PENNSYLVANIA INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE
www.pitapa.org | Spring 2025
A Commonwealth-University-Industry Partnership for Economic Development through Research, Technology, and Education
MAGNETIC CLIMBING ROBOTS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE INSPECTION - P.2 NEWLY PATENTED SINGLE-USE HORIZONTAL FERMENTER - P.3 NEXT-GENERATION SOY PROTEIN WOUND DRESSINGS - P.4
MARINE PRODUCTS FOR MONITORING AQUARIUMS AND CORAL REEFS - P.5
Newsletter 2025
The Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance (PITA) has connected Pennsylvania’s companies with the Commonwealth’s world-class university researchers and their students for the past 27 years, promoting economic development in Pennsylvania. Funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), PITA helps Pennsylvania increase the state’s market competitiveness through the development of new technologies and process improvements.
We are proud of the program’s strong history of working with Pennsylvania companies and students to foster economic growth in the state. The program has supported over 1,450 technology and process improvement projects in partnership with more than 570 Pennsylvania companies, obtaining more than two dollars of funding from industry and federal sources for every dollar of state funding. PITA has also mobilized more than 525 faculty members and over 2,400 students to work on Pennsylvaniaspecific technology, process improvement, and educational outreach projects. It has also enabled 15 startup companies to be created from PITAsponsored technologies.
In this edition of the PITA Newsletter, we highlight recent partnerships with:
• HEBI Robotics – Pittsburgh, PA
• New Horizon Biotech – Bethlehem, PA
• NeuEsse Inc. – Doylestown, PA & Pittsburgh, PA
• EcoTech Marine – Bethlehem, PA
As always, we welcome partnerships with new companies. Those interested in working with faculty and graduate students on short-term technology development or process improvement projects should contact the PITA associate directors: Chad Kusko, Lehigh University (chk205@lehigh.edu) or Colleen Mantini, Carnegie Mellon University (cmantini@cmu.edu).
PITA
Carnegie Mellon University
ozdoganlar@cmu.edu
PITA
Lehigh University
shk2@lehigh.edu
By Nathan Snizaski | Aaron Johnson, amj1@cmu.edu
Bridges are inspected for safety by human operators using a combination of visual assessments, hands-on evaluations, and specialized tools. Operators often erect scaffolding or use cranes to access the structure, which can be costly in terms of time, effort, and logistics. Advancements in robotics offer a promising tool for efficiently assessing the health of Pennsylvania’s infrastructure while minimizing risks to human operators.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have partnered with HEBI Robotics, a Pittsburgh-based modular robotics company, to develop a new class of climbing robots capable of scaling vertical surfaces, transitioning between connected areas, and overcoming small obstacles—all while carrying an inspection payload. These robots, also known as crawlers, enable inspectors to evaluate structural conditions with high precision, eliminating the need for scaffolding, crane trucks, or rappelling to take measurements.
“We're interested in building robots that can climb up infrastructure and overcome obstacles to conduct inspection tasks,” says Aaron Johnson, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. “An operator can be safely on the ground at the site of inspection. They wouldn't need any heavy equipment, like cranes or cherry pickers, and can keep a safe distance from dangerous situations or potentially hazardous materials.”
Most existing magnetic climbing robots for infrastructure inspection rely on large, fixed magnets beneath the robot. These crawlers must stay close to the inspection surface to maintain sufficient magnetic adhesion, making it difficult for them to transition between surfaces or navigate obstacles. Partnering with HEBI, Johnson’s team explored using magnetic wheels for adhesion, allowing the robots to climb and navigate steel structures more effectively.
“Traversing infrastructure with complex geometries and obstacles is a significant challenge for robotics. Through our PITA partnership, solving this challenge will create boundless opportunities to improve the state of the art for robotic inspections and maintenance, ultimately leading to safer infrastructure and work environments for the experts performing this work.”
Bob Raida CEO, HEBI Robotics
“What sets our design apart from other crawlers is its ability to transition between surfaces and overcome small obstacles,” says Johnson. “With the wheels themselves serving as magnets, the crawler can stick to the ceiling of a structure while keeping its back wheels on a connecting wall, making a full transition to the ceiling possible. It’s capable of navigating from the floor to the wall to a ceiling or overhang without falling.”
The crawler's magnetic wheels also improve its grip on structural surfaces, allowing it to carry heavier payloads used to assess the integrity of bridges and other steel structures. Inspectors often rely on portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) spectrometers to perform elemental analysis, identify surface contaminants, and detect structural weaknesses. These specialized sensors can weigh over a kilogram—more than most crawlers are designed to carry.
“If you think there is mercury, lead, or other potential health concerns on the surface on an inspection site, the human operator needs appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE),” says Johnson. “With our crawler, we're not worried about lead exposure to the robot. The robot will be okay, and the human operator can stay at a safe distance without needing PPE and a respirator.”
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By Lori Herz, loh208@lehigh.edu
A fermenter is an essential tool for producing vaccines and many other biopharmaceutical products. Though it resembles a sophisticated beer keg, a fermenter is a highly specialized vessel. As cells grow inside, its mechanical parts regulate the interior aeration, oxygen levels, agitation, temperature, pressure levels, and pH.
Since the 1950s, the production of vaccines and pharmaceuticals has increased. As a result, traditional fermenters grew significantly in size. While most hold around 500 liters, some can hold up to 100,000 liters (more than 26,400 gallons) and stand about 11 feet tall. Since these tanks are often used for extended periods, they require regular maintenance and careful assembly. Vertical tanks are often raised off of the floor to allow for these activities, requiring high ceilings, ladders, stairways, and railings to meet OSHA regulations—adding to overall costs.
A recent innovation in this field is the horizontal fermenter, patented by New Horizon Biotech, a privately held biotechnology and biopharmaceutical equipment manufacturer based in Bethlehem, PA. Designed to fit into spaces with lower ceilings, it accommodates all fermenter sizes from 50 to 3,000 liters within a 9-foot height constraint.
“Microbial cells do not care that they are mixing, respiring, doubling, and metabolizing product in a horizontal tank,” says Ernest Stadler, New Horizon Biotech founder and CEO.
A horizontal tank system also offers a greater range of pressurization and modularity, allowing a variety of
configurations for specific types of production. Additionally, a horizontal orientation provides more surface area inside the tank, preventing overflow and contamination of the tank exhaust port.
New Horizon Biotech has developed a 50-liter (13-gallon) prototype single-use horizontal fermenter (SUHF) with a disposable fermentation bag that fits inside a stainless-steel bag retention vessel (BRV). Growing the cells in the bag allows for greater pressurization, which can enhance cell growth. The BRV fully encloses the entire bag, and includes ports and support faceplates to prevent bulging and inconsistent performance under pressure. The bag can be pressurized to create the conditions needed for high cell densities, or greater production, to be achieved.
Lehigh researchers used the SUHF at Lehigh University’s Mountaintop Campus and ran experiments to characterize its performance, allowing New Horizon Biotech to accurately represent the performance of its fermenter. Lori Herz, teaching full professor and associate chair of bioengineering at Lehigh University, leads the investigation with co-PIs Angela Brown, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and Hugo Caram, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. Two master’s students and three undergraduate students also supported the research project.
"This project has provided students with real-world experience learning how to operate a fermenter, run an experiment, and analyze the data, like engineers do in industry,” says Herz. “All of these activities can help students prepare for work in graduate school and future careers.”
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By Nathan Snizaski | Phil Campbell, philc@andrew.cmu.edu | Nader Rezazadeh, nrezazad@andrew.cmu.edu
Wound dressings play a critical role in healing cutaneous (skin) wounds. Common dressings, made from cotton, linen, or other natural fibers, help protect wounds from contaminants. For patient populations who experience slow-healing or non-healing wounds, multiple dressing changes can be painful—especially for burn victims. One promising solution is a bioactive, biodegradable dressing capable of expediting the healing process.
NeuEsse Inc. (Doylestown, PA and Pittsburgh, PA) is a leader in plant-based skin repair products designed to treat severe burns and dermal wounds. The company’s all-natural skin repair product, OmegaSkin™ (OmegaSkin), is manufactured via electrospinning to create ultra-fine fiber patches based on soybean protein isolate (SPI). These patches can be placed directly over a wound while leaving functioning hair follicles and sweat glands intact. Recently, NeuEsse partnered with researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to include healing additives in its flagship product.
Phil Campbell, research professor of biomedical engineering at CMU, explains that OmegaSkin patches placed over a wound degrade into amino acids, which are then metabolized by cells at the injury site to support dermal repair. His research team is currently investigating ways to enhance the bioactive regenerative capacity of OmegaSkin to expedite healing.
“The current version of the OmegaSkin product augments healing but does not promote healing, which is a key distinction," says Campbell. "Our team is currently exploring the inclusion of additives into the product that will actively promote healing through delivering bioactive molecules directly to the wound site.”
The research team added growth factors and extracellular vesicles (EVs) to the OmegaSkin SPI ink to incorporate everything together during the manufacturing process, resulting in ultra-fine electrospun fibers. In addition to the amino acids provided by the SPI, the additives release a therapeutic payload as the OmegaSkin fibers break down, which may promote wound healing. By using plantbased additives in the SPI mix, the risk for disease transmission from the source material to a living person is eliminated.
“We are purposely researching plant-based materials to reduce potential risks associated with animal-derived components,” says Nader Rezazadeh, doctoral student of chemical engineering at CMU. “Animal-sourced components, such as whey protein or collagen, can carry a risk of residual hormones or immune responses, and their use raises concerns about zoonotic contamination. In contrast, plant-derived components eliminate the risk of disease transfer from animals to humans. SPI is more advantageous compared to an animal-driven component, specifically for tissue engineering and wound healing.”
Rezazadeh highlights biodegradability as another key advantage of the OmegaSkin patches compared to traditional wound dressings.
“Once an OmegaSkin patch degrades, a new layer can be applied directly on top of the old layer," says Rezazadeh. "This minimizes disruption to the wound bed and reduces the risk of infection and re-injury, which is a common issue with conventional dressings.”
Campbell and Rezazadeh shared their excitement for the project’s potential to move toward a complete plant-based therapeutic material that is both economical and sustainable.
“There has been a lot of research over the decades to try to come up with therapies to promote dermal wound healing, especially for compromised patients, such as diabetics,” says Campbell. “You can develop a really good potential product, but if it costs too much, it's not going to make it into practice. The material we’re using in this research, soy protein isolate, is sold by the ton, so there is plenty of it to go around for manufacturing purposes.”
In the next phase of their research, Campbell's team is developing a handheld electrospray device designed to deliver next-generation soy protein wound dressings for a variety of applications.
“The electrospray device we're working on is intended for both civilian and wounded warrior applications,” says Campbell. “For instance, in a first responder scenario, a medic can have the device on their person and administer the material to a wound onsite. You don't have to store pre-made materials and later find an appropriately sized patch to treat a wound in an emergency. You can deploy treatment simply by spraying the wound of any size, in a variety of contexts, using this portable device.”
By Sabrina Jedlicka, ssj207@lehigh.edu
Coral reefs cover just 0.1% of the earth’s ocean area, yet support up to 25% of global marine life. This remarkable biodiversity is driven by coral polyps—tiny aquatic animals related to jellyfish and sea anemones—that form reef structures by clustering into colonies. These colonies are held together by their hard, calcium carbonate exoskeletons, creating reefs that can grow in various configurations and sizes, some stretching over 1,000 feet.
Reefs contribute to the formation of new islands and atolls while providing a home to marine biodiversity, including fish, mollusks, sponges, and crustaceans. They also support human economies by attracting tourists, providing crops for fisheries, protecting shorelines, and minimizing damage from coastal erosion and storms. Globally, reefs generate an estimated $375 billion in economic benefits annually.
Unfortunately, reefs have been in decline since the 1950s. Their healthy existence is threatened by factors such as acidification caused by rising temperatures, overfishing (which unbalances the reef ecosystem), and harmful sediment and chemical runoff from land. Researchers are exploring ways to restore reef health, including partnering with hobbyist aquarists, known as “reef keepers.”
Reefkeeping is the practice of maintaining living, small-scale reefs in tanks with carefully maintained temperatures, water flow, and other aquatic conditions. This hobby requires substantial time, knowledge, and equipment to replicate a coral reef system. Reef keepers must reinforce their home flooring and upgrade electrical systems to maintain saltwater tanks that support various marine life—often a lifetime commitment.
EcoTech Marine (Bethleham, PA) is a leader in hobbyist aquarium equipment. From lights to flow devices, its products are recommended by supersized coral suppliers, such as CCW in Orlando, FL, and ubiquitous in reefkeeping magazines. Tim Marks and Patrick Clasen, two of EcoTech’s leadership team members, earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Lehigh and maintain a longstanding research relationship with their alma mater.
Supported by PITA, EcoTech partnered with Lehigh University to investigate automating the calibration of foam fractional units used for nutrient management in closed reef systems. The project is led by Sabrina Jedlicka, Deputy Provost of Graduate Education and associate professor of bioengineering and materials science and engineering at Lehigh University. The research team includes co-PI Susan Perry, Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs and professor of practice in bioengineering, along with graduate and undergraduate students from Lehigh.
In this project, the research team sought to develop a probe capable of detecting excess nutrients in the water, ultimately improving protein skimmers used by aquarium hobbyists. The “foam fractional” process uses bubbles to separate substances based on molecular differences, enhancing water quality in closed systems like aquariums, and simplifying system maintenance.
Jedlicka tested probe materials for use in the sensor probe, trying stainless steel, carbon fiber, and titanium probes. The choice of material hinged on its ability to differentiate water from skimmate bubbles based on electrical conductivity. In Jedlicka’s tests, titanium emerged as the winner. Long-term testing in an aquarium showed that the probe can generate consistent results for 120 hours, or about five days, maintenance-free. The research team plans further refinements, including transitioning a printed circuit board and determining manufacturing standards for the titanium probes.
The resulting product is designed to make reef keepers' lives easier and their corals healthier. It may also provide scientists studying ocean marine health with more possibilities and research pathways to improving the global health of coral reefs. Additionally, the project gave participating students hands-on experience working with an industry partner.
“This work supported several students, including two senior capstone design projects and a master's student in mechanical engineering,” says Jedlicka. “The education that the teams and graduate students gained from the experience spurred interest in the hobby, but also interest in ocean sustainability.”
EcoTech Marine is an example of homegrown manufacturing and talent with a global reach. The EcoTech Marine–Lehigh University partnership is a model of academics and businesses working together to innovate for aquarium hobbyists and the health of coral reefs worldwide.
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The team believes that their crawler can obtain better quality data than other climbing robots due to its ability to collect measurements while in motion. Johnson says that if an operator wants to move the sensor along the surface at a controlled rate, the robot will be more efficient at collecting data than a human.
“As we collect measurements while the crawler is in motion, we can intelligently choose the next spot or location for another measurement based on the data we’ve collected so far, rather than just having to have a uniform reading—say, every three or four meters, for example. Using the PXRF, we can look at the data we’ve collected in real time and perhaps say, ‘The readings for weak spots or contaminants are getting a little higher. Let’s take some more readings in this area.’ Conversely, if you're in an area where the readings for contaminants are very low, then you can choose to spread out the readings a bit more.”
The end result is a more accurate estimate of the average distribution over a given area in the same amount of time.
“We've demonstrated that this process reduces your error rate,” says Johnson. "If you have a fixed amount of time or a fixed number of samples to collect, you can get a better average over that area by using this kind of wheeled platform—rather than a drone or another option.”
Johnson explains that, given a fixed time budget or accuracy requirement, operators can quickly deploy the climbing robot to collect data safely and efficiently. The total time required would be significantly shorter, since traditional inspection setups involving cranes and scaffolding are unnecessary. As a result, safety is also improved, with operators remaining on the ground rather than working at height.
The research team is optimistic about the project’s potential to improve infrastructure inspections, increase efficiency, and protect human operators.
“The exciting part for our research team is the access that our crawler robot provides,” says Johnson. “The mobility and the way the robot attaches to the structure to be inspected means that you’re not limited to flat surfaces only. Our design is capable of going over rivets or seams and transitioning from one surface to another, which is more of a challenge for other crawlers. With our crawler, you're able to get more complete picture much more efficiently. You can conduct inspections at lower costs with greater frequency and get more data out of each inspection.”
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Case in point: Lehigh University alum Kevin Callahan (B.S. BIOE ’22, M.S. BIOE ’23) is now a process development scientist at Pfanstiehl Inc.
“The fermenter project I worked on with New Horizon Biotech facilitated my graduate bioengineering studies by complementing class work and offering real-world experience with a local startup,” says Callahan. “Interfacing with a new and unique fermenter gave me valuable insight into the process of development and prototyping. In addition, working to collect data provided skills in both experimental design and lab techniques. This project was invaluable to my education and something that cannot be replicated in a classroom setting."
The proximity of New Horizon Biotech and Lehigh University in the Bethlehem area benefits researchers at both institutions. New Horizon Biotech gains access to Lehigh’s knowledgeable faculty and students, who, in turn, gain hands-on experience applying
their work in real-world settings. Dr. Janice Phillips, Director of Technology at New Horizon Biotech, brings 30 years of experience in fermentation and bioprocess technology commercialization. She also served as a professor in chemical engineering at Lehigh from 1980 to 1999. Meanwhile, 19 undergraduate and master’s students from Lehigh’s Bioengineering and Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering departments have contributed to the development of the horizontal fermenter project.
Lehigh University and New Horizon Biotech are located near the greater Philadelphia biopharma research cluster, one of the top ten in the nation, according to Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, contributing to its growth and vitality. Pennsylvania’s robust pharmaceutical and device manufacturing sector is among the top states in bioscience R&D and innovation, patenting, and industry investment. Through PITA collaborations like the partnership between Lehigh and New Horizon Biotech, these successes will continue to drive progress in the Commonwealth.
PENNSYLVANIA INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE
PITA is an industry-led program that enables companies to identify opportunities for Lehigh University and Carnegie Mellon University, and for the universities to provide expertise and capabilities, through faculty and students, that the companies may not otherwise be able to access.
Pennsylvania companies gain access to faculty expertise, university equipment, and students. University faculty and students are afforded the opportunity to work on real-world, market-driven challenges confronting Pennsylvania companies.
Faculty and students assist companies in creating technology of the future and enhancing the competitiveness of Pennsylvania companies with the goal of the creation of jobs in Pennsylvania and the retention of highly trained/educated students in Pennsylvania.
PITA Technology focus areas include:
• Transportation
• Telecommunications and information technology
• Facilities
• Water systems
• Energy
• Life sciences
• Hazard mitigation & disaster recovery
Nathan Edward Snizaski Chief Editor
Carnegie Mellon University nathanedward@cmu.edu 412-268-9157
Chad Kusko PITA Co-Associate Director Lehigh University chk205@lehigh.edu 610-758-5299
Colleen McCabe Mantini PITA Co-Associate Director Carnegie Mellon University cmantini@cmu.edu 412-268-5314
