MU researcher to bring nanotechnologies to market

Shubhra Gangopadhyay has big plans for turning the University of Missouri’s tiniest research projects into local jobs.

Gangopadhyay heads the International Center for Nano/Microsystems and Nanotechnology and supervises projects that received $10 million in funding from the Department of Defense last month and about $4 million from the DOD last year.

“The goal is to eventually bring these technologies to the market in Columbia,” said Gangopadhyay, who has founded a company called NEMS-MEMS, with her husband and fellow researcher, Keshab Gangopadhyay. “We want to create a facility and cutting edge technologies that brings in industrial collaborators.”

The projects now involve about 20 people. Part of the work is done in a building at MU’s research park, Discovery Ridge, and Gangopadhyay said the general plan is to expand that facility in a few years.

The $10 million contract to produce products for the military extends over the next five years and involves a partnership between the College of Engineering and the Picatinny Arsenal, a military installation in New Jersey.

Gangopadhyay said the primary focus of the newest project is to develop miniaturized systems for military appplications, alternative energy sources and sensors that will detect biological and chemical weapons. By design, her devices, which combine microchip-based technology and nanotechnology to generate a powerful reaction with shockwaves, also can be used for health and medical applications.

“We are really excited about this opportunity,” Gangopadhyay said. “Some breakthrough technologies will result from this unique partnership, and they will have implications far beyond their use by the Department of Defense.”

Mark Mezger, nanotechnologies program coordinator at Picatinny, said such partnerships are vital to the success and viability of the Department of Defense. He said government downsizing and decreases in research and development budgets now require collaborative efforts with academic researchers. He said Gangopadhyay’s contributions will benefit all branches of the military and could eventually be used by private sector businesses.

“The military needs technology,” Mezger said. “Research and development budgets aren’t growing. How do we acquire technology? If we don’t have the ability ourselves, we have to find ways. Universities are developing technologies that we can use. With Missouri, we said let’s partner and build a program.”

The contract awarded last year relates to the development of microchip technology to make smaller and better-controlled warheads and munitions systems.

Gangopadhyay, well known for working with tiny explosive materials, was selected by Army officials because her research is “dual-use,” incorporating microchip-based technology with nanotechnology. Fusing both technologies generates a powerful reaction, producing millions of shockwaves that can be used to initiate explosions or detect explosives.

Nanotechnology works with microscopic particles the size of atoms.