AKRON, Ohio – A startup research company is testing its ultra-strong adhesive, inspired by gecko feet and being marketed as ShearGrip, at an Akron-area nursing home, a downtown eatery and elsewhere in the area.

Akron Ascent Innovations plans to use the feedback on its adhesive to develop next-generation materials for health care, aerospace, cosmetics and other industries, company COO Kevin White told cleveland.com.

“The goal is to let other people handle the product, to validate that people are using it and enjoying it,” said White, who also serves as AAI’s principal scientist. “We’re looking for creative people to handle the product.”

While most adhesives rely on liquids or chemical reactions, ShearGrip is a dry adhesive that gets its strength from millions of connecting fibers 100 times stronger than a strand of hair, White said.

It doesn’t feel tacky, so it leaves no residue, and it secures more than 50 pounds per square inch on drywall, metal, fabric and other surfaces, he said.

Its properties are unique. If pulled off one way, it comes off easily without leaving residue. Pulled in a different direction, it can drag furniture, he said. It’s also reusable.

White, whose research was in clean energy, co-founded the company with UA professor Josh Wong, AAI’s chief technology officer. Wong was already working with Barry Rosenbaum on developing a bio-adhesive. AAI was awarded a National Science Foundation grant for the work and White was the first hire.

White moved back to Akron and the researchers moved into the Akron Global Accelerator, now Bounce. The new space gave them room to expand and to experiment.

AAI launched ShearGrip products not to begin a commercial enterprise, but to understand the best direction to take the company’s research, White said.

In a pilot program, a local nursing home is using ShearGrip to hang photos and other items, eliminating potentially dangerous hardware on walls, White said.

The adhesive also is in use at Canal Commons Cafe and Eatery on South Main Street. While having lunch, White noticed a waitress struggle to keep credit card machines on the tables. ShearGrip now secures the machines.

“The early adopters have been telling us it works like magic,” White said.

Once enough feedback is collected, the researchers plan to develop next-generation materials for health care, aerospace, cosmetics and other industries.

“The purpose is not to get rich and live off the sales of this,” White said. “It’s the excitement of working with a new material. It will always be about new development.”

To learn more about ShearGrip, visit AAI’s website.