Brewer Science, Inc., a global leader in developing and manufacturing next-generation materials for the microelectronics and optoelectronics industries, has joined the Center for Water Innovation (CWI) at Washington University (WashU) in St. Louis as a corporate partner. The two organizations executed a memorandum of understanding in early September. The agreement establishes a framework for collaboration on research into continuous, real-time water quality monitoring.
As part of the partnership, Brewer Science attended the CWI Water Innovation Symposium on August 31. On September 1, the company demonstrated its trace lead sensing devices in CWI’s water quality laboratory. The demonstration gave WashU researchers a firsthand look at how Brewer Science’s innovative InFlect® devices, with integrated advanced analytical systems, perform alongside established laboratory methods. Brewer Science is working closely with Dr. Dan Giammar, who directs WashU’s Center for the Environment and its Trust Tap drinking water initiative with a focus on lead and PFAS detection in drinking water.
Conventional testing for lead and other contaminants typically requires manual sampling and laboratory analysis, with results that can take weeks to arrive. Brewer Science’s InFlect® devices are built on the company’s four decades of materials science expertise. They combine printed electronics with specialized sensing materials to measure lead, nitrate, pH, and conductivity. Each sensor includes an onboard microcontroller for signal processing and digital output, supporting continuous monitoring at the point of need.
Through the partnership, Brewer Science and CWI researchers will validate sensor performance under real-world water conditions. The goal is to give utilities, researchers, and communities faster access to the information they need to protect public health.
“Lead testing has traditionally meant waiting days or weeks for lab results, leaving long gaps between knowing and acting. Our InFlect® Water Analytical System delivers an on-site reading in about seven minutes, and partnering with the Center for Water Innovation gives us the opportunity to put that capability in front of researchers and utilities who can help shape how it is used,” states Ryan Moss, Executive Director of Smart Devices at Brewer Science, Inc. “As a Missouri company, we are proud to collaborate with Washington University on work that serves the health of communities across our state and beyond.”
Brewer Science joins a CWI partner network that includes regional utilities, industry, and public agencies working to advance sustainable water and wastewater management.
About the Center for Water Innovation
The Center for Water Innovation (CWI) at Washington University in St. Louis aspires to be a nationally recognized leader in water research that enables sustainable water and wastewater management. It provides a platform for industry-university dialogue and facilitates interactions among potential collaborators towards joint research efforts. Academic researchers desire realistic conditions in which to validate their fundamental discoveries. Water and wastewater utilities often face challenges that can be addressed by research but lack necessary analytical tools and research experience. CWI connects these communities to address both of their needs, thereby providing a sustainable level of regional research support to faculty research groups and existing channels for connecting utility personnel with researchers who can provide solutions to their technology needs.
CWI promotes both fundamental and applied research to develop advanced technologies and strategies for improving the efficiency of water and wastewater treatment and recovering valuable resources from wastewater. The research activities aim to address water-related social and economic challenges and create business opportunities for the water economic ecosystem. CWI collectively showcases the research findings by WashU faculty to a broad audience and promotes WashU’s environmental engineering program at a national and international level. Through research, the next generation of scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs are being educated and trained to advance water research, technology, and business.
Learn more: https://watercenter.wustl.edu/
About InFlect® Devices, Powered by Brewer Science
InFlect® devices deliver real-time environmental and industrial data in minutes, powered by integrated sensors and software. Compact, easy to use, and built to go anywhere, InFlect® devices turn real-time readings into fast, on-site decisions, surfacing meaningful, action-oriented data across a growing range of applications starting with water quality, on a platform designed to grow alongside AI-enabled analysis. It’s a vision for real-time environmental intelligence that’s accessible to anyone, anywhere.
That vision is rooted in Brewer Science, a microelectronics innovator headquartered in Rolla, Missouri since 1981 and built on strong environmental values, including GreenCircle Zero Waste to Landfill certification. Over 45 years of materials expertise, from carbon nanotube inks to connected sensors and data-driven systems, has grown into a platform built around integrated, actionable intelligence. InFlect® Water Analytical Systems are inspired by Brewer Science’s mission: innovative, accessible, easy-to-use water quality monitoring for anyone, anywhere. InFlect® devices are currently in pre-launch development. Our first application area, water quality, is in beta with select testing partners.
Learn more about InFlect® Devices: https://www.inflectdevices.com/water/ | Learn more about Brewer Science: https://www.brewerscience.com
