Photo courtesy HydroGraph, Inc.

The Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce announced Tuesday that a Canadian company will open a new commercial scale manufacturing plant in Manhattan.

HydroGraph Clean Power, Inc. will produce graphene, nanomaterial used across many industries, and hydrogen for alternative-energy fuels. The company’s CEO Stuart Jara, cited the company chose to be near its research partners at Kansas State University.

HydroGraph partnered with university researchers in 2017 to develop an exclusively licensed patented detonation process discovered by K-State’s Dr. Chris Sorensen, a Cortelyou-Rust distinguished professor. According to Jara, Sorensen’s method produces the most consistent, high-quality and cost-effective graphene on the market, with the lowest environmental footprint.

Production is scheduled to begin as early as this fall, using an existing building in Pottawatomie County. The company plans over the next five years to expand to a larger facility and create more than 100 high-paying jobs in the region.

Dr. Chris Sorensen, (Photo courtesy HydroGraph, Inc.)

K-State Innovation Partners and Manhattan’s Knowledge Based Economic Development (KBED), partnership facilitated the company’s manufacturing presence in the region.

“Watching the research grow from a patentable discovery to an international company has been an exciting and rewarding process,” said Aarushi Gupta, licensing associate with K-State Innovation Partners. “The global impact our world-class researchers have is truly incredible.”
“HydroGraph is the type of company we want to attract to Kansas, and we are thrilled they chose Manhattan as their new home,” said Lt. Governor and Commerce Secretary David Toland. “International investment and innovation-based growth are important economic drivers for Kansas, and we are proud to partner with HydroGraph to grow the innovation ecosystem in the state.”
“As part of the university’s Economic Prosperity Plan, we have committed to bringing thousands of new jobs and billions of dollars in new investment into the state,” said David Rosowsky, K-State vice president for research. “The establishment of this facility in Manhattan is a testament to K-State’s ability to be a powerful economic driver for the state of Kansas.”

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