When new technology is developed that could potentially change the world, it is incredibly important to protect it. The development of a new ion source for sample analysis that was invented by Sina Alavi was just the first step towards him creating his own legacy.

Now the Co-Founder and CEO of Kimia Analytics, Alavi joined us to share how his PhD project quickly turned into the development of a world-changing technology – one that needed to be protected.

Elemental analysis on the go

Kimia Analytics developed the first compact and mobile Triple-Quad ICP-MS for Rapid Elemental Analysis. This machine makes ultra-sensitive elemental analytics easy to do, on the go, in any number of environments. This technology was developed by Alavi and his supervisor when he was a PhD student working with Prof. Javad Mostaghimi at the University of Toronto.

“My thesis project was to develop a new ion source for sample analysis or elemental analysis. I remember the exact day that I first tested it,” he said. “It was a Friday, late at night. I tested it and then I emailed Prof. Mostaghimi because that first time, it was successful. That first test was the start of me going into this new path.”

After his discovery, Alavi began looking at options for what to do with it.

“At first, we were thinking about selling it to one of these large companies,” he said. “But, the more we looked into it, we realized if we did that, it would end up in older instruments.”

Alavi believed that this technology could have an impact on the ICP-MS industry and make it possible to develop smaller, compact instruments that could streamline elemental testing for various applications.

He knew that there was more that could be done. But, in order to protect the tech from falling into the wrong hands, the next step needed to be IP protection and continuing the research into other uses for this technology.