Luna, DCC partner on nanotech program

Kent Murphy, founder and chief executive officer of Luna Innovations Inc., was drawn to Danville the first time he drove through it.

“Murphy remembered a strong community that had faltered due to tobacco and textiles leaving the area,” said Karin Clark, vice president of marketing and communications at the publicly traded company. “There was a nanomaterials project in the works at Luna, and he realized that we had a unique opportunity. Luna selected to locate in Danville because it was a place where ... Luna could truly make a difference in the community.”

Danville is home to one of four Luna locations in the commonwealth. The others are in Roanoke, Blacksburg and Charlottesville.

A ‘new economy’

Partnering with current Sen. Mark Warner, former U.S. Congressman Virgil Goode, the Virginia Tobacco Commission and the city of Danville, Luna aimed to bring new-economy, high-technology jobs to the region.

In 2004, Luna nanoWorks — the propriety carbon nanomanufacturing and pharmaceutical development hub of Luna Innovations — stimulated the local economy through a $6.4 million investment.

The energy and medical diagnostic/therapeutic division has also worked with local, state and federal officials with the purpose of making over a Southside financial system that previously relied heavily upon tobacco, textiles and manufacturing. 

“We have a lot of exciting things going on at Luna, not only in research, but in job development,” Vice President of Corporate Develop-ment Charlie Gause said.

For one, the National Science Foundation recently awarded Danville Community College a three-year $638,000 grant toward the development of a nanotechnology technician training program.

“We are committed to cultivating technology workers and exposing the community to nanotechnology, or small technology, education,” Gause said. “This grant serves for the development of nanotechnicians who will operate machinery that only Ph.D.’s have had the opportunity with which to work. This is a huge push in moving toward the next level of vocational training.”

Job training

Gause has a vested interest in growing DCC talent. He also is the current president of the Southern Piedmont Technology Council and has served on Danville Community College’s Workforce Advisory Board and the Chamber of Commerce’s Educational Advisory Board for Southern Virginia. 

The nanotechnology firm teamed with DCC in seeking the NSF funding. Clark said Luna employees are donating equipment sharing, technical expertise and in-kind support through time.

Mukesh Chhajer, a DCC associate professor of physics, was the primary investigator of the grant.

“The curricula will focus heavily on laboratory skills and associated scientific theories applicable to the area of nanoscience and nanotechnology,” Chhajer said.

Jerry Franklin, director of manufacuring and technology services at Regional Center for Advanced Technologies and Training, aided Chhajer in construction of the grant. He, with Kent Walker from Luna, is a co-investigator and will manage the program.

“The new program will aid in building a work force that will be ready to work in this promising new technology field,” Walker said in the news release.

A new degree track

“We hope to start a cohort program this fall,” Franklin said. “We want to get the word out to the community about this new track within the associate degree in applied science technology. Anybody graduating as a nanotechnology laboratory technician can apply their knowledge to all industries, such as biomedical and energy.”

Scholarships are available, he added.

“This is the perfect program for somebody that loves science, but isn’t that great at math,” Franklin said. “If you can handle college algebra, you will do well in this program. Students can also use it as a stepping-stone to become a Ph.D.-level physicist.

“We are working closely with the University of Virginia and Penn State. The students will have access to atomic force microscopes and remote access to very expensive equipment at Penn State.” 

The community college recently hired the program’s initial director, Beverly Clark. The Java native and Ph.D. candidate in physics starts work May 1.

“We are working in conjunction with Luna, the Institute and numerous universities, in addition to our relationship with the National Science Foundation,” DCC President Carlyle Ramsey said. “The students will complete some of their coursework at RCATT. They will also study at the Institute and DCC’s main campus.”