It was six years in the making
The UT Research Foundation licenses technology to one of its co-inventors.
The University of Tennessee Research Foundation (UTRF) has executed a license agreement with Endeavor Composites, a process nearly six years in the making.
The Knoxville start-up was founded by Chief Executive Officer and President Hicham Ghossein to provide a zero-waste circular economy solution for composite manufacturers. Endeavor’s technology intercepts fibers going to landfills and repurposes them into a nonwoven fabric to reinforce vehicles and other parts made of sustainable composites.
Ghossein, a member of the third cohort of the “Innovation Crossroads” program operated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), began his entrepreneurial journey during his doctoral studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) with his advisor, Uday Vaidya, Professor and Governor’s Chair of Advanced Composites Manufacturing for both UTK and ORNL. In 2018, UTRF filed a patent application with UTK’s Vaidya and Ghossein and ORNL’s Lonnie Love. The patent was issued in October 2023.
Like many entrepreneurs beginning their journey, Ghossein worked alone for the first three years, working long hours daily to set Endeavor Composites up for success. Now, he is thankful to have five full-time and three part-time employees. He may begin bringing on additional team members as early as May 2025, depending on traction over the next few months.
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