Father of Invention-Dennis Coleman of IsoTech labs

Dennis Coleman was raised in northern Wisconsin and received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He completed an M.S. degree at the University of Arizona in Tucson and a Ph.D. at the University of Illinois. From 1970 until 1995 he was on the staff at the Illinois State Geological Survey where he held various research and administrative positions. While at the ISGS he established a stable-isotope laboratory and conducted numerous research projects on the geochemistry of natural gas.

Dr. Coleman pioneered the use of stable isotope analysis to identify natural gas that had leaked from underground gas storage reservoirs and in the early 80’s developed an active consulting business applying that technique. To provide analytical support for that business, he and three colleagues founded Isotech Laboratories, Inc. in 1985. Since that time Isotech has grown to a staff of 42 scientists and support personnel. In 1995, Dr. Coleman retired from the Illinois State Geological Survey to devote full time to the operation of Isotech.

Isotech has become the primary laboratory utilized by the oil and gas industry for the isotope analysis of natural gas because of its reputation for high quality data and because of its development of IsoTubes® for collection and shipment of gas samples collected during the drilling of oil and gas wells. IsoTubes®, which are produced exclusively be Isotech, have become an industry standard throughout the world, simplifying the collection of samples and increasing the application of isotope geochemistry to oil and gas exploration.

In 2007 Isotech opened the first of its three Satellite Laboratories in Cairo Egypt, followed by Rio de Janeiro in 2008, and Perth Australia in 2009. The instrumentation installed in these satellite facilities is actually operated via the internet by scientists in Champaign. Isotech has thus been able to export its services without exporting jobs. A fourth Satellite Laboratory is scheduled to open in Oman later this summer, with plans for several more expansions in the near future.

Isotech became the largest privately owned stable isotope laboratory in the world and on June 6 of this year was acquired by Weatherford International, a company with over 50,000 employees in over 100 countries, and the fourth largest service company in the oil and gas industry. Isotech provides Weatherford with unique analytical capabilities not offered by any of its competitors. And Weatherford provides Isotech with a large network for the expansion of its Satellite Laboratory concept.

Dennis Coleman is also the founder of CU Woodshop Supply, Inc., a unique new business that supports his hobby of woodworking. This business offers a retail store that sells woodworking tools, machinery, and supplies as well as both domestic and exotic hardwoods. In addition, half of the 15,000 foot facility on Parkland Court in Champaign is The DreamShop, a state-of-the-art workshop. Working somewhat like a cross between a timeshare and a country club for woodworkers, stockholders in CU Woodshop Supply have access to the DreamShop for their personal use. To watch the entire interview with Dennis Coleman click the following link: WATCH DENNIS

Local Company Makes a Big Splash With i-Pad Apps

_{Matt Hutton is the epitome the creative in us all. After graduating from Eastern Illinois University with a BFA in graphic design, Matt spent two years as a freelance graphic designer before working briefly as a designer for an e-commerce company. After that he joined one of the area’s leading advertising agencies. It was while serving as senior designer at the latter that his vision for a new agency was born. In 2000, he launched Spinlight — and never looked back. Since then, he has been the guiding force at the company, working closely with the rest of the Spinlight creative team to provide innovative branding and marketing solutions for a long roster of local, regional and national clients.}

Lately Spinlight studios is making headlines with their new line of applications for the i-Pad and i-Phone. With a growing collection of titles such as SWAPSIES, ALPHA TOTS and TALLY TOTS these young entrepreneurs are taking the app world by storm. This interview was one of the most interesting and fun shows that I have done. I think we are watching a young company on the verge of making a national impact. To watch the entire interview with Matt Hutton click the following link. Watch Spinlight interview.

The Sound of Music

The Samuel music story is really a story of family.

Lowell Samuel was a man who intended to leave a legacy. Growing up the son of a coal-miner in Southern Illinois during the depression, Mr. Samuel developed a love for music. Despite their poverty, his family somehow scraped together enough money to purchase a clarinet, and that started Lowell’s musical career.

Following his service in World War II he returned to Effingham to continue to teach, and it’s here he discovered an opportunity. With his wife Lucille by his side he decided to seize this opportunity, and borrowed $500 in order to open a music store. In those days almost every school had a band, and yet there was no convenient place to buy instruments and accessories. So in 1946, Samuel Music Company began.

With a degree in Economics and an MBA Dean Samuel taught college for eight years before joining the family business in 1984. To watch the entire TV interview with Dean Samuel click here: WATCH SAMUEL INTERVIEW

NUVIXA'S Game Changing Technology!

Nuvixa was founded in 2009 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign by a group of faculty and students who had a common desire to make video more useful in on-line communications. They shared the technical vision of using new sensing devices, advanced algorithms, and new computing power to radically expand what is possible with video.

Nuvixa's core competence is in computer vision and video processing. Supporting our efforts we have a team of world-class researchers and engineers who understand 3D acquisition, computer vision, depth-based video, video codecs and audio processing. Our revolution is only possible because of the excellence of this team.

Sanjay Patel is CEO and co-founder of Nuvixa. Sanjay has over 18 years of experience in cutting edge technology, having designed and architected some of the highest performance chips and processors. Prior to founding Nuvixa, Sanjay was Chief Technology Officer of AGEIA Technologies, which was acquired by Nvidia in 2008. Sanjay is on the faculty of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a graduate from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. To see the full TV interview with Dr. Sanjay patel click here: WATCH SANJAY PATEL INTERVIEW.