Raj receives patent for ceramics manufacturing method

Rishi Raj, a CU-Boulder mechanical engineering professor, has been awarded a patent for a faster, energy-efficient technique for manufacturing the ceramic materials used in aerospace, medical implants, military defense armor and a wide variety of technical applications, as well as traditional ceramics like tableware and architectural tiles.

Besides Raj, former mechanical engineering graduate researchers John Francis and Marco Cologna also are inventors on the patent, along with collaborators from the University of Trento. U.S. 8,940,220 (“Methods of Flash Sintering”) was issued on Jan. 27 after being prosecuted by CU Technology Transfer Office on behalf of CU since 2011.