A true inventor-entrepreneur at heart, Eugene Smit, is the co-inventor of more than 30 patents, with several more in the pipeline. Before these inventions, he had been experimenting from an early age, constantly searching for ways to combine various concepts and principles to bring his vision to life. Today Smit is the Founder and CEO of Stellenbosch Nanofiber Company (SNC), a pioneering Stellenbosch University (SU) spinout company.
Smit holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Industrial Chemistry and completed his PhD in Polymer Science, during which he discovered a novel nanofiber technology that was later named one of Time Magazine’s top 100 inventions in 2019. Since its inception during 2011, SNC has made remarkable strides, disrupting the cosmetic industry and making valuable contributions to the medical industry with innovations like wound dressings that accelerate healing, and resorbable tissue scaffolds that help regenerate parts of the eye.
SNC specialises in electrospun fibres that mimic the cells in human tissue. These cells, when placed on electrospun synthetic fibres, behave more naturally, resulting in wounds and tissue healing faster and minimal scarring. The electrospun fibre technology also enables the manufacturing of tissue scaffolds for artificial organs and drug-device combination medical devices which allows for physical and pharmaceutical treatment and healing.
Among SNC’s key milestones is their partnership with Taiki USA, a global leader in skincare and makeup tools. Together they worked on developing United States (US) company Artis’s Artis Phantom Cleansing Silks. These “silks” are small oval patches that combine biodegradable, dissolving nanofiber textiles developed by SNC.
“I have always been keen to develop useful products and technologies, and I feel that a good way to measure whether your technology is really beneficial to other people is to demonstrate that there are people out there willing to pay for what you invented. In this specific case, the technology for mass production of electrospun fibers has such a vast range of different potential applications and so the company was started to unlock this enormous potential and to make the world a better place,” says Smit. .
As the company stands poised to take over the local and international cosmetic and medical industry by storm, SNC remains supported by Innovus Technology Transfer Office, SU LaunchLab and US Enterprises, who will continue providing input when required.
For more information on SNC, click here.