“With Labstamp, we’ve developed an alternative to ear tags, ear punches/notches or hand tattoos,” said Mark C. Pydynowski, SOMARK President. “You can learn to use the machine in 10 minutes, creating IDs that are reliable and permanent.”

Labstamp consists of an applicator machine and a modular restraint cartridge, which uses non-invasive grippers to immobilize the tail. The user restrains the mouse, adds a disposable ink slide, applies tail oil, slides the restraint cartridge into the applicator machine, enters the ID and presses start.

“Labstamp takes the human variable out of the mouse ID process,” says Ramos Mays, SOMARK Chief Science Officer. “That means users can create consistent, reliable IDs, and it also means that the process is safer for animals.”

Labstamp is scheduled for release for commercial use in late 2010. Visit www.somarkinnovations.com for a reservation form and current pricing.

SOMARK will have a demo unit of their Labstamp, a machine that applies automated tail tattoos for mouse identification. SOMARK will also be accepting pre-orders for the machine, which is scheduled for commercial release in late 2010.

“Labstamp will reduce the labor cost and error rates associated with mouse identification,” said Mark C. Pydynowski, SOMARK President. “We believe our Labstamp will provide the research community with a better alternative to ear tags, ear punches/notches or hand tattoos for study animals.”

The process is simple. A user restrains the mouse in a restraint cartridge, adds a disposable ink slide, applies tail oil, slides the restraint cartridge into the applicator machine, enters the ID and presses start. The automated process creates an alpha-numeric ID that is legible and permanent in 30 seconds.

“It takes 10 minutes of training to learn to use the Labstamp and the machine essentially eliminates user error and human variability,” said Pydynowski. “The Labstamp was designed to be simple for users and safe for mice.”

SOMARK Innovations will be at booth 2238 with a demonstration unit and video of the machine in a laboratory setting. Reservation forms and current pricing will be available at the booth and at www.somarkinnovations.com. 

“This financing will enable the product development of our lab-animal identification system that will improve drug development processes. The goals of our lab-animal product are to decrease the costs of drug development and to increase the accuracy of pre-clinical data.” said Mark C. Pydynowski, SOMARK President.

According to Finistere Managing Director, and SOMARK Board member Arama Kukutai, “Finistere sees SOMARK’s technology as a better way to provide cost effective and reliable traceability in animal applications, initially in lab settings, but also in food and other applications in the future.  The company is a great example of the type of innovation coming out of what have been considered “flyover” states like Missouri.”

Finistere Ventures is a leading life science venture capital firm based in San Diego. Their investment strategy focuses on Food, Health and Renewable energy from biomass. Finistere was recently selected by the Missouri Technology Corporation to be the fund manager for the new Missouri Venture Partners (MVP) Fund, an early-stage seed capital and venture fund currently being raised. MVP was created to increase the state’s number of investment-ready startup firms. “Finistere Ventures is very excited about our effort in Missouri,” said Kukutai. “We believe our global investment network combined with Missouri’s proximity to world class research institutions, agricultural production, and lower cost of doing business will make the Missouri Venture Partners Fund a success.”

T2 Venture Capital is a seed-stage venture fund focused on the commercialization of intellectual property from government-funded agency programs, major research institutes and universities around the world. Med-Pharmex Animal Health is a sales and marketing company focused on veterinary pharmaceuticals and drug delivery devices. Its parent company, Med-Pharmex, Inc., is the second largest holder of ANADA’s in the U.S. veterinary generic drug market.

“I am looking forward to enhancing our R&D team,” said Ramos M. Mays, SOMARK Chief Science Officer. “The Southern California locale offers a rich talent pool of veteran engineers that possess the expertise we need and that understand the nuances of developing a product from concept to market in a start-up setting.”

Just a few years ago, Mark Pydynowski and his current business partner , Ramos Mays, were playing baseball for Washington University. They found success during their college years when they won $50,000 in the Olin Cup,Washington University’s business plan competition, but they are reaching new heights today.

Two years ago Pydynowski and Mays founded Somark Innovations, a technology company that is working to help ensure a safer food supply.

“We went our separate ways after graduation,” says Pydynowski. “I was working in New York when I got a call from Ramos, who was studying for his master’s in condensed matter physics in Europe. He told me he had an idea for a new technology and wanted to go into business together.”

Mays invented a livestock identification system that uses an ink tattoo with chipless radio frequency identification functionality. His intent was to help solve tracking problems in the livestock industry and diminish trade losses from animal disease scares involving such things as mad cow disease.

Mays advises that all like-minded inventors have a partner like Pydynowski when they go into business. “I wouldn’t get anything done without Mark,” says Mays. “I am always up in the clouds thinking, and I need to have a leader to go with the artistry of invention. He does what I am not strong at doing. He leads and knows how to get the most out of people.”

The two knew each other well before they started Somark, and they were up-front about their expectations as business partners early on. “We knew everything had to be 50-50 since Day One,” says Pydynowski. “We share a lot of the same ethics and morals, and we trust each other. We get past the little things, and we are able to have tough discussions.”

The strength of their partnership has helped Pydynowski and Mays achieve success and get through rough patches. “Realizing that what we value is not necessarily what investors value has been a hard lesson,” says Pydynowski. “It’s technology milestones versus revenue and purchase orders. We have had to say ‘thank you but no thank you’ to investors who want to come onto the team because in the end it’s like a marriage.”

Mays says Somark would not be successful without Pydynowski. “Mark deserves any award or recognition he gets,” says Mays. “He listens, learns and teaches. When I first started this thing, I didn’t call my parents; I didn’t call my girlfriend. I called Mark because he has the qualities that I don’t.”

Click to download article (PDF)

Mark C. Pydynowski (President) and Ramos M. Mays (Chief Science Officer) are the founders of SOMARK Innovations, Inc., a Saint Louis based technology company that is working to help ensure a safer food supply. The company is targeting the livestock industry to identify and track cattle and thus diminish export trade loss from food animal disease scares such as Mad Cow Disease. SOMARK has developed a patented ID system based on an ink tattoo with chipless radio-frequency identification functionality.

Click to watch the video on YouTube

Small Business Team of the Year
Cynthia Brown, President
Jeffery Germann, Vice President and General Manager
Brown Germann Enterprises, Inc. dba Shred-It

Cynthia Brown and Jeffery Germann started Brown Germann Enterprises, Inc., d/b/a Shred-it in the metro St. Louis area in late 1998. The company provides on-site document destruction of confidential materials and recycling of all paper in 12 Missouri and five Illinois counties. Shred-it provides all automatic clients with locked security containers for the secure storage of all confidential materials and implements a service schedule that fits their need. A Shred-it truck comes to the clients’ location to perform on-site shredding on this predetermined schedule. Another type of service available to clients is called a purge service that is provided for periodic or one time clean-outs of confidential material.

SBA Young Entrepreneur
Mark Pydynowski, President
Somark Innovations

Mark C. Pydynowski (President) and Ramos M. Mays (Chief Science Officer) are the founders of SOMARK Innovations, Inc., a Saint Louis based technology company that is working to help ensure a safer food supply. The company is targeting the livestock industry to identify and track cattle and thus diminish export trade loss from food animal disease scares such as Mad Cow Disease. SOMARK has developed a patented ID system based on an ink tattoo with chipless radio-frequency identification functionality.

Women in Business Champion
Darlene Willman, Executive Managing Director
eWomenNetwork, Inc.

Darlene Willman is the Executive Managing Director of eWomenNetwork, Inc. where she supports and promotes women in business, organizes Accelerated Networking™ events, Strategic Business Introduction™ sessions, and eWomenNetwork Foundation fundraising events. She works to find and share resources, referrals, and business tools for other women in business nationwide. She ranks in the Top 10% in the nation for eWomenNetwork. She’s an expert in educating women on how to get more referrals for their business and does this by public speaking, coaching and mentoring.

Small Business Journalist
Ron Ameln, President
St. Louis Small Business, Inc.

Ronald J. Ameln is President of St. Louis Small Business Inc., a company that publishes the St. Louis Small Business Monthly, annual St. Louis Business Owner’ Guide, and presents the St. Louis Business Expo twice a year. Currently Ameln oversees the operation, which includes selling ads, promoting the business, formulating story ideas, and producing the company’s Business-to-Business trade shows.

Minority Small Business Champion
Patricia D. Weekley, Senior Civil Rights Specialist
Missouri Department of Transportation

Patricia Weekley is currently the Missouri Department of Transportation’s (MoDOT) Senior External Civil Rights Program Specialist, and coordinator of the Disadvantage Business Enterprise Program (DBE). Her primary responsibility is to assist minority and women owned businesses navigate the DBE certification process, and qualify for construction and construction related opportunities on federal aid projects.

Home-Based Business Champion
Louise Wiedermann, Owner/Technology Consultant
Project Technology Consulting, LLC

Louise Wiedermann started Project Technology Consulting in 2002 to provide technology consulting to small businesses, home based businesses and individuals. The company’s mission is to improve client productivity and lower operating costs through effective and efficient use of technology and software. Louise is an efficiency expert in using technology, especially for those business owners who choose to work from home.

Financial Services Champion
W. Keith McLaughlin, Senior Vice president, Lending Division
The Bank of Missouri

W. Keith McLaughlin manages and operates The Bank of Missouri’s Small Business Administration (SBA) dedicated lending program. His responsibilities include recruitment, training and managing SBA loan originators, portfolio management, servicing, collection, liquidation, and secondary market sales.

Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Small Business
Alan C. Hautly, President & CEO
Hautly Cheese Company

Alan Hautly is President and CEO of Hautly Cheese Company, a family-owned wholesaler and distributor of cheese and dairy products to the St. Louis Retail Grocery market. Hautly Cheese was founded in 1934 by Frank J. Hautly and is currently growing under the guidance of third generation successors. The company which started as “cheese only” is expanding its product line into specialty dairy products that include organic milk, soymilk, specialty eggs, yogurt, and tortillas.

Small Business Exporter
Mark A. Fitzgerald, Founder & CEO
RMC Energy Group, LLC

Mark Fitzgerald is the Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of RMC Energy Group, LLC. RMC started operations in Saint Louis in 1993 as an exporter of patented fuel technologies that are designed to provide substantial cost savings and environmental benefits for both the oil and automotive industries. In 2003 Mark developed a manufacturing process to turn a non-useable by-product into a useable fuel additive for the Chinese market.

Click to download article (PDF)

SOMARK’s system includes a disposable ink cartridge, a multi-needle applicator and a handheld reader. This technology combines features of several common technologies, including human tattoos (ink-based and inexpensive), chipless RFID (machine-readable and no-line-of-sight), biometrics (unique to the individual) and hot-iron brands (permanent and tamper-proof).

“Although potential applications include cattle, pigs, horses, sheep, dogs, cats, mice, rats and prime cuts of meat, our primary focus is cattle,” said Ramos M. Mays, SOMARK inventor and CSO.

“SOMARK’s technology is distinct because, unlike conventional RFID, it is not constrained by metal, liquid or organic matter,” said Chris D. Justice, SOMARK VP of R&D who joined the company in 2007 after 10 years managing product development, including medical devices. “For example, we can deposit our ink directly on a metal substrate or liquid-filled container and read a unique ID without line-of-sight. This metal compatibility is critical for livestock environments because of the metal laden infrastructure of such facilities.”

Click to download article (PDF)

Nov. 2, 2007—As a result of government programs and mandates, RFID technology for tracking animals and food has been marching forward throughout various regions of the world. According to “RFID for Animals, Food and Farming 2007-2017,” a report published in October by British research and analysis firm IDTechEx, the food market (including the tagging of farm animals and the tracking of fresh produce through the supply chain) will rank as the largest RFID market by 2017.

For farming, food and animals (both livestock and pets), the report forecasts, worldwide sales of RFID tags will rise from $233 million in 2007 to $2.93 billion in 2017, with livestock and food applications accounting for 90 percent of that total. What’s more, it indicates, sales of RFID systems (including tags) used for farming, food and animals will rise from $531 million in 2007 worldwide to $6.53 billion in 2017.

“Two years ago, most people in the industry thought the story was about the United States, Wal-Mart and UHF,” says Peter Harrop, chairman and founder of IDTechEx. “They were wrong on all counts.” In fact, Harrop maintains, growth is taking place outside the United States, with government support and, most commonly, with high-frequency (HF) tags.

Government support and legislation, IDTechEx reports, has made the tagging of animals and food products commonplace in some unexpected areas, such as Botswana and Uruguay. Those two nations, along with New Zealand, Australia and Canada, have been tagging cows and other four-legged animals on a wide scale to provide traceability, as well as reduce the chance of mass food-supply contamination. Other countries, including those in the European Union, are looking to issue mandates in the coming years for the same animals, while the United States has no plans in place for such a mandate.

Those using animal tags are still deploying rugged low-frequency (LF) tags with a coil antenna that can withstand water and damage caused by animals. However, countries in Asia are finding ways to use HF tags with a 50 to 400 percent greater read range, and are looking toward tags based on standards other than EPCglobal’s—which some countries, namely in east Asia, find too reliant on high-cost technology. Instead, they are using the ucode, a 28-bit identifying number that can be employed in place of an Electronic Product Code (EPC) number, in pilots in seven Asian countries. The ucode is being advanced by the Ubiquitous ID Center, a nonprofit research organization (see Japanese Promote Ubiquitous RFID).

Though the use of RFID tags is growing rapidly for farm animals, and also for pets, the tagging of cases and pallets for retail purposes has not undergone the same growth. This, Harrop says, is because the Wal-Mart mandate put too much pressure on suppliers that couldn’t (or wouldn’t) invest in a technology offering what they saw as limited benefits.

However, Harrop states, a lag in adoption is not seen once a government becomes involved. In 2006, for example, the Chinese province of Sichuan financed the use of HF ear tags on 10,000 live pigs in Qionglai city. The tags were provided at a cost much cheaper than the price of low-frequency (LF) tags that have been standard in the rest of the world. By underwriting the system, the government took the financial burden off the farmers. It has not, however, deployed a province-wide tagging program, or set a date requiring the tagging of pigs.

In addition to mandating the use of RFID tags, Harrop says, governments around the world are placing big orders for the tags. The drive for RFID adoption is also coming from product suppliers more than retailers, he says, citing Leche Pascual, a Spanish food product supplier currently tagging 200 million packets of dried eggs. “They [Leche Pascual] want the tagging and are prepared to pay,” he says. “It’s indicative of the large amount of stirring in the market outside of the United States.”

The benefit for those operating in the food supply chain is more immediate than for those selling other products, since livestock disease control and protection from contamination and spoilage is so vital to a nation’s food supply. In 2012, the report predicts, more than $1.4 billion will be spent worldwide on tags for food products.

According to Harrop, the country to watch most closely may be China. The number of chickens in that country is higher than the total throughout the rest of the world, he says , and disease control is a major Chinese concern. China is already the largest RFID market, in fact, partly due to a national ID card system for adults that incorporates an RFID chip containing data about the cardholder.

The United States, Harrop says, was initially at the forefront of RFID technology deployment, but has since lost that status, with no nationwide tagging program currently in place. “The U.S. is largely in denial about food safety,” he says. “I think those sitting in the U.S. get a false impression that nothing is happening with RFID.”

For governments, however, the benefits of deploying RFID are clear, he states. “If there is a major terrorist attack or accidental infection that rages out of control, a government can fall. That is the thing that makes governments get involved.”

ST. LOUIS, MO. (2007-06-28) A St. Louis start-up company is turning heads with its recipe for success.

Take one of those gadgets that millions of drivers have in their cars that lets them make drive through toll booths and make automatic payments.

Now take the microchip and antenna from one of those gadgets and shrink them so they’re small enough to inject under the skin, like a tattoo.

You’ve just made a new kind of tattoo identification, and it’s being used on cows.

KWMU’s science reporter Robert Frederick reports.

Click to download broadcast (MP3)

by Beth Bacheldor, RFID Journal

Radio frequency identification technology is a valuable tool for tracking livestock, but the button-size RFID tags stapled into animals’ ears can fall off, and glass-encased RFID tags injected into skin can migrate deeper into the body and become unreadable. Somark Innovations, a St. Louis biotech startup, thinks it has a better solution: a permanent ink tattoo that relies on radio frequency waves to read and render unique identification numbers.

The chipless and antenna-less asset identification and tracking system uses biocompatible, translucent ink that can be tattooed onto livestock, pets, laboratory animals and even food, such as meat or fruit. The tattoo is applied using a micro-needle, which is actually a geometric array of many tiny needles, and each tattoo is made up of a unique pattern.

“The tattoo is applied at the same layer of skin as you’d do if you went to get a tattoo that says ‘I Love Mom,’” says Ramos Mays, who developed the technology and cofounded the company with Mark Pydynowski.

Somark is developing a proprietary RF reader that operates at a very high frequency to scan the tattoo. (The company says it cannot divulge more details because it is awaiting patent approvals.) The reader, which can discern numerous tattoos simultaneously from several feet away, translates the pattern into a unique ID number that can be associated in a database with a specific animal or asset.

Mays says his identification and tracking system should be less expensive than tagging livestock, though the company hasn’t set a price yet. “Anytime you start making a chip with circuits, the device complexity goes up, and that is directly proportional to cost,” he says. “But if you think about our raw materials, it’s ink, and ink is inexpensive. We have a tremendous cost advantage.”

Mays, who grew up on a farm in southwest Missouri, says the RFID tattoo will also solve some of the problems currently associated with RFID tags used to track livestock. There can be thousands of cattle on a single farm, and each cow has to move through RFID-enabled gates to ensure accurate reads of the tags. “The RFID tags don’t operate well enough to work at the speed of commerce,” says Mays. “If you miss one, you have to stop a 600- or 800-pound cow and turn it around.”

Once an animal is tattooed, the ID is permanent. Somark has performed toxicology tests on the tattoos and says the ink is chemically inert. Pydynowski says the tattoo is harmless, whether it’s inked onto skin or ingested. Mays, who has run his finger through the ink and ingested it, says, “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

Somark received some initial seed money and is now in the middle of a Series A equity financing round. Pydynowski says there has been a lot of interest in licensing the technology, and the company hopes to begin pilots in the near future.

Click to download article (PDF)

Printing and marking food is a very old idea from tattoos and branding from four thousand years ago to more recent attempts to print barcodes on this and that. Power Paper of Israel showed how smart patches could send tattoos into meat by iontophoresis – basically making the material porous by electrical stimulation. So printing RFID on food and medicines can scarcely be called original. However, this year, Eastman Kodak of the USA has taken the unfulfilled dream forward by patenting the use of printed barcodes to monitor such things as whether pills have been taken and when they were absorbed into the body ie the tag dissolved.

How can this be done? Silicon chips should not be eaten. Nor should RFID based on Surface Acoustic Wave SAW chips. Both are made on brittle sharp materials and some poisons can be involved. Unfortunately, the one hundred or so organisations developing printed transistors – that they call the “plastic chip” for RFID and other uses – are a long way from knowing how to spray the circuits directly onto pills or food. They are typically deposited on plastic film – again something that should not be ingested.

There is very early interest in biodegradable plastic film but that will take some time to prove. And then there is the question about whether biodegradable plastic should be eaten. It has not been developed with that in view.

That leaves the so-called chipless forms of RFID beyond SAW and transistor circuits. Here many companies have come and gone, for such reasons as high reader costs, and/ or fairly high tag costs and/or short range and lack of standards. Some of the new candidates such as the ACREO of Sweden with PEDOT organic ink stripes and M-real of Sweden and Finland with polyanilene organic ink stripes also have very short range – a few millimeters. That would render them useless for monitoring a marked pill in the body.

However, the 60 MHz microwave interrogated inks from Vubiq of the USA and Inksure of Israel may be edible and it is claimed that they work at several meters through obstructions, though not completely independently of orientation. Interestingly, the alternative ink from Somark Innovations, interrogated at several meters by a different system, is claimed to be an FDA approved material. Perhaps they should be talking to Eastman Kodak because applications in surgery, compliance in medicine taking, food logistics and more may await them. Indeed the ultimate low cost item level tagging of food is to spray the RFID straight on.

Click to download article (PDF)