Advent Diamond, Inc. (Advent), an Arizona State University (ASU) diamond device startup, and Great Lakes Crystal Technologies (GLCT), a Michigan State University (MSU) diamond materials startup, announced today their joint signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to team together to capitalize on mutually beneficial company growth opportunities in the field of crystalline diamond based materials, devices, and applications.
The MOU identifies a number of specific partnership opportunities including joint federal R&D grant proposals, intellectual property licensing, co-marketing of products and capabilities, co-development of new products, and strategic customer-supplier relationships.
“This strategic alliance between Advent and GLCT is poised to make the commercialization of diamond semiconductor devices successful. We are pleased to join hands with such a great team at GLCT and work together to accomplish our joint mission,” said Advent Diamond, Inc. CEO Manpuneet Benipal.
“Our partnership with Advent is very exciting because they have a great team, we have complementary mission statements, and there is much we can do better together than separately,” said GLCT president & CEO Keith Evans. “Our partnership is also poetic because our respective technical founders often team together as well, such as co-chairing diamond workshops and conference symposia, and in pursuing joint federal R&D support.”
GLCT’s technical founder and MSU professor Tim Grotjohn and Advent’s technical founder and ASU professor Bob Nemanich are international leaders in advanced diamond materials and device research. Last year they joined forces to win four years of US Department of Energy (DOE) support to establish an ASU led, MSU supported, Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) called Ultra Materials for a Resilient, Smart Electricity Grid (ULTRA).
About Advent Diamond, Inc. (Advent)
Advent Diamond, Inc. is mobilizing years of diamond research from the Diamond Lab at Arizona State University, and is bringing next-generation diamond semiconductor technology out of the lab and into the commercial market. Towards this end, the Advent team has secured funding from various government agencies such as DOE, NSF, Air Force, and DTRA to develop diamond technologies for applications that require extreme performance, from power diodes to particle detectors. Additionally, Advent benefits from start-up support through the ASU Skysong Innovation center, exclusive license to patents on diamond technology, and collaborations with a range of experts in academia and industry.
About Great Lakes Crystal Technologies (GLCT)
GLCT’s mission is to create a commercial source of semiconductor-grade diamond materials for advanced applications in high energy particle detection, x-ray and other photon optics, electronics, and quantum technology. GLCT launched in 2019 as a Michigan State University (MSU) startup with early support from Spartan Innovations and Red Cedar Ventures. The company has also benefited from the positive Michigan based ecosystem for startups receiving the Business Accelerator Fund and Emerging Technologies Fund, both of which are administered by the Michigan Small Business Development Center in partnership with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
GLCT is a member of the Inaugural Cohort of the Duality Quantum Accelerator, a founding member of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium, and a member of the Resilient Infrastructure + Secure Energy (RISE) Consortium. For more information about GLCT visit their company website or send them an email.
