INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS
Aurora Catalytic LLC holds intellectual property dealing with chemical additives for composite materials. We specifically focus on enhancing thermal demisability rates of carbon fiber composites used in spacecraft and rocket body applications under atmospheric reentry conditions. In addition to mitigating terrestrial risk from space debris, the technology also has significant applications for disposal and recycling of end-of-life wind turbine blades that are currently being put in massive landfills worldwide.
FOUNDERS OF AURORA CATALYTIC
Reese Hufnagel and Matthew Ray are entrepreneurs and founders of the startup Aurora Catalytic LLC. They co-invented a carbon fiber technology that facilitates disposal or recycling of composite materials at the end of their useful life.
Biography
Reese Hufnagel
Reese Hufnagel is a student at the University of Wisconsin-Stout pursuing a Bachelor’s in Chemistry with Minors in Materials Science and Physics. She received her Associate of Arts from Anoka Ramsey Community College while concurrently enrolled at Andover High School and graduated in the spring of 2024. Through extensive research as a Research Assistant in the Department of Chemistry and Physics at UW-Stout, she was able to pursue her passion of materials science for aerospace by exploring the thermochemical analysis of carbon fiber composites, and became co-founder of Aurora Catalytic. In addition, work with nanoparticle synthesis and macroporous ceramic formulations developed her proficiency in characterizing samples using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive x-ray microanalysis. Outside of school, Reese is a martial artist, musician, and enjoys drawing. She holds a black belt in Jitsu Do, a science-based, practical application mixed martial art, and enjoys sharing her 15+ years of martial arts training through instructing youth classes.
Matthew Ray
Matthew Ray is a Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and currently serves as the chair of the Department of Chemistry and Physics. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA where he studied surface chemistry and colloidal interactions of polymer latex particles at the Emulsion Polymers Institute. He previously worked at Thermo Fisher Scientific in Indianapolis, IN as an R&D Manager where he led his group in biomedical product discovery and commercialization of magnetic and fluorescent particle-based assay technologies. Dr. Ray’s current research interests include aerospace materials, carbon fiber composites, catalytic oxidation, macroporous ceramics, rare earth fluorescence in glass, and metallic nanoparticle synthesis. Through conducting extensive research at UW-Stout regarding the thermochemical analysis of carbon fiber composites, he became co-founder of Aurora Catalytic.