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TerraTherm Royalty Payments to The University of Texas at Austin Top $1 Million for Licensing of ISTD Environmental Cleanup Technology, Research Programs Supported
| Source: TerraTherm, Inc.
FITCHBURG, MA--(Marketwire - June 25, 2009) - TerraTherm, Inc. and The University of Texas
at Austin have today announced that royalties from licensing agreements for
In Situ Thermal Desorption (ISTD) technology have exceeded the million
dollar mark as widespread adoption of thermal remediation methods begins to
reshape the environmental cleanup marketplace. Adoption of ISTD has grown
rapidly in recent years due to its advantages for effective cleanup of a
wide variety of contaminants, geological settings, and locations, setting
the stage for increased royalties that fund research and educational
programs at the University.
ISTD, which simultaneously applies heat and vacuum to remove subsurface
soil contaminants without excavation, was originally developed by Shell Oil
Company. They donated the technology and the original patents to The
University of Texas at Austin in 2000. The University in turn licensed the
technology to TerraTherm, Inc., which has significantly advanced the state
of the art, and successfully applied ISTD commercially. In a number of
cases, the use of ISTD at difficult-to-treat sites has produced
unprecedented results, leading to site closure with letters of No Further
Action issued by regulatory agencies.
On hand to celebrate the million-dollar milestone, and an exciting future
for the technology, were Juan Sanchez, the University's Vice President for
Research, Ralph Baker, CEO of TerraTherm, Gary Pope, Director of UT's
Center for Petroleum and Geosystems Research, and George Stegemeier,
President GLS Engineering, Inc., representing Shell.
"The TerraTherm-University of Texas at Austin relationship has paid
dividends, not only in monetary terms, but in continuing our leadership
role in environmental engineering, research and cleanup-related education,"
said Sanchez.
"Graduate students' R&D topics related to ISTD have been funded by these
royalties and several University faculty have been involved in supervision
of these students, including Lynn Katz, Russell Johns, and Sanjay
Srinivasan," added Dr. Pope.
Dr. Pope was among the first at The University of Texas at Austin (UT) to
work with Shell's ISTD technology co-inventors, Dr. Harold Vinegar and Dr.
George Stegemeier. Dr. Stegemeier, who earned his Ph.D. in petroleum
engineering in 1959 at the University commented, "Shell contributed to UT
Austin, not only a useful technology, but also a source of funding for
ongoing environmental research and study among the faculty and students at
UT. It is fortunate that UT selected TerraTherm, Inc. since, as the
licensee, their success has led to the acceptance of a highly efficient
environmental process for cleaning contaminated sites. To see that promise
fulfilled and to see the potential of continuing research programs at UT
Austin is very rewarding indeed."
TerraTherm, Inc., which has been recognized with numerous awards for its
ISTD projects, has benefited from an active and stimulating relationship
with The University of Texas at Austin. "This continues to be a great
relationship, providing research that has helped us to demonstrate
applicability, put new methods into production, and continuously reduced
costs of ISTD. The fact that we have had so much success and been able to
empower researchers at the University at the same time is a classic win-win
outcome. And this is only the beginning. There are many more opportunities
to come for TerraTherm and The University of Texas at Austin," observed
Ralph Baker, CEO of TerraTherm, Inc.
About TerraTherm
TerraTherm, Inc. is a worldwide leader in the development and
implementation of in situ thermal remediation of source zones and hazardous
waste. They design, build and operate projects from concept to closure,
using In Situ Thermal Desorption (ISTD), Steam Enhanced Extraction (SEE)
and the Electro-Thermal Dynamic Stripping Process (ET-DSP). With offices
in Fitchburg, MA, Keene, CA, and Atlanta, GA, and licensees such as Kruger
A/S (Denmark and Sweden), Provectus Group (UK), and SheGoTec (Japan), they
offer services worldwide. For more information, visit www.terratherm.com.