Last fall, The Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center (www.sgicc.org) announced its second annual Innovation Contest. The deadline for participation was February 1, 2013. Like last year’s very successful competition which received more than 50 applications, this year’s statewide contest turned out to be of great interest and generated more than 70 new ideas. A total of $75,000 in prize money is being offered, and three winners will be announced in the spring.

Bill Hall, SGICC Director, noted that the quality of the applications was very high. “We received even more applications than last year, and many of the concepts are really impressive. Topics covered the entire gamut of the shale gas play from down-hole extraction, pad protection and environmental safety, water and wastewater focused technologies, data management concepts, and even included multiple downstream gas and NGL utilization technologies. We are excited to start the vetting process to select the best concepts.”

A list of finalists will be selected by the end of March, 2013. After making presentations to a panel of judges, three winners will be chosen at an event held in May. An announcement regarding the date, time, and location will be circulated once all the details have been finalized.

The Shale Gas Innovation Contest was co-sponsored by Ben Franklin Technology Partners (http://www.benfranklin.org), ANGA (www.anga.us), Acorn Energy (http://acornenergy.com), Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (www.cabotog.com), CONSOL Energy (www.consolenergy.com), Chesapeake Energy (www.chk.com), The Dow Chemical Company (http://www.dow.com/), First National Bank (www.fnb-online.com ), Little Pine Resources (http://littlepineresources.com), the Marcellus Shale Coalition (http://marcelluscoalition.org),OSCOMP Systems (http://www.oscomp-systems.com/) and Praxair (www.praxair.com).

For questions, contact Bill Hall at either 814-933-8203 or billhall@psu.edu.

About the SGICC

The Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center (www.sgicc.org) is designed to harness innovation and new technologies as a means to maximize the economic return to Pennsylvania’s citizens from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations. The Center’s goal is to increase sustainable employment and wealth creation in Pennsylvania that has the potential to outlast the initial exploration, production and transportation of natural gas from the formations. The Center will also identify, support and commercialize technologies and early-stage businesses that enhance responsible stewardship of the environment while properly utilizing this transformative energy asset.