About
Company History
From Scientific Curiosity to Aquaculture Innovation
AminoTec Research & Development was founded on a simple belief: a deeper scientific understanding of how aquatic animals detect and respond to food can transform the future of aquaculture.
The company's origins stretch back more than two decades, when founder Dr. Patrick Mills began investigating the chemistry underlying fish feeding behavior. While working as a Professor of Chemistry, Dr. Mills became fascinated by the remarkable ability of fish to detect minute concentrations of naturally occurring amino acids dissolved in water. Although amino acids were widely recognized as nutrients, their role as powerful chemical signals capable of initiating attraction and feeding behavior had received comparatively little attention in commercial feed formulation.
Dr. Patrick Mills
Founder: AminoTec Research & Development
Professor of Chemistry: Joliet Junior College, Illinois
Ph.D. in Chemistry
20+ years researching fish chemosensory feeding stimulation
Expertise: Amino acid chemistry, fish chemoreception, feed attractants and aquaculture nutrition
Research Interests: Salmon, shrimp, catfish and carp aquaculture
Collaboration Focus: Universities, aquaculture producers and feed manufacturers
About the Founder
Patrick Mills, Ph.D.
Science has always fascinated me—not simply for discovering how the natural world works, but for using that knowledge to solve real-world problems.
I founded AminoTec Research & Development to bridge the gap between fundamental chemistry and practical aquaculture. My goal is straightforward: to develop scientifically engineered feeding stimulants that improve feed acceptance, feed efficiency, animal robustness and production performance through a deeper understanding of fish chemosensory biology.
I am a Professor of Chemistry at Joliet Junior College in Illinois, USA, where I have spent many years teaching chemistry and supervising undergraduate research. My academic career began with doctoral research in analytical chemistry. That work developed a rigorous approach to understanding molecular structure, intermolecular interactions and reaction mechanisms—skills that continue to underpin my research today.
Over the past two decades, my scientific interests have increasingly focused on one question:
How do fish detect food before they eat it?
