{"id":52492,"date":"2018-11-28T09:25:49","date_gmt":"2018-11-28T13:25:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/utnews.utoledo.edu\/?p=52492"},"modified":"2018-11-28T09:28:59","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T13:28:59","slug":"success-story-ut-alum-grypmat-inventor-to-speak-nov-29","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/11_28_2018\/success-story-ut-alum-grypmat-inventor-to-speak-nov-29","title":{"rendered":"Success story: UT alum, Grypmat inventor to speak Nov. 29"},"content":{"rendered":"

An alumnus of both The University of Toledo and its LaunchPad Incubation Program, whose invention called the Grypmat is on the cover of Time magazine\u2019s \u201cBest Inventions of 2018\u201d issue, is returning to his alma mater to inspire future entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

Tom Burden, who graduated in 2014 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in mechanical engineering technology, will speak at a free, public event Thursday, Nov. 29, at 6 p.m. in the Launchpad Incubator Space on the second floor of Nitschke Technology Commercialization Complex at 1510 N. Westwood Ave. Networking will start at 5:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The UT Engineering Leadership Institute is hosting the discussion titled \u201cIdea to Invention of the Year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTom\u2019s success with the Grypmat is incredible,\u201d UT Vice President for Research Frank Calzonetti said. \u201cWe are proud of what he has accomplished as an entrepreneur, but not surprised. He won UT\u2019s Pitch & Pour competition while he was a student here, and he also returned last year to serve as a judge for the annual business pitch contest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burden was recently listed in Forbes magazine\u2019s 30 Under 30, and the Grypmat was named one of Time magazine\u2019s Best Inventions of the Year.<\/p>\n

He plans to discuss his experience taking his product idea to market, including how he landed a deal on ABC\u2019s \u201cShark Tank\u201d and built a team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe University of Toledo and the city of Toledo have many opportunities that I used to make my way to where I am now,\u201d Burden said. \u201cI am passionate about education, helping future generations of entrepreneurs, and giving back to the people who supported me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Grypmat, which Burden designed as a solution to mechanics frustrated by their tools sliding off aircraft while they work, is a flexible, non-slip tool mat made of a unique polymer-silicone blend that helps grip tools and keep them in place at extreme angles of up to 70 degrees.<\/p>\n

The product is popular with aircraft, boat and car mechanics. Burden also said he is working with NASA for its use on spaceships. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UT alumnus Tom Burden, who is featured in Time and Forbes magazine for his invention the Grypmat, will return to campus to give a free talk Thursday, Nov. 29, at at 5:30 p.m. in the Nitschke Technology Commercialization Complex.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":812,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,34,5,1,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52492"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/812"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52492"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52496,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52492\/revisions\/52496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}