Problem:  Each year, over 90 million acres of hybrid corn seed is planted in the US, and the “planting window” can be very short, just a few days or weeks in most areas.   Too early in the spring and the fields are muddy and seed may rot before it germinates. A bit too late and the corn yield will be reduced from shorter growing season. What to do??

Solution: I established a company, Landec, Corp.,  to develop and commercialize a new type of polymer (Intellimer©) based on renewable feedstocks that exhibited precise temperature switching properties such as permeability, adhesion, density and viscosity.  Seed coating were developed and patented that allowed early planting, keeping the seed safe and dry until environmental conditions were appropriate for germination, significantly expanded the planting window and allowed growers to better utilize their capital equipment and manpower. These coating were also used to improve the production of hybrid seed corn and allow farmers to grown two crops (wheat and soybeans) on the same land in one year!