Sensatek receives award from National Science Foundation after series seed raise
Technology company receives $3.5 million to help make gas turbines more reliable with blade tip passive RF temperature sensors
Sensatek Propulsion Technology, Inc. has received an additional $500,000 award from the National Science Foundation in form of a research contract after receiving $1.2 million in awards and completing a series seed priced finance round of $2 million.
Sensatek develops and manufactures passive RF temperature sensors for gas turbine engines for clients in a variety of industries including energy, marine and aerospace. The NSF award will allow the company to make advancements with its on-blade temperature sensors and demonstrate on-blade sensing across multiple sections of an engine.
Initial testing of Sensatek’s sensors has been completed and early results have been extremely successful. In fact, companies such as Siemens, have committed to putting the sensors on their flagship engines.
“We’re so thankful for support from the National Science Foundation, which will allow us to take our revolutionary on-blade temperature sensors to the next level,” said Reamonn Soto, founder and CEO of Sensatek. “This technology will make engines more efficient and help power the future.”
Blade metal temperatures have a profound effect on improving energy efficiency of power systems maintenance cycles, and overall fleet reliability, yet engine manufacturers are still struggling in determining how these machines perform in real-time. Sensatek’s sensors will allow companies to shift away from rudimentary methods to measure heat directly on gas turbine blades.
This comes with many benefits including knowing how long engines can operate reliably before maintenance is absolutely necessary by determining precisely how engines operate more efficiently. Most importantly, Sensatek’s wireless passive RF temperature sensors will be able to determine how hard an engine can be pushed without damage, allowing for a large increase in efficiency.
Sensatek first became involved with the National Science Foundation through Innovation Corps, its entrepreneur program. Since then, the company has continued to garner interest and funding from the foundation.
“At Sensatek, we have the vision of what the future will be. Our team is working endlessly to learn how our sensors can be used to increase efficiency and reliability of engines. They will help deliver more megawatts, allowing more homes to be powered and eliminating the emissions that could accumulate from hundreds of thousands of traditional, gas-powered cars,” said Soto.