Local business partners with Dutch company in hydrogen leak sensor production
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A local Bowling Green business has formed an international partnership aimed at expanding operations and building a safer future through fiber-optic technology.
OgMentum ARK, which relocated to Bowling Green earlier this year, has partnered with the Dutch company United Fiber Sensing to create UFS ARK. Together, they’re developing sensors designed to detect hydrogen leaks. Hydrogen is an odorless, tasteless and colorless gas that can become combustible and dangerous.
Jake Weise, president of OgMentum ARK, said the partnership was a natural fit.
“That sensor by itself doesn’t do anything unless it’s connected to a system with an interrogator and other pieces to be able to measure that hydrogen and detect it,” Weise said. “That’s where we come in. OgMentum ARK, with UFS, has a joint venture here in Bowling Green called UFS ARK, where we can actually detect hydrogen, measure it and give you a reading before it becomes dangerous.”
The sensors created by UFS are about the size of four stacked dimes and can be daisy-chained together to provide crucial feedback if leaks occur. Officials say Bowling Green — and Kentucky as a whole — are attractive locations for high-tech growth due to strong local and state support.
“We have the capacity to collaborate in a very nice location of Bowling Green with support from the local government and from the state of Kentucky, eager to invest in high-tech jobs and high-tech facilities,” said Remco Nieuwland, founder of United Fiber Sensing. “We’ve got the university close by. So we saw a lot of opportunity to work together here in Bowling Green.”
Western Kentucky University also plays a key role. OgMentum ARK is located at WKU’s Innovation Campus, which provides research collaboration and a pipeline for potential employees.
“WKU has expertise in many areas,” said OgMentum ARK CEO Kent Murphy. “We like to partner with them and move that into commercializing products and creating jobs. Fiber optics is one of those. And partnering with UFS and Remco — he’s an internationally recognized expert in fiber-optic sensing, especially hydrogen sensing — we think this is a great opportunity for Bowling Green.”
