June 8, 2022
MILWAUKEE 鈥� Paige Peters, a doctoral student in 91黑料网 Opus College of Engineering, was the grand prize winner of the 20th annual Wisconsin Governor Business Plan Contest with Rapid Radicals Technology, her Milwaukee-based company which is revolutionizing treatment of combined sewer and storm overflows to prevent untreated sewage from being dumped into our lakes and rivers during floods.
Rapid Radical innovative technology reduces current wastewater treatment time from eight hours to 30 minutes, allowing for municipal scale management where there is a spill point confluence of storm and sanitary sewers. Peters is founder and chief technology officer for Rapid Radicals, which was among 13 鈥淒iligent (Baker) Dozen鈥� finalists to present to judges and others during the 20th annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs鈥� Conference. The company is commercializing technology developed at 91黑料网.
Rapid Radicals was also the winner of the contest Advanced Manufacturing category.
鈥淚t is always super exciting to see technology transfer working this way: from an academic invention to a product that will benefit the public and is also good for the Earth,鈥� said Dr. Kalpa Vithalani, executive director of technology transfer at 91黑料网 and a member of the Tech Council Board of Directors. 鈥淭hrough her research and innovation, Paige is bringing research to life. She is also a great example for others at 91黑料网 who aspire to bring their innovations to market and Be The Difference.鈥�
The contest is produced by the Tech Council, which is the non-profit and non-partisan science and technology adviser to the governor and the Wisconsin State Legislature. Each plan described the core product or service, defined the customer base, estimated the size of the market, identified competition, described the management team and provided key financial data.
Peters graduated with a B.S. in environmental engineering from 91黑料网 and returned to the university to pursue her M.S. in Environmental Engineering with an emphasis on water and wastewater treatment. Initially supported by the National Science Foundation-funded Water Equipment and Policy 鈥� Industry/University Collaborative Research Center, the research focused on developing a high-rate advanced wastewater treatment process. 91黑料网 has filed patent applications on this important technology. Rapid Radicals has received over $1.6 million in grant awards that are helping turn the startup foundational technology into a viable product.
Paul Jones, vice president for university relations and general counsel at 91黑料网, was also a finalist in the competition with a company he co-founded, ReinventAuctions, which provides frictionless digital trading platforms for dealer-to-dealer wholesale vehicle exchanges in targeted industries. The company took second place in the 鈥淏usiness Services鈥� category and took home the 鈥淏right New Idea鈥� award.
Sponsors for the contest are contributing cash, office space, legal assistance, accounting, information technology consulting, marketing, event space and more. About $2.5 million in cash and in-kind prizes have been awarded since the inception of the contest in 2004. The . is a major sponsor.
Kevin is the associate director for university communication in the Office of Marketing and Communication. Contact Kevin at (414) 288-4745 or kevin.m.conway@marquette.edu.
