Mohawk Innovative Technology, Inc. is an American product and research and development

Research and development

The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...

 technology company specializing in integrating advanced oil-free compliant foil bearing

Foil bearing

Foil bearings, also known as foil-air bearings, are a type of air bearing. A shaft is supported by a compliant, spring-loaded foil journal lining. Once the shaft is spinning quickly enough, the working fluid pushes the foil away from the shaft so that there is no more contact...

s, magnetic bearings and non-contacting foil seals into high-speed rotating machinery, such as gas turbine engines, turbocharger

Turbocharger

A turbocharger, or turbo , from the Greek "τύρβη" is a centrifugal compressor powered by a turbine that is driven by an engine's exhaust gases. Its benefit lies with the compressor increasing the mass of air entering the engine , thereby resulting in greater performance...

s, compressors

Gas compressor

A gas compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume.Compressors are similar to pumps: both increase the pressure on a fluid and both can transport the fluid through a pipe. As gases are compressible, the compressor also reduces the volume of a gas...

, cryogenic pumps, variable high-speed motors/generators or machines that exceed the capabilities of rolling element bearings.

History

Mohawk Innovative Technology, Inc. or MiTi, was formed in November 1994, by Hooshang Heshmat

Hooshang Heshmat

Hooshang Heshmat is the CEO and co-founder of Mohawk Innovative Technology. The company researches and develops green technology for integration into turbomachinery. Heshmat is a fellow in both the American Society of Mechanical Engineers , and the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers....

  and three other principals, James F. Walton II, Melissa Heshmat and Michael J. Tomaszewski. The company vision called for developing a new class of oil-free, high-speed rotating machinery. Oil-free air or process gases are essential for pharmaceutical, food and beverage processing, in medical equipment or devices and many industrial processes. The company initially conducted research and development programs for the United States Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

 (DoD), NASA, the National Science Foundation

National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...

 (NSF), the National Institutes of Health

National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...

 (NIH) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to assist in commercializing its technologies in the areas of tribology

Tribology

Tribology is the science and engineering of interacting surfaces in relative motion. It includes the study and application of the principles of friction, lubrication and wear...

, foil bearings, magnetic bearing

Magnetic bearing

A magnetic bearing is a bearing which supports a load using magnetic levitation. Magnetic bearings support moving machinery without physical contact; for example, they can levitate a rotating shaft and permit relative motion with very low friction and no mechanical wear...

s, auxiliary or backup bearings and advanced seals.

The company has applied its oil-free bearing and seal technologies to rotating machinery systems with both domestic aerospace and major international companies. Developed oil-free systems have included motor driven air compressors for industrial use, cryogenic turboexpanders for generation of liquid oxygen and nitrogen, motor driven air blowers for automotive fuel cell

Fuel cell

A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most common fuel, but hydrocarbons such as natural gas and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used...

s, motor driven blowers for use in the food and beverage industries, small gas turbine engines for uninhabited aerial vehicles UAVs

Unmanned aerial vehicle

An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...

 and more recently microturbine generators for distributed electricity generation using either natural gas or a variety of renewable energy sources. While conducting many of these research programs and working to apply the technology to product, alternative bearing coatings and test machine products have resulted. New high temperature, long life and low friction coefficient coatings were developed to support the bearing product. Also a special high precision Tribometer

Tribometer

A tribometer is an instrument that measures tribological quantities, such as coefficient of friction, friction force, and wear volume, between two surfaces in contact...

 was developed to evaluate the friction, wear lubrication characteristics and life of solid lubricant coatings, shaft coatings and bearing performance under realistic operating conditions of high speed, high load and high temperature conditions.

Medical applications of the company's products are marketed through the MiTiHeart Corporation

MiTiHeart Corporation

MiTiHeart Corporation is a product technology company specializing in ventricular assist devices for patients suffering from congestive heart failure...

, a spin-off company.

Selected company and key personnel awards

• 2003 New York State Small Business Manufacturer of the Year
• 2002 Small Business Administration’s National Tibbetts Award for contributions to the Small Business Innovative Research Program and the regional Small Business Council’s Innovative Enterprise Award
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers
  American Society of Mechanical Engineers
  The American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering....
  
  Edison Patent Award 2002
• ASME International Gas Turbine Institute Best Paper 1999
• Society of Automotive Engineers Best Paper Award 2000

Selected patents

• Multi-plane Balancing Process and Apparatus Using Powder Metal for Controlled Material Addition - Sept. 1992
• Stator Controlled Magnetic Bearing - Feb. 2001
• Hybrid Foil Magnetic Bearing - Mar. 2002
• Hybrid Foil Magnetic Bearing with Improved Load Sharing - Aug. 2004