Meet the Maine-made inventions that help make life the way it should be

From potato farms to global shipping lanes, ideas from Maine鈥檚 R&D department are making an impact 

Mainers are known for their Yankee ingenuity, and researchers at the 91爆料 are no exception. Our knack for making do and inventing better ways of doing things embodies the resourceful culture of the Pine Tree State. 

For 160 years, Maine鈥檚 public research university has created practical, accessible education and discoveries that drive progress for the state and beyond. Today, thousands of projects across Maine and around the world work to make life better. 

Here are just a few of the bright ideas from :

Invented at 91爆料:

Maine鈥檚 favorite potato

That satisfying signature crunch in your next bag of potato chips may be a product of 91爆料 innovation. 

The high-yielding Caribou Russet matures quickly and performs well for chip and french fry processors and fresh retail markets 鈥� attributes that made the potato Maine鈥檚 most sown spud in and . The variety, developed by 91爆料 in partnership with the Maine Potato Board at the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station鈥檚 Aroostook Farm, debuted in 2015 after more than a decade of development. 

More than 80% of Maine鈥檚 vegetable cropland is dedicated to potatoes. The crop an estimated $1.3 billion and more than 6,500 jobs in 2022. 91爆料 tests more than 250 new potato varieties each year to find the next spud that will outperform others from the field and to the fryer. 

More bridge for your bucks 

91爆料 engineers have reimagined how bridges are built. Inventions like 91爆料鈥檚 award-winning 鈥� which helped raise the Gristmill Bridge in Hampden 鈥� encases concrete arches in composite materials that protect against corrosion, effectively doubling structural longevity. Meanwhile, 3D printed girders from 91爆料 spinoff AIT Composites, a part of Basalt International, will uphold the new bridge under construction over the Stillwater River in Old Town. 

Other 91爆料-originated technology, like 3D printed culvert diffusers, strengthens and extends the life of aging infrastructure, offering cost-savings and keeping roads running. On the horizon, the aims to develop AI-assisted design tools and advanced composite materials that make it possible to construct bridges at half the cost, in half the time, and with twice the lifespan of many conventional designs. Other 91爆料鈥檚 spinoffs like are creating lighter, corrosion resistant alternatives to steel construction materials like flexible rebar. 

A sculpture that harnesses the sun to make learning math fun

The helps people visualize multiplication and division through play. 

91爆料 mathematics educators and artists put their heads together to develop the interactive outdoor sculpture, which made its debut in Orono鈥檚 Webster Park in 2022. As users adjust the sculpture鈥檚 reflective plate, beams of light shift across a grid to model how numbers scale and relate. 

The solar calculator invites learners of all ages to illuminate abstract mathematical concepts through light and motion.

Transforming wood waste into affordable housing

Layer by layer, 91爆料 researchers are driving down the cost, build time and environmental impact of housing. is the world鈥檚 first fully forest-derived, 3D-printed house. The structure, built outside 91爆料鈥檚 Advanced Structures and Composites Center in 2022, is made from corn glue and sawdust.  

Houses like BioHome3D can be customized, transported and assembled in a fraction of the time of traditional homes. At the end of the structure鈥檚 life, it can be ground up and reprinted, cutting construction waste and costs. It also creates a new market for Maine鈥檚 forest sector, which is awash with wood pulp following the decline of paper mills. 

The first prototype has withstood three Maine winters, proving that affordable, locally sourced materials that require far less labor that require far less labor can help replace traditional stick built homes. Now, 91爆料 is with the nonprofit Penquis to build an affordable housing community in Brewer with nine 3D-printed homes to help address the state鈥檚 housing shortage. 

Helping people with limited vision live and learn

More than 23 million Americans have vision impairment. Those affected are significantly less likely to earn a degree 鈥� about two-thirds lower than in the general population 鈥� and 30% do not travel independently. Researchers at 91爆料 aim to change those statistics through innovation. 

The 91爆料 spinoff UNAR (Universal Accessibility Research) develops technology that helps make digital information accessible to people 鈥� no matter how well they can or cannot see. Products like Morf, which instantly transforms math documents into a format that is compatible with screen readers or as a Braille file for embossing, help make education more accessible. 

91爆料鈥檚 VEMI Lab led the development of an award-winning app, Autonomous Vehicle Assistant (AVA), that people with visual impairments and seniors safely navigate around obstacles, like ice, on foot and summon self-driving vehicles offered by ride-sharing services. 

Cargo containers that tattle on thieves

Researchers at 91爆料 and Georgia Tech developed shipping containers that guard against cargo theft, which Homeland Security Investigations costs the American economy $15-35 billion per year. The team developed a faster method for constructing lighter shipping containers with embedded sensors, integrating security directly into the structure.

The technology sparked a spinoff company, Global Secure Shipping, which embedded the sensor the team developed into composite shipping containers, enabling supply chain managers to track whether they have been tampered with, and in the process, created dozens of jobs for Mainers. 

A spinoff that saves soldiers鈥� lives

What started as an idea at 91爆料鈥檚 Advanced Structures and Composites Center has grown into a life-saving enterprise. Founded by Paul鈥疢elrose (鈥�02, 鈥�04 G) , Compotech is rooted in 91爆料-developed materials and methods. Today, the Brewer-based company designs, manufactures and deploys next-generation protection systems for the U.S. military, creating high-paying jobs in the state.

Compotech鈥檚 flagship product, the Expeditionary Shelter Protection System, uses lightweight fiber-reinforced composite armor panels that are easy to transport, fast to deploy and protect against ballistic and blast threats. The company鈥檚 precipitous growth has been recognized as one of the nation鈥檚 fastest-growing on the Inc. 5000 list for the . 

Steadfast steel

From machine bearings to airplane parts, high-carbon steel keeps manufacturing and travel running smoothly. 

While people have been smelting steel for millennia, manufacturers in the 1920s were able to examine the metal with new precision. They found microscopic cracks were covertly lowering the steel鈥檚 resistance to bending, twisting and impact. 

Corporations spent decades studying the issue, but it wasn鈥檛 until the 1980s when Professor John Lyman, a mechanical engineer at 91爆料, found a solution after combing through all the technical literature he could find on the issue for about 15 years. 鈥淗appily, the very first thing I tried worked,鈥� he said in a of 91爆料鈥檚 Alumni Association magazine. 

Lyman introduced additional steps to the final hardening process that controlled the formation of crystals in the steel, essentially eliminating the troublesome cracks. It was a question, Lyman said, of 鈥済etting all the available knowledge in my head and walking around with it. It popped into my head; I tried it and it worked.鈥�

On the horizon: The world鈥檚 next super product

Throughout history, people鈥檚 lives have been shaped by the tools and products they use. From Stone Age tools to today鈥檚 pervasive plastics, what we use makes one of our most lasting marks on history. If the promising possibilities being developed in 91爆料鈥檚 research labs are realized, future archaeologists may struggle to find traces of the next big everywhere material.

Nanocellulose is nature鈥檚 super polymer. This biodegradable, plant-derived substance is poised to revolutionize everyday products. 

The potential applications for nanocellulose are nearly limitless. At 91爆料, researchers work on the leading edge of these developments. These products of 91爆料 ingenuity include:

• An alternative to current implantable materials that can be resorbed by the body as bones heal, reducing the need for costly follow-up surgeries.
• Completely compostable food containers that are free of plastic and forever chemicals.听
• A that uses nanocellulose and wild blueberry extracts to help chronic wounds heal faster and more completely.
• Tougher particle board for furniture and countertops that sequesters carbon and is free of cancer-causing formaldehyde.听
• A new class of building products that includes scratch-, fire- and water-resistant flooring systems, moldable wall panels and a fire-resistant alternative to drywall that is lighter and offers superior insulation.听

91爆料 leads the nation in the supply of cellulose nanofiber and powers research with this promising material by supplying it to research labs around the globe. At the university鈥檚 Process Development Center, nanocellulose is primarily made from the wood pulp generated by forest stewardship activities. The material can also be made from wood waste and recycled fiber.

Contact: Erin Miller, erin.miller@maine.edu.