Extrusion Dies with Microstructures Create Low-Friction Products

Featured in Wire and Cable Technology International January/February 2013 issue.

Extrusion dies from Hoowaki, LLC, Pendleton, SC, USA, use micro-structured surfaces to lower friction and reduce tack on wire and cable polymer jackets, providing easier installation. The technology has demonstrated up to 20% reduction in dry sliding and up to 80% reduction in lubricated sliding. www.hoowkai.com

Micro Extrusion for Commercial Products

Hoowaki custom designs and fabricates surfaces with micro structures that enhance the properties of products from extrusion tooling. The company is a leader in applying micro structures to common commercially extruded products. 

More inventors seeking patents

Nine-hour workdays have ended for patent attorney Doug Kim, thanks to a surge of applications he's receiving from local inventors. Kim, a shareholder at McNair Law Firm PA in Greenville, said he's now working nights and weekends on patent applications that will likely exceed his 2008 total of 68. In 2009, Kim had 38 patent applications. That total rose to 46 last year and was at 30 earlier this month, with nearly 30 more waiting for him to prepare and file. The spike, he said, was "a very quick one."

Hoowaki in MICROmanufacturing: Friction lowered by altering microtopography

A low-cost, scalable technology that uses micromachining to produce complex structures on the surfaces of stamping dies and plastic and glass molds can change the properties of the parts being produced, according to its developer, Hoowaki LLC, Pendleton SC. The company designs and fabricates molding tools, usually made of tool steel, that have a defined surface microtopography.

Hoowaki Selected for National Award: Innovations That Could Change the Way You Manufacture

Pendleton, SC – The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) has selected Hoowaki, LLC as one of the seven recipients for the 4th Annual SME List of Innovations That Could Change the Way You Manufacture.

SCRA's SC Launch Invests in Two SC Start-Up Companies: Hoowaki and iTekka, Inc.

SCRA, a global leader in applied research and commercialization, announced today that its affiliate, SC Launch, is presenting an investment to two South Carolina companies tomorrow at InnoVenture Southeast in Greenville, SC: Hoowaki and iTekka.

Upstate Entrepreneur to Introduce New High-Tech Entrepreneurship Course at GSSM

Move over, Steve Jobs. Step aside, Bill Gates. From Jan. 4-19, S.C. Governor's School for Science and Mathematics (GSSM) students will learn what makes a good idea a successful business venture in the school's first-ever "Entrepreneurship and Hi-Tech Business Planning" interim course, part of GSSM's January Interim program.

‘Clemson Cluster’ shows off growing technology hub in Upstate

Ralph Hulseman, president of Hoowaki LLC, said he looked at several states to find a business incubator before deciding on Clemson’s facilities. He listed the metal foundry, specialized microscope and polymer facilities there as a reason he has set up at the Advanced Materials Research Laboratory.

Ex-Michelin researcher Ralph Hulseman starts his own firm, Hoowaki

A top researcher for Michelin North America Inc. has left the tire maker after 25 years to launch his own high-tech startup company in Greenville. As director of external research for the Greenville-based tire maker, Ralph Hulseman managed its research relationships with universities, national laboratories and other companies. He was always on the lookout for innovations to improve tire making. Now he hopes to build a new company around a technology he found while prospecting for Michelin. It’s a manufacturing process developed by William P. King, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Illinois.