have been considered. Apparently, the prolonged use of such by-products, could help solve the unsustainability, costs and disposal challenges that the industry faces. These nano-sized particles form part of the renewable resources that can potentially solve the susta...

  By Thuy Ngo |  January 8th, 2018 | Natural Resources |     Hydrogen, an energy carrier, exists abundantly in nature. However, it is always married to other elements in the form of water, hydrocarbons and other organic compounds. For use as an industrial gas or energy carrier, people need hydrogen unattached to other elements. In 1783, Jacques Charles first used hydrogen as “energy” to lift his balloon flight. Since then, hydrogen has been used in various daily applications. Hydrogen is mainly produced from fossil fuels such as methane by the steam reforming method. Although this process has a low cost, it emits a large amount of greenhouse gas pollution.  Hydrogen produced from water by renewable energy: Fortunately, alternative methods exist to produce hydrogen, such as electrical water electrolysis, photoelectrochemical water electrolysis and biological processes. So far, electrical water electrolysis has the most developed technologi...

A little something about the Gs: We are living in a decade where wireless technologies have become an irreplaceable part of our daily life. It all started in the 80s with the analog technology referred to as the first generation wireless technology – 1G. The “large brick phones” had a poor battery life and a maximum speed of 2.4 Kbps. Then, 2G came in as a big leap in mobile technologies and allowed upgrading to digital technology. Call and text encryption, SMS, MMS and picture messages were introduced by the 2G network. In 1998, 3G was established in the next generation series which made video calling and faster data transmission possible. 3G had a speed around 2 Mbps which was succeeded by 4G in 2008. 4G paved the way into some salient features such as mobile gaming, HD TV and video conferencing at much higher speeds. The next evolution in mobile networking is going to be 5G, which holds huge promises . In the following sections, we will be going through 5G and its anticipated imp...

Lentein is a protein-rich green powder produced by Parabel. It is a “whole food concept” that has been described as the world’s most complete and sustainable food source. With up to 50% of highly digestible crude protein, as well as a high profile of micronutrients such as Omega 3 and antioxidants, it has gained significant interest as a nutritional supplement. Parabel recently won the FIE Innovations Award in the Growth Category for the development of this exciting new product. Here are three reasons why Lentein is such an innovative product for the food and beverage industry.  Reason #1: High Nutritional Value  On the micronutrient scale : As minimally-processed plant protein sources go, Lentein is rich. It contains up to 50% crude protein. To give some context, other plant sources such as peanuts contain up to 28% protein and soybeans contain 13%. Lentein has a protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) score of 93. PDCAAS is an FDA/WHO/FAO-recognized ...

  Since the days of snake-oil peddlers, and even long before, the art of marketing has been to reach for that secret ‘buy button’ in the mind, to tickle the subconscious into purchasing whatever it is that needs to be sold. Along came the 21st century, and with it came neuromarketing. What is this new technology, and what can we expect from it? According to the Neuromarketing Science & Business Association (NMSBA), “Neuromarketing is the use of modern brain science to measure the impact of marketing and advertising on consumers.” It includes techniques for measuring neural activation, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG). Neuromarketing also uses more indirect methods like galvanic skin response (essentially the degree of skin sweatiness), eye tracking or automated face reading. Its aim is typically to gauge the response of consumers to marketing materials such as (online) ads, television commercials, or even shelf-displays...

Natural Resources |   Compared to fossil fuel-based energy systems, nuclear, solar and wind provide much cleaner sources of energy. However, they all come with their own weakness. Both solar and wind energy need stable weather conditions for power generation. Conversely, nuclear power cannot be ramped up or down quickly to meet energy demands. It also generates radioactive waste. However, by coupling nuclear power with renewable energy, we can utilize the best from all three sources.  Components of a hybrid nuclear-renewable energy system: These proposed systems typically have a number of components in common:  Nuclear reactors: Preferably small, modular reactors (<300MWe). Larger, high-temperature reactor systems may be more suitable for hybrid systems. Studies at Idaho National Labs are testing the feasibility of light water reactor systems. Steam generator : To produce electricity from the nuclear reactor. Rene...