Student develops RTV silicone compounds for domestic repairs

ERJ staff report (PRW)

By Anthony Clark

London -- Jane Ni Dhulchaointigh was studying product design at the Royal College of Art in London when she had an idea for a material - a room-curing silicone adhesive that was robust enough to be used to mend and personalise household objects.

When she discovered that there was nothing on the market that fitted the bill she set about developing something of her own. A crash course in compounding followed, which resulted in a product that matched Dhulchaointigh's original concept.

She set up her own company to bring the material to market, FormFormForm, established in 2004 with help and support from Nesta and Lacomp, and has since launched two variants of her room-curing silicone - Sugru for the domestic market and Formerol for industrial applications.

“The idea was to combine the properties of silicone rubber with room-curing sealants,” she explained. “So we started with silicone sealant technology and proceeded from there because that behaves in the way we wanted. It's a one-part material, so you don' need to mix in a catalyst, and it works at room temperature.”

The Royal College of Art runs an 'innovations unit' that helped Dhulchaointigh to commercialise her idea. “It introduces you to people who can help you get to the next step on the ladder,” she explained. “Through the unit I met my subsequent business partner who had worked with a number of start-ups in the field of new materials.

“Through a project he had been involved with between Exeter University and Dow Corning we met a couple of fantastic people from the company's R&D team and they confirmed my idea was an innovative one.”

FormFormForm is still a very small business and although that is likely to change the all adage that 'size doesn't matter' is for once true.

“That way we work is very different to other people in the plastics and silicones industry. We're focused on one product, albeit in a number of colours, with maybe different grades later,” said Dhulchaointigh, whose workshop in London's East End is, by any standard, 'compact'.

Despite the size of the operation there is still a strong focus on R&D. “We can work on the properties of our product by using various additives and fillers but softness is the real challenge because it's quite a filled compound, but there are things we can use.”

Market reaction to Sugru has been very positive - as the company says, “it's a little bit brilliant”, but Dhulchaointigh is wise enough to know that going it alone isn't necessarily the best route to success.

“We're working to form partnerships with leading brands and smaller design-led companies across a large number of industries. Together we will develop highly innovative and novel products that people will both love and benefit from.”

From PRW.com (A Crain publication)