Office of University Communications 

Missouri State University to partner with Unidym, Foster-Miller

After several presentations and meetings with both Unidym and Foster-Miller, the partnerships have been approved by JVIC’s Senior Corporate Affiliate Board, said Dr. Ryan Giedd, JVIC’s executive director. Formal agreements between the university and the companies are still being finalized. However, both companies plan to lease space at JVIC, which is located in downtown Springfield.

“These companies are at the forefront of the new advanced carbon electronics technology,” Giedd said. “Missouri State University is proud of the support we’ve received from the community to bring companies of this stature to JVIC.”

Unidym, a majority owned subsidiary of Arrowhead Research Corporation, is a nanotechnology company that utilizes carbon nanotubes to develop a wide range of high-performance, cost-effective electronic products such as transparent conductive films for flat panel displays and touch screens, thin film transistors for flexible electronic devices and fuel cells for portable devices.

Foster-Miller, Inc., a QinetiQ North America company, is a technology and product development company with an international reputation for delivering and supporting innovative products and systems that perform under the most demanding conditions. The company produces TALON® robots and LAST® Armor used by the United States military.

Giedd said the additions of Unidym and Foster-Miller will give the students, faculty and staff at Missouri State more opportunities to work side-by-side with corporate partners on some large-scale and groundbreaking scientific projects.

“The business model for the Roy Blunt Jordan Valley Innovation Center is built around innovative companies with complementary technologies, working together to form new products and market opportunities,” said Dr. Jim Baker, the university’s vice president for research and economic development. “The success of this business model is greatly enhanced by the addition of Unidym and Foster-Miller as senior corporate affiliates.”

Unidym ( www.unidym.com) is a leader in the manufacturing and application of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), a novel material with extraordinary electrical, thermal and mechanical properties. Unidym provides bulk materials, CNT-enabled products and intellectual property to a wide range of customers and business partners. As a result of its recent merger with CNI, Unidym possesses a foundational patent portfolio that covers nearly every aspect of CNT manufacturing and processing as well as multiple product applications. 

Unidym is focused on the electronics industry, where its initial products include transparent electrodes for touch screens, flat panel displays, solar cells and solid state lighting; electrodes for fuel cells; and thin film transistors for printable electronics. Unidym is also pursuing an aggressive, cross-industry partnership strategy to capture value from the wide ranging uses of CNTs. Unidym’s licensing program, technical expertise and manufacturing facilities can enable partners to rapidly develop CNT solutions for their specific applications.

About Foster-Miller, Inc.

Best known for taking innovations from concept through production and field support, Foster-Miller, Inc. ( www.fostermiller.com) was founded in 1956 by three graduates of MIT who believed there was a need for a company that could solve clients’ difficult technical problems through first-class analysis and design. The company is certified to Aerospace Quality Management Standard AS9100 and have SW-CMM Level 3 software certification from the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. The staff includes 300 engineers, scientists and support personnel with backgrounds in a cross section of technical disciplines and professional services. Projects are structured using multi-disciplinary teams of the in-house experts best able to solve the problem at hand. Our staff produces creative and practical solutions to real-world problems, always working in concert with the client.

Foster-Miller’s current capabilities include: custom equipment, product and process design; robotic systems and engineering design; advanced materials technology development; biomedical technology; smart sensor and electronics design; thermal systems development; transportation systems and structural modeling.