September 8, 2008
Contact: Kelly Green
405-744-5827
kelly.green@okstate.edu

OSU licenses new environmental site characterization technology, launches company

Stillwater, Okla.—New technology developed by Todd Halihan, an associate professor of geology at Oklahoma State University, now makes it easier to detect areas of underground contamination.  Halihan’s subsurface imaging system, called GeoTrax Survey™, can be compared to an MRI or CAT-Scan in the medical field providing a picture that not only helps locate contamination but also helps determine the best way to extract it.  Aestus, LLC, the company formed by Halihan and his business partner Stuart McDonald, recently licensed the technology through OSU’s Office of Intellectual Property Management.

“We are thrilled about this licensing agreement and what it means for OSU,” said Steve Price, director of OIPM.  “Aestus is one of the companies at the forefront of what we believe will be a long line of successful entrepreneurial adventures for OSU faculty.”

Halihan developed the technology after discovering that other geophysical/geological testing methods did not provide enough information about the nature and location of underground contaminants, which are usually “invisible” to most geophysical techniques.  Halihan said the technology provides 2-D images and 3-D and 4-D (3-D over time) visualizations of geology and environmental contaminants to 300 feet or deeper below the ground surface. 

“It works like underground night-vision goggles,” Halihan said.  “It essentially looks in the dark electronically and provides a picture of the subsurface geology.”

 Aestus’ clients, including the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Division, can then use these subsurface pictures to determine where to drill to locate and remove contamination.

McDonald, a professional engineer with more than 18 years experience as an environmental consultant, said he was interested in commercializing the GeoTrax Survey™ technology because he saw such a need for it in the environmental clean-up industry.

“The environmental industry as a whole is performing ‘exploratory surgery’ via drilling without the benefit of an underground picture of the site, which often leads to an incomplete and/or incorrect understanding of the extent of environmental contamination,” McDonald said.   “Aestus’ GeoTrax Survey™ technology facilitates a more technically and cost effective ‘scan first and then drill’ approach, which has been used successfully for decades as the industry standard practice in the medical, dental, and oil/gas industries.”

Aestus works on projects throughout the United States and internationally and has experienced repeated successes with the technology under a wide range of geologic and environmental conditions. 
For more information on the company, visit www.aestusllc.com. 

For more information on OSU’s Office of Intellectual Property Management visit http://vpr.okstate.edu/ipm.