Patents by Inventor Steven Melvyn Howdle

Steven Melvyn Howdle has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8268394
    Abstract: A method of fabricating a metamaterial is provided, comprising providing a sample of engineered microstructured material that is transparent to electromagnetic radiation and comprises one or more voids, passing through the voids a high pressure fluid comprising a functional material carried in a carrier fluid, and causing the functional material to deposit or otherwise integrate into the engineered microstructured material to form the metamaterial. Many microstructured materials and functional materials can be used, together with various techniques for controlling the location of the integration of the functional material within the microstructured material, so that a wide range of different metamaterials can be produced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Assignee: University of Southampton
    Inventors: Pier John Anthony Sazio, John Victor Badding, Dan William Hewak, Steven Melvyn Howdle
  • Patent number: 6670407
    Abstract: Process for the preparation of a composition comprising a biofunctional polymer substrate and biofunctional material substrate adapted for use in or in association with the human or animal body, cultivated or uncultivated living matter, wherein the biofunctional material substrate is substantially insoluble in the polymer substrate and/or a supercritical fluid, wherein the process comprises contacting a mixture of the substrates or their precursors with a supercritical fluid under supercritical conditions and conditions of reduced viscosity and physical blending to plasticise and swell the polymer and distribute the biofunctional material substrate throughout the polymer, and releasing the fluid under subcritical conditions, wherein the substrates are adapted to be isolated in form of a solid admixture comprising the biofunctional material substrate in substantially unchanged chemical form, and in substantially unchanged physical form, composition obtained thereby, polymer matrix embodiment thereof and the pr
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2003
    Assignee: University of Nottingham
    Inventors: Steven Melvyn Howdle, Vladimir Popov
  • Patent number: 6593439
    Abstract: A method of producing a polymer comprises the steps of forming a heterogeneous reaction mixture comprising at least one addition polymerizable monomer, a supercritical fluid, and a stabilizer, wherein the stabilizer comprises a chain which is soluble in the supercritical fluid and functional end-group which is not polymerizable by a free-radical mechanism, and polymerizing said at least one monomer in the reaction mixture. In a preferred system for polymerizing acrylic monomers, the fluid comprises supercritical carbon dioxide and the stabilizer comprises an acid-functionalized perfluoropolyether.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2003
    Assignee: Imperial Chemical Industries Plc
    Inventors: Paul Christian, Steven Melvyn Howdle, Derek John Irvine
  • Publication number: 20020155145
    Abstract: Process for the preparation of a composition comprising a biofunctional polymer substrate and biofunctional material substrate adapted for use in or in association with the human or animal body, cultivated or uncultivated living matter, wherein the biofunctional material substrate is substantially insoluble in the polymer substrate and/or a supercritical fluid, wherein the process comprises contacting a mixture of the substrates or their precursors with a supercritical fluid under supercritical conditions and conditions of reduced viscosity and physical blending to plasticise and swell the polymer and distribute the biofunctional material substrate throughout the polymer, and releasing the fluid under subcritical conditions, wherein the substrates are adapted to be isolated in form of a solid admixture comprising the biofunctional material substrate in substantially unchanged chemical form, and in substantially unchanged physical form, composition obtained thereby, polymer matrix embodiment thereof and the pr
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 10, 2002
    Publication date: October 24, 2002
    Applicant: University of Nottingham
    Inventors: Steven Melvyn Howdle, Vladimir Popov
  • Patent number: 6414050
    Abstract: Compositions comprising an admixture of a biofunctional polymer substrate and a biofunctional material substrate adapted for use in or in association with the human or animal body, cultivated or uncultivated living matter and methods for making and using thereof are disclosed. The biofunctional material substrate retains bioactivity in the admixture. As disclosed, the compositions may be made by a process which comprises contacting a mixture of the substrates or their precursors with a supercritical fluid under supercritical conditions of reduced viscosity to plasticise and swell the biofunctional polymer substrate and under conditions of physical blending to distribute the biofunctional material substrate throughout the biofunctional polymer substrate, and releasing the supercritical fluid under subcritical conditions. Also disclosed are biofunctional polymer matrices and methods of making and using thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2002
    Assignee: University of Nottingham
    Inventors: Steven Melvyn Howdle, Vladimir Popov