MU nanotech research nationally recognized
Researchers will work with local companies and government to develop new products.
Published Oct. 5, 2007
MU nanotechnology scientists agreed last week to enter a consortium with Missouri businesses as a way to raise funding for the university.
The decision was reached at a nanotechnology workshop held last week. College of Engineering Dean Jim Thompson said he held the workshop as a way to raise awareness of MU's nanotechnology program.
"It's a whole new science and technology that's being invented," Thompson said. "There's quite a lot of interest in this technology, and there's quite a lot of interest in this program we have on campus."
Thompson said MU's program in nano materials is gaining national recognition, and, because of this, more than 200 representatives for universities, businesses and state and federal government attended. Thompson said he expected only 30 or 40 representatives to attend.
In the consortium, MU researchers will work with local companies and the state and federal government to develop new products for these organizations. MU research departments will use the consortium's profits to fund their research.
Thompson said this consortium will benefit both the university and the businesses.
"The consortium is to establish partnerships with companies and to assist us as a university," he said. "In addition, it is a way to transfer the technology we develop."
College of Engineering spokeswoman Susan Wampler said the consortium would also be an advantage to students.
"Students benefit because they work with these researchers in the laboratories as a part of their education," she said. "Students get practical experience, which, then, when they're getting ready to graduate, makes them much more desirable to companies. We've actually had some students who have started their own businesses once they get out of school because of their experience."
The researchers will work mainly for the medical industry and the department of defense, said Sam Kiger, College of Engineering associate dean for research.
"The application of nanotechnology is so broad," he said. "It's improving body armor for our soldiers, medical devices for our doctors and improving the scratch resistance of glass. There are so many applications."
The consortium is forming a board of directors and determining what the business protocols will be, Wampler said.
Right now the specifics of the consortium are just a vision, Kiger said.
"But the board of directors will help us give direction to that vision," he said. "The possibilities could be anything."
Once the board of directors is chosen, the consortium members hope to create a center for nanotechnology entrepreneurship in Discovery Ridge, a research park in south Columbia. There, researchers and staff members would work together to commercialize research.
