MAGNETIC PUMPING PLATFORM

Some researchers start their PhD to contribute to fundamental research, while others dream of starting their own company based on their research. Keerthivasan Rajamani (Keerthi for short) was one of those entrepreneurial researchers. He founded UT spin-off Flawless Flow Pumps based on his research on magnetic pumps. He shares his journey from researcher to entrepreneur.

 While doing his masters at the TU Delft, Keerthi took a course by Dr. Dap Hartmann called ‘Turning Technology into Business’. In this course, he learned how to build a business case based on patented technology. Years later, when he developed his patented magnetic pump technology at the University of Twente, he gave students the same assignment he got during his masters: to explore business opportunities based on this technology. “I was really glad that there were two groups of students who wanted to work on this project,” says Keerthi. “They did market research and came up with several applications. They initially proposed blood pumping. I wasn’t too sure about that idea because the pump would need some modifications. I was focused more on heat pumping as an application at first. However, after discussing it with one of my previous master thesis students, she connected me to a doctor who was enthusiastic about the idea. I realized then that the application for blood pumping had a lot of potential.” 

Improved patient health

Once it became clear that the medical scope would create the most impact, Keerthi decided to proceed in that direction as the first target market. “Currently, pumps are often used as a form of life support for people with illness or injury that affects the functioning of the heart,” Keerthi explains. “Essentially, they pump the blood through the body. However, because these are mechanical pumps, moving parts cause clogging and shear stress, which damages the blood. The patient would need to take medication because of this. Our magnetic pump lowers the shear stress, reduces the ‘wear and tear’, and would need much less maintenance because of the absence of moving parts. That means you’d end up with improved patient health and lower maintenance costs.”

Support along the way

With the idea and the drive to start a company, Keerthi still felt like something was missing. “That’s where Novel-T came in,” he says. “There was so much I still needed to learn about entrepreneurship to actually found the spin-off. For example, I learned just in time that an idea becomes invalid for a patent application once you talk about it publicly. So, I was lucky that I approached Novel-T early on. Aside from being able to ask Niels Jansen all my questions about patents, I also learned a lot about business development from Rogier de Haan. My biggest takeaway was not to stare blindly at one market, as a different application might be more suitable. That helped me to explore other areas as well. Eventually, I was able to found Flawless Flow Pumps as a spin-off. That was so satisfying, especially because my PhD mentor Theo van der Meer and supervisor Mina Shahi were very supportive. I used to be inspired by other spin-offs, and with focused action, it also became a reality for me.” 

Exploring different markets

Keerthi is well on his way to creating an impact, and he still has many more ideas of how his pumps could improve the world. Keerthi: “Besides the medical field, the pumps could also be used in magnetic density separation, magnetic powder transportation, and magnetocaloric heat pumping. In about ten years, it’d be amazing if we have products in at least two markets. We keep going through revisions to improve the pumps, and maybe we discover even more applications that we haven’t thought of yet. If people use the pumps and experience the value they add to whatever they’re working on, that would make me very happy.