MU researchers take nanotechnology to the marketplace
Keshab (left) and Shubhra Gangopadhyay founded their Columbia-based nanotechnology company NEMS/MEMS Works LLC in 1994.
Nanotechnology once was confined strictly to the realm of science fiction. It conjured visions of vastly miniaturized submersibles coursing through the veins of patients in need of treatment, just like in the ’60s sci-fi flick Fantastic Voyage.
But now, the world of super small technology is no longer a dream. And husband- wife doctoral engineering duo, Keshab and Shubhra Gangopadhyay, at the University of Missouri- Columbia is taking its nano vision from the laboratory toward the marketplace.
Nanotechnology is the science and technology of building devices from single atoms and molecules. The basic dimension, the nanometer, is one onebillionth of a meter. To put that in perspective: a red blood cell is 7,000 nanometers in diameter; the head of pin is about 1 million nanometers wide.
The Gangopadhyays started their academic careers in their native India, where Keshab earned a doctorate in nuclear engineering and Shubhra obtained hers in physics. In the mid-1980s they each pursued scientific research and teaching, him in engineering and math, her in physics and engineering, at universities in India and Germany. While in Germany, Keshab collaborated with a professor from the United States. That association led to an invitation for Keshab to serve as a visiting professor of mathematics at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, where Shubhra also pursued her academic career. During more than a decade at Texas Tech the Gangopadhyays also explored being entrepreneurs by devoting time and energy to a company involved with semiconductors.
They left Texas Tech in 2003, when Shubhra was offered an engineering endowed professorship as the LaPierre Chair at the University of Missouri.
“She decided to accept the position and I supported her,” said Keshab. “After she assumed her new position, I preferred to be a research professor at the university, keeping a significant amount of time available for entrepreneurial activities.”
The following year the enterprising pair of academicians formed NEMS/MEMS Works. They pointed their company toward the pursuit of nanotechnology in the fields of energy, security and medicine.
They are synthesizing new nanomaterials for integration using microfabrication techniquesto make novel microdevices. Collaborating on this project with the Gangopadhyays are Steven Apperson, an MU doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering, and Luis Polo-Parada, assistant professor of medical pharmacology at MU.
“We are beginning to produce nanomaterials that can be used very effectively for biosensors and medical applications,” Keshab explained. “In the near future, the company envisages the manufacture of a shockwave generator microdevice for cell transfection, drug delivery and gene therapy.”
Shubhra Gangopadhyay holds the LaPierre Chair, an endowed professorship in the College of Engineering at the University of Columbia.
Among their efforts is a proto-type nanodevice to help physicians treat life-threatening illnesses. Dubbed “the smartbomb of the nanotechnology world,” the molecular-sized device speeds and targets the delivery of drugs to treat diseases such as cancer. The miniscule device is “smart” because it can target only diseased cells. This would allow physicians to aim the proper amount of treatment to the exact location, while minimizing undesirable side effects.
Steve Apperson, vice president for R&D at NEMS/MEMS, explains one small aspect of the nanotechnology research process. Martin Walker (left) is the company’s vice president for facilities and administration.
So far, the Gangopadhyays and their research team have tested their nanodevice only on animal and plant cells, achieving a high success rate. A significant amount of time — two to five years — and additional testing will be needed before this therapy is available for human applications.
While the Gangopadhyays are busy in the lab, they also are exploring commercialization possibilities for their work with the help of a team of tech-savvy business counselors at the Small Business & Technology Development Center in MU’s College of Engineering.
Company colleagues discuss a research-related question in the NEMS/MEMS laboratory.
SBTDC counselors Jim Gann and Paul Rehrig are an integral part of the NEMS/MEMS business team, Keshab said. “They have the right expertise and we’ve needed their professional help for business negotiation with the University and the outside business world,” he said. “Jim has been helping us develop the business plan for each technology and Paul has been helping us with our SBIR proposals. They also mentor us in preparing our presentation to potential investors.”
The Gangopadhyays know the next five years are very important to the transfer of their nanotechnology research to the marketplace. They are confident the assistance of the SBTDC technology specialists— Gann and Rehrig—will help them develop a model for commercial success.