Benzinga | Sep 22, 2021 07:05AM EDT

META Announces 'Ideas for Innovation' Global Innovation Research Program

Meta Materials Inc. (the "Company" or "META(r)") (NASDAQ:MMAT)(FRA:MMAT) a developer of high-performance functional materials and nanocomposites, today announced a global strategic co-development initiative, called "Ideas for Innovation" ("i4i"). This new outreach program builds upon ten years of shaping the field of metamaterial science in partnership with top researchers from around the world and four years of scaling META's proprietary manufacturing tools to develop disruptive, sustainable products and solutions.

BRINGING NEW MATERIALS TO MARKET

META is committed to working through collaborative research, in partnership with academia to make metamaterial innovations more commercially accessible to markets. Through a competitive process, META will award the best submissions with grants of up to $150,000 per innovation. Submissions will be accepted from October 1, 2021, to December 15, 2021. The selection committee will be comprised of renowned scientists, including META's Scientific Advisory Board. Program awards will be announced in late January 2022.

Over the past ten years, META has partnered in over 20 co-development projects with more than 10 universities and research institutions across seven countries. Notable collaborations include the UK-funded project announced in July 2021 towards developing a non-invasive glucose monitoring system, and a CA$1.62M Mitacs Accelerate grant for 15 highly qualified personnel, funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, in collaboration with Dalhousie University and the University of Toronto. META is also a member of the UK Metamaterials Network and the Stanford University SystemX Alliance.

"Companies play a key role in turning new ideas and innovative technologies from a possibility into an integral part of everyday life. META's new i4i partnership program initiative will allow the global metamaterial research community a first-of-its-kind access to large scale commercial nanofabrication tools and resources to scale ideas out of the lab and into real product applications." said Prof. Mark Brongersma, Stanford University and META's Strategic Scientific Advisor.

"In the last 20 years there have been incredible new discoveries in the field of metamaterials which is now reaching an inflection point. Through META's i4i partnership program, we are providing researchers access to our platform technology and our scientists, to accelerate ideas which would traditionally take 10-15 years to move from scientific breakthrough to commercialization," said George Palikaras, President and CEO. "As META scales commercial production of high-performance functional materials at high volumes, the i4i partnership program will support our mid to long term product strategy and expand META's competitive advantage."

META is seeking project submissions in the following application areas: Mobility & Communications, Imaging & Display, Energy & Environment, Healthcare, Aerospace & Defense, and Way Beyond Tech (future applications to be defined, such as extreme spatial dispersion, topological metamaterials, time-switched metamaterials, and more). More information about the program is available at www.metamaterial.com/about-us/ideas-for-innovation/ or by email to i4i@metamaterial.com.

About Meta Materials Inc.

META(r) delivers previously unachievable performance, across a range of applications, by inventing, designing, developing, and manufacturing sustainable, highly functional materials. Our extensive technology platform enables leading global brands to deliver breakthrough products to their customers in consumer electronics, 5G communications, health and wellness, aerospace, automotive, and clean energy. Our achievements have been widely recognized, including being named a Global Cleantech 100 company. Learn more at www.metamaterial.com.