A startup company launched by two ISU graduates and current post-doctoral researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory has won a national Department of Energy competition.

Iowa Powder Atomization Technologies, Inc. was selected because of its application of gas atomization technology, which produces titanium powder more efficiently, said co-founders of IPAT, Joel Rieken and Andy Heidloff.

“While the technology does not directly reduce energy usage, it does create a more efficient and less costly metal product,” Rieken said. “Being a powder, the titanium created with atomization technology lends itself to NetShape processing — a green manufacturing process.”

IPAT was one of three companies selected as winners in the Department of Energy’s America’s Next Top Energy Innovator Challenge.

The purpose of this challenge was to recognize startup companies that use lab inventions to create new business products.

The companies were selected by a public vote and expert review and scored based on their potential economic and societal contributions.

Simply put, gas atomization “rips” apart melted titanium, which forms a fine mist of titanium liquid that will then cool into a fine powder. The titanium powder is in high demand, but currently no stable domestic supply exists.

“If IPAT is able to supply the marketplace with cost-effective powder, it can create domestic growth in green manufacturing of titanium products,” Heidloff said.

Decreasing the cost of production for titanium is expected to create opportunities for aerospace, biomedical, military and consumer applications, Rieken said.

Titanium is viewed as a metal of the future because of its high strength, light weight and corrosion resistance. The lightweight qualities can be implemented in aircrafts and vehicles to reduce fuel consumption.

In addition, titanium also is important due to its potential in biomedical implants, as it is useful for a longer time than the current standard, stainless steel.

The gas atomization technology was initially developed at Ames Laboratory.

“It is important to recognize the relationship between IPAT, Ames Laboratory and Iowa State,” Heidloff said. “They have been very supportive of getting IPAT, as a spin-off company, into the marketplace.”

Last week, Rieken and Heidloff received the award in Washington, D.C., and IPAT was featured at the premier annual gathering of clean energy investors and innovators around the country, the 2012 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit.