NEW AT UTP: ForeLight, LLC

Imagine a technology that can be used to produce health-giving nutrition supplements at greatly reduced costs. What if the same approach could also help grow nutrient-rich livestock feed  -- even produce cleaner-burning fuels to protect our environment?

The founders of ForeLight, the newest company to arrive at UTP, are part of a green revolution they believe will yield these benefits and more.

The key, say principals Adam Flynn and Jeff Kantarek, is to tap the vast potential of algae as a food and fuel source. "We've created a photobioreactor enabling us to produce high-yield crops indoors under ideal conditions," explains Adam. "Now it's possible to grow as much high-quality algae in a 1-acre facility as we could on a tropical outdoor farm 80 times that size."

Since locating at UTP last fall, Flynn and Kantarek have moved from a 10-liter prototype to a 4,000-liter pilot plant, one of the most advanced photobioreactors in the Midwest. ForeLight aims to become the first North American producer of organic omega-3 supplements from plant sources, enabling vegetarians to benefit while cutting costs for all consumers.

The same technology may someday be harnessed to grow food in impoverished regions or emergency food stores following natural disasters, Kantarek says. "We're exploring all the ways we can support the well-being of humans, animals and the earth."