Mines Student Wins Braun Student Inventor Award for New Bandage that Improves Healing for Burn Victims

South Dakota Mines doctoral student in the Department of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, Kim Yip Chiok has won a 2021 Braun Student Inventor Award for a new and innovative type of bandage, called BioTape, that speeds healing for burn victims while reducing scar formation and pain.

His innovation uses a nanotechnology-enabled cellulose membrane with a high moisture content, antibacterial properties and an ability to deliver medication during the healing process. The bandage also triggers formation of healing tissue around the wound. “It has many different benefits in one product,” says Chiok. He came up with the idea for BioTape after one of his friends who works in the restaurant industry suffered a burn at work. At Mines, Chiok was studying the properties of cellulose and became inspired with the idea that it could be used as a bandage for a burn wound.  

BioTape will have plenty of use once available in the marketplace, Chiok says. In the Unites States there are 486,000 recorded burn injuries each year. “The problem with the current bandages is they cause scars, yield slow healing time, and result in massive pain during the dressing changes,” he says. “This wet bandage reduces the frequency of dressing changes and reduces pain three-fold.”

Chiok credits Mines for help in achieving his current level of success. “It's a huge confidence builder for me,” Chiok says. “I never took advantage of business opportunities in my undergraduate years. I've never been able to apply for a patent in the past. This award gives me the motivation to continue to improve the product over time and the skills needed to take my ideas into the marketplace. South Dakota Mines is very different; I've had a great deal of help from faculty and staff to get to where I am now.”

The Ann and Dave Braun Student Inventor Award includes $5,000 in cash and a free patent application from Mckee, Voorhees & Sease, PLC. The award was established to recognize a South Dakota Mines student who has made a significant discovery or invention while enrolled.

Chiok also placed second in the university's annual CEO Business Plan Competition and he recently took home first place at a business plan competition hosted by Dakota State University.

A second 2021 Braun Student Inventor award was also won by South Dakota Mines students Kirstie Gildemeister and Kelsey Fitzgerald for a new water-splitting energy storage device.