Interview by Jonathan Kersting
How can innovative technology save lives every single day?
In this episode of TechVibe Radio, host Jonathan Kersting sits down with Alex Hilliker of ChemDAQ to explore how their groundbreaking technology is making workplaces safer by detecting harmful chemical exposures.
Three reasons you don't want to miss this episode:
Hit PLAY to hear about cutting-edge solutions, important conversations, and how Pittsburgh-based innovation is shaping global safety standards.
Transcript:
ChemDAQ
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Jonathan: [00:00:00] This is Tech Vibe Radio. It's your front row seat to Pittsburgh's technology and innovation ecosystem. Tech vibe is brought to you by the generous support of connetics@connetics.com. Chorus. call@choruscall.com. Hi mark@highmark.com. Huntington bank@huntington.com. The Kindling Culture agency@thekindlingagency.com.
PNC bank@pnc.com. savvier@savvier.com. And studio me@studiomeproductions.com. Tech vibe, proudly broadcast from the Huntington Bank Studios. Let's get the show on the road. Hey, good morning everybody. I'm so happy you dialed in, tuned in right here. Two Tech Vibe Radio. This is the place where we give you that front row seat, Pittsburgh's technology and [00:01:00] innovation ecosystem.
And of course, I'm your host Jonathan Kirsty with the Pittsburgh Technology Council, and Time's moving by quick, and we are into December, which is just like, wow. I, I'm really excited for 2026, but in December, we'd like to kind of pay a quick homage to some of our newest members. That joined the Pittsburgh Tech Council.
You know, we're a place where you can join up and connect into Pittsburgh's tech sector across so many ways, whether it's business development, whether it is advocacy, whether it's visibility like stopping by our Tech Five radio show here, or trying to find new talent. But we have some new members that just joined us.
I'm gonna start with our list just real fast because some companies like about objects at Secas, LLC, Bluestone Communications, Brady's Bend Underground. Brunch Industries. Chartiers Houston School District Chem D. Pay attention to that one real fast everybody. Heath Technologies, Keystone Flow. Mac Business Solutions.
M Powerhouse of Greater Pittsburgh [00:02:00] Perkins Eastman Propels, ServiceNow, south Park School District Strategy Robot and Studio. Me. That's just from the past month. We got some great members. We love having them join 'em. That makes our voice stronger. Now, you heard me say a name called Chem dda and I just happen to have them here on the show with me today.
I have Alex Ker here today. Alex, I'm so excited to talk to you because I'm just, the more I've learned about what Chem DDA is up to. I just, I'm like, wow, you guys keep people safe. You're part of this like Pittsburgh heritage Yeah. Of doing safety around here. So I am so excited to learn more about your story because I think there's some tremendous things going on.
So welcome to Tech five today. Yeah, thanks, Jonathan. It's, it's, it's awesome to be here. I'm thrilled to be on the show and, and appreciate your time. I'm excited to get into it. Yeah, so first off, I always like to everyone to know if they go to chem d.com, and that's C-H-E-M-D-A q.com. Great way to go there and check it out, read some of your success stories and just see some of the basic technologies.
Just a great way for people to connect and so forth. And you guys are hiring, so there's some [00:03:00] jobs up there too, which I think I love when companies they're hiring. So this, let's just start off with, so our listeners just understand what Chem D does. I mean, I could read a little description, but that's no fun.
You, you're there every single day doing what you do. Yeah. Yeah. So I, I appreciate you asking. So at, at Chem DI always like to start with our mission. We're a very mission, I mission oriented company. Mm-hmm. And our mission is very simple. We work to empower our customers to eliminate workplace exposure to toxic chemicals.
And I always focus on that first word in our mission in power. Mm-hmm. Okay. 'cause we are not a transactional company. We have no interest in. Selling you a gas monitor, a sensor, and and saying, good luck. See you later. Let's know how it works. We are all about working with our, our customers in a partnership fashion, helping them to solve their problems interesting and ultimately keep their team members safe.
Because we're ultimately, we're a worker safety company. We happen to be a gas monitoring company, but at the end of the day, we want to make sure that people that are working around sterile chemicals and disinfectant chemicals. Each and every day to protect us [00:04:00] and to protect patients and hospitals.
Mm-hmm. And to keep our food safe. Yes. We wanna make sure that they're safe and they can live long, happy lives and healthy lives and go home to their families at the end of the day, healthy. And so that's what we're all about. You know, we we're really fortunate that our products are applicable across a wide range of industries.
So healthcare, hospitals, sterilization companies. Food and beverage companies, even third party logistics companies and warehousing are all using our products every single day. So it's, it's pretty cool. That's interesting. And not just that, but it's around the world as well too. I mean, you just came back from Japan the last time we checked.
You're telling me some cold stories there. That's for another show. Little jet lag, Jonathan, but we'll, we'll get through it. Absolutely. I'm just so impressed because. You, you're part of this like family of companies here that we have in Pittsburgh, like the MSAs, the industrial scientifics that are out there to provide safety to workers that are out there.
Yeah. But what you do is just so niche, which I think is so interesting and that's why I love having guests like you on the show. 'cause we get to learn about these things that we probably wouldn't know. We probably, someone could probably drive past your office and I have no [00:05:00] idea that you're saving lives of house share.
Right. Yeah. Well, and you know, there's, there's a lot of gas detection companies out there. You know, you mentioned industrial scientific. Mm-hmm. And MSA. Most of the companies around the world that do gas detection, they'll monitor for dozens if not hundreds of chemicals. Right, right, right. At chem back we do three.
Okay. What are those gases there? So lene oxide. Okay. Which is the The most popular and the most powerful chemical? Sterile known to man. We can get into that later. Nice. Hydrogen peroxide and parasitic. And I think some people would be surprised to learn that, that that was a choice. It was very intentional to focus on those three.
They're hard to detect. They're used across a lot of applications like I talked about. And they've got, they've got some, some serious health implications if you're overexposed, but you're exposed to 'em. Right. Okay. And yeah, the challenge with, with two of those ethylene oxide and hydrogen peroxide is. At low levels, they're imperceptible.
You wouldn't even know you're being impacted by it until maybe it's too late or it does something where it's like, whoa. Right. If it was in the room right now, you and I would've no idea. And you know, a lot of the concern is, [00:06:00] is chronic exposure over time. Over time. Course low levels. Exactly right. So it's.
You know, it's something that, that is critically important to, to understand so that you can control and mitigate that exposure for, for your, your employees and your, your team members each and every day. Yeah. And I love the fact that you're very intentional. You said just around these three, when did you guys actually, uh, open your doors to, to, to begin doing what you do?
Hmm. So actually next year we'll be celebrating our. 20th anniversary. Really? Corporation. Oh my goodness. Okay. But Chem D actually precedes that by about 10 years as Chem D corporation. Gotcha. And so my dad actually started Chem D about 30 years ago, maybe 35 years ago. He might not want me to say that.
It's like, you're aging me, son. You're aging me. That's right. It's like, it's okay, dad. But you know what's, what's really interesting, I love telling this story. You know, he was, you know, my dad was selling medical devices into hospitals, into sterile processing departments and operating room environments, and he, he identified a need.
He [00:07:00] saw that there were sensors in place for hazardous gases and medical gases that were being used in procedures and things like that, but they were not continuously and simultaneously monitoring. And there was no integration. Interesting. You weren't able to have this common operating picture of what is the safety in my department look like for these chemicals?
And so our first product at Chem D, before it was even Chem dac, was a data acquisition system. That's where the DAC comes from. And, and Chem D. Gotcha. Chemical data acquisition. Okay. Nice. Right? And from there, it's not a big elite, but to say, well, okay, we're, we're integrating this data from other people's technology.
Why don't we create our own monitors that are easy to use, easy to understand. And then we took it even further with our sensor exchange program, which takes the hardest part of gas detection for our customers out of the equation, and that's calibration. So there's nothing that our customers have to do.
Through our sensor exchange program, we actually calibrate right here in Pittsburgh Sensors. I love hearing that. Yes. Send those sensors directly to our customers [00:08:00] around the world on five continents. I love hearing that. Which, which is awesome. And he has this little company in Pittsburgh with this global reach and all customers have to do is.
Unplug their expired sensor, plug the new one in, send it back us. They're good to go. They're not thinking about it. You're handling all the hard work, which is kind of scary 'cause like, man, like literally have people's lives in your hands. But that's why it's a tough problem is why you guys do what you do.
Simple as that. We only got like a minute or so left before break and before we, we, we, we jump away. I just, I just love the fact that like, I don't know that. Found this very niche market to get into. Yeah. But it impacts so many lives. I'm just, what has you interested, I mean, it must be really fun for you to come to work every day.
Well, what gets you fired up to be like, yeah. Oh man. Yeah. I gotta come in here. 'cause I'm thinking. Yeah. The thing that I get most passionate about is just the education and the awareness really. 'cause this is something that unfortunately people don't talk about a lot. Mm-hmm. 'cause the focus. Patient safety, food safety, you know, making sure that people are not impacted by the germs and the bacteria that these chemicals that we monitor are designed to to kill.
And so being able to help people understand that there's [00:09:00] easy ways to understand your environment and keep your team members safe. I mean, that's what gets me going. Oh, super cool stuff. We're taking a quick break. We're coming back in case you just joined us, we are talking to Alex Icker of Mak. Go to Chem D, that's DAQ dot.
Com we're gonna talk more about your sensors, how they work, some of the companies that use them, and the fact that it's all coming here from Pittsburgh. So much fun. This is Jonathan Kirsty. I'm with the Pittsburgh Technology Council and if you go to pg tech.org, finding the four ways we can help your tech company succeed in 2026 is almost here.
Think about joining us in 2026. Chem Dak just joined us and look, they're here on their air with me right now telling their story. So much fun. We'll be right back. Studio Me Productions is a full service video production company based in Pittsburgh. It offers custom video production services, podcast, studio rentals and Communication Studio Buildouts.
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This is Tech Vibe Radio. Your front row seat. The Pittsburgh Technology and Innovation Economy Tech vibe is brought to you by connetics. At connetics.com chorus call@choruscall.com. highmark@highmark.com. [00:12:00] Huntington bank@huntington.com. kindling@thekindlingagency.com. PNC bank@pnc.com and savio@savier.com.
Tech vibe proudly broadcasts from the Huntington Bank Studios. So glad you're spending Sunday morning right here with me. This is Jonathan Kering with the Pittsburgh Technology Council, and Tech Vibrio is your absolute, positively front row seat. Learning about cool companies like Chem Dak here today, having so much fun.
Hanging out with Alex Looker of Chem d. Alex, thanks for being here. Me, thanks for being here and extra being with. Thanks for being here with me today. I really appreciate having a great time learning about your company and how you're saving people's lives. Yeah, likewise. This is awesome, Jonathan. Fun, fun stuff.
Let's just jump into like who's using your product and how it's actually working. I think a good old case study, sometimes just, it just just hits the spot on a Sunday morning, you know? Sure. There you go. Everyone's out there. Pour some extra coffee right [00:13:00] now 'cause we're gonna hear a story from Alex about how their technology saves people's lives.
There you go. Well. So you, you, you mentioned the companies that are using our products. You know, we're this small company in Pittsburgh that some of the biggest and best known companies in the world across healthcare, medical device, food and beverage, all using our products each and every day. I'll give you a couple specific examples.
Let's jump in. Absolutely. Uh, so in hospitals, hydrogen peroxide, vaporized hydrogen peroxide is the most common sterilizing agent for heat and moisture sensitive items today. Used to be ethylene oxide. Now it's hydrogen peroxide. It's like something they can't throw in an autoclave. Exactly right. Yep. Is that what I'm thinking?
Okay. Exactly. And so the, you know, the, the great part about that is hydrogen peroxide's a very effective sterilant. The bad part is the same properties that make it an effective stere make it harmful to us if we're overexposed. If you're breath that stuff in, it's probably not doing a lot of good for your lungs.
Right? Exactly. Yeah, exactly. The way that hospitals around the country use our technology is they'll put a sensor on top of that sterilizer. They'll [00:14:00] open the door at the end of a load to see if there's any residual hydrogen peroxide left in the chamber. Interesting. Okay. So they'll look at our monitor, they'll see if they get a reading.
If it's zero, which we hope it is, they can feel free to reach in. They're not gonna be exposed to that chemical. They can pull the load out. Go about their day. Okay? If they get a reading, maybe they need to address some preventive maintenance on that machine. Maybe they need to increase some ventilation in their department.
Maybe they just need to alter their work practices to make sure they're not, you know, being acutely exposed to levels that can be dangerous at that, that short term. And more importantly, don't open that door until it says zero. Right, exactly. Right. Because I'm thinking about somebody who's in working in a hospital in that capacity, that's probably something they're doing day in and day out each and every day.
Multiple times a day. Yeah. And if they're opening up, not, not even knowing that there's still some residual gas in there, each time they're getting a little bit of exposure and that can build over time and all of a sudden it could develop some sort of chronic problems or impact their health quite seriously, I would assume.
Yeah, absolutely. E each, each and every day. This is happening, you know, all day, every day. And you know, the, [00:15:00] I think that, you know, we, we always use the analogy that our monitors are like smoke detectors. You know, you, you hope they never go off. I like that. Right. But you're sure glad that they did if there Exactly.
If there's a fire. Exactly. You know, we're, you know, we're, we're not the company that's telling you not to use the chemicals, not to sterilize. We just want you to do it as safely and effectively as you possibly can. Yeah. That's what it's all about. I mean, that, that's where I get excited about because I, the thing we get really jazz of the tech council is when we see technology that's literally savings, people that savings people's lives or just, you know, making sure that people just stay safe.
All that kind of stuff is just, it's that extra level. Yeah, as far as we're concerned, we just, we just like that kind of stuff. Gimme another example of how you guys work in the industry. I know you're in the food industry. I know there's stuff, but like bottling and things like that. Yeah. Like tell me, tell me, tell me.
Yeah, sure. So, you know, the, the, the, the drinks that we consume every day, for example, take like cartons of milk that are in kids' lunches and cafeterias and things like. Those are sterilized with hydrogen peroxide. Bottles, like for bottles of water are sterilized with a [00:16:00] parasitic acid mixture. Parasitic acid is sprayed directly on poultry and chickens and beef and swine to kill foodborne illnesses like salmonella and listeria.
The vapors from those chemicals that are used for that sterilization and disinfection. Can be harmful to us if we're overexposed. So we'll put our sensors and our monitors throughout a facility, or we will provide portable monitors to our customers to help them better understand where those levels might be unsafe and how to change their work practices or their, their, their systems around their facility to, to mitigate that exposure.
That's what I'm talking about, keeping people safe and making sure the price, keeping them safe while they're able to keep us safe. Right, right. Because they're dealing with the chemicals that allow us to have milk in a carton. Things, things we take for granted, but they're, you know, our, our customers do some of the most important work, and the work that's, I'm saying it's prying food and Right.
And drink to us. They're keeping patients safe by sterilizing medical devices. They're, you know, they're, they're warehousing and distributing medical devices around the [00:17:00] country. I mean, it's, it's critical what they do. Um, and we owe it to them in a lot of ways to make sure that they're safe while they're doing it.
Keep safe. And that's what you guys do. That's your bread and butter. That's right. I, I'm assuming there's, there's another company out there quite like you, the way that you work. We're very, very unique. You have to be, and, and there's, there's really only a couple of companies in the world that do what we do at the scale that we do it, we're the best obviously.
Of course you are. I mean, come on from Pittsburgh for crying out loud. That's right. Yeah, that's right. But yeah, we're, you know, we, that focus and that innovation, you know, we've come a long way in gas detection from that canary in the coal mine. Right. You know, that that focus is what sets us apart and makes us great.
The thing that really jumped out at me. Earlier in the show, when you mentioned the fact that you calibrate these things, I didn't realize that these, these devices have a shelf life and they gotta come back so they can be recalibrated. That's right. And the idea that you can do this without them missing a beat is really cool.
And you just opened up a calibration center you were telling me before. Something we talk about on break real fast. We did our first ever calibration franchise, um, outside of Bangkok, Thailand. Okay. Um, to [00:18:00] support our customers in Southeast Asia, in Japan. This explains your trip to Japan and the in the Pacific Rim just recently.
We're super proud of that. Yes. I mean, we're able to provide regional support to our customers in that part of the world, which is, you know. Critical to our, our growth and scale as a company. I was gonna say, I mean, I think about an addressable market. I mean obviously this is worldwide stuff, but to be over there has to make just total sense.
And so now you can also, you can do your recalibrations there as well too, but you also do some recalibration right here in Pittsburgh, you were saying. Right? We do. We've got a full team. How, how long is that? All day. Every day is calibrate our sensors to a very high degree of accuracy. I was gonna say it has to be, uh, you know, it's a lot of the regulations around exposure to these chemicals are sub one part.
Per million, which is very, how do you, very minuscule. How do you, that blow my mind? Like how do you detect one part per million? It's like, where's that part? It's, it's critical for customers to be accurate, but also to be specific. Okay. You know, really what sets MDA apart from other gas detection companies is we have patented filter technology that goes over our sensors.
To mitigate cross interference from [00:19:00] chemicals like alcohols and carbon monoxide. I've never thought about that. Other things in the environment can be fool that sensor that's or interesting. That's right. So false alarms are not good in gas detection. Right. And so yeah, that's where Chem DDA Excels is is selectivity.
Of our sensor technology, and that's really what sets us apart from, from other companies. I can imagine. I mentioned before earlier that it was 2026 is upon us, and I'm feeling like, I mean, you guys are just hitting your stride in so many ways here. Yeah. We, what are you most excited about moving into next year with I, I feel like you have some good things maybe that'd be cooking and keep growing on and stuff like that.
We do, we do. So you mentioned we're hiring. Yeah. And we're also from a, from an innovation standpoint, I love hearing that we, you know, for, for years and years we've been a gas monitoring, gas detection company. Not a control or abatement company. We've been working in the background the last couple of years on a really exciting new products to help control one of those chemicals throughout the supply chain.
It's something that hopefully when I come on next time, we can talk in a little bit more detail. Yes. But it's taking that, that level of safety, you know, really, really up to the next level. Yes. And we're looking forward to [00:20:00] that. I love it. Well, of course you have the open door policy here, the OPD at Tech Vibrate to come back.
'cause we want to hear about how you're growing and moving. And I'm sure as you release these things in 2026, it just adds. To your business in such a good way. Oh, absolutely. And that's, we wanna put a highlight on that for you. Yeah. That, that's how I'm, I'm very excited for you guys. This has been just so fascinating.
I always hate it. I'm like, man, our 22 minutes goes by just entirely too fast when we're telling great stories like this. And so, Alex, I can't thank you enough for hanging out with me here on Tech five today. Yeah, thank you, Jonathan. I look forward to coming back. Without a doubt. Like I said, open door policy for there, Alex.
Not everyone gets that. It's all good stuff. And just to remind everybody to learn more about this really fantastic company, I think some of their case studies I think are really interesting. Go to chem dak.com. That's C-H-E-M-D-A q.com. And after that go to pg h tech.org and check out the ways the tech council can help you.
Companies succeed in 2026. 'cause like I keep saying Alex, it's right around the corner. Oh man. But I'm excited for it. It's gonna be so much fun in 2026 [00:21:00] because we get more tech vibe radio coming your way. Everyone have a great weekend. Of course. Anytime you wanna grab more tech drive, just go read your podcast.
Look for tech vibe, download, listen. Learn a lot about Pittsburgh. See you next weekend, everybody. Thanks for geeking out with us on Tech Vibe Radio. Tune in next Sunday for more tech and innovation stories right here from Pittsburgh. Get tech vibe wherever you get your podcasts and never miss a show.
Tech vibe is brought to you by the generous support of connetics@connetics.com chorus. call@choruscall.com. highmark@highmark.com Huntington Bank. At huntington.com, the Kindling Culture agency@thekindlingagency.com, PNC bank@pnc.com. savvier@savvier.com. And studio me@studiomeproductions.com. Tech vibe proudly broadcast from the Huntington Bank [00:22:00] Studios.