About Us
OverviewOur Team
| Company Management Board of Directors Advisors | |
| Jack B. Howard - Founder of Nano-C (1937-2008) |
The Company
The Nano-C Team has a broad range of scientific and business experience. This is a highly skilled group with enormous expertise in the field of combustion-based fullerene and nanotube production technology. In addition, our team maintains a high level of excellence in the development of a wide range of chemical derivatives. Our capabilities also include sophisticated mathematical modeling for the separation and characterization of higher fullerenes and fullerene derivatives.
Our outstanding technical staff is complemented by a strong business and marketing team. The management team is supported by a strong Board of Directors with expertise in corporate and intellectual property law, technology development, along with industrial and entrepreneurial management. In addition, we have assembled a formidable group of Technical Advisors from academia and industry.
The Management Team
Viktor Vejins
President and CEO
Viktor Vejins brings over 20 years of international general management experience
with a successful track record in building new businesses, repositioning, and turning
around under-performing companies. Most recently he was the General Manager of an
advanced materials start-up funded exclusively by Cabot Corporation. He had global
P&L responsibility, managed a sales team on 4 continents, launched a new manufacturing
process in Malaysia and was successful in commercializing new business with key
accounts in automotive, military, aerospace and rail applications. Prior to joining
Cabot, he was a management consultant with Arthur D. Little, Inc. and AT Kearney.
As a consultant, he provided guidance to senior management on issues related to
strategy, product development, operations improvement and organizational development
with the end aim of fundamentally improving bottom line performance. He worked with
clients throughout Europe, the Far East, the Middle East, South and North America.
Through this consulting work, he developed a broad background in chemicals, materials,
pharmaceutical chemicals, medical device and service industries. Prior to joining
Nano-C, Mr. Vejins assisted two early stage materials start-ups in strategy, market
development, implementation planning, business valuation and fund raising. He has
a BS in Chemical Engineering (UWM '80) and a SM in Materials Engineering (MIT '82).
Henning Richter
Director of Materials Synthesis Research
Joined Nano-C in 2001, shortly after its foundation while working as Research Associate
in the Department of Chemical Engineering of MIT. Dr. Richter has been working extensively
for more than 10 years on combustion generated fullerenes, nanotubes and their byproducts.
He has been particularly interested in the isolatation and characterization of fullerenes
larger than C60 and C70. The other major axis of his work
has been the numerical description of combustion systems by means of complex kinetic
models. Previously, at the University of Namur (Belgium), Henning focused, among
other things, on the optimization of yields of fullerene formation in combustion
processes as well as the effects of metal and halogenated additives. He gained his
undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from the Chemistry Department of the
Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany) and his Doctorate from the Catholic
University of Louvain (Belgium). He has authored many papers and has been 'Invited
Professor' at the Universities of Rouen (1998), Lille (2001) and Mulhouse (2004).
Dr. Ramesh Sivarajan
Director of CNT Applications Development
Dr. Sivarajan brings in 12 years of experience in the areas of nano-materials including
seven years on the materials chemistry and applications of carbon nanotubes. From
2000-2003, Ramesh served as a research scientist working directly for Prof. Richard
Smalley (inventor of C60 and winner of the chemistry Nobel Prize in 1996) at Rice
University. At Rice he pioneered the work on CNT dissolution in super-acids which
led to the inventions of carbon alewives and the world's first macroscopic, neat
carbon nanotube fiber. Most recently Ramesh was the manager of the Advanced Applications
Group at Nantero where he spearheaded efforts towards spin-off applications for
Nantero's CMOS compatible carbon nanotubes. In his prior role as project leader
for nanotechnology at Nantero (2003-2007), his team invented methods for the production
of the world's first (and only) CMOS® compatible carbon nanotube formulations. His
team also developed proprietary methods for CNT film deposition for CMOS® integration
in a semiconductor production facility. Ramesh is an inventor on more than a dozen
patents/published applications and about 30 Journal publications. He obtained his
PhD in Materials Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and has
received post-doctoral training in the area of nano-materials at Israel, serving
on a joint project of BIU, Technion and the Israel Aircrafts Industry. He has held
a visiting scientist appointment at Cornell University prior to his stay at Rice.
For the past two years, Ramesh has been serving on the industrial advisory board
of the manufacturing engineering department at Boston University.
Mr. Thomas A. Lada
Director of Fullerene Operations
Mr. Lada is responsible for the fullerene production, purification and derivatization
activities at Nano-C. Since joining Nano-C in 2002, he has been active in nearly
all aspects of fullerene production, from fuel delivery system design and reactor
operation, to extraction and chromatography of fullerenes on scales ranging from
analytical to preparative and beyond. In addition, he is a key contributor to the
development of novel fullerene derivatives for application in Organic Electronics.
A graduate of M.I.T., his MS degree in Chemical Engineering Practice and professional
experience have allowed him to gain significant insight into the manufacturing operations
of the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Of additional note, Mr. Lada is co-inventor
on a patent application for the use of fullerenic materials in organic photovoltaics.
He is the current safety officer of Nano-C.
The Board of Directors
Our Board is made up of 4 outside Directors along with our CEO. Our outside Directors represent an invaluable skill set, and includes successful industrialists, venture investors with significant expertise in corporate and patent law.
John F. Cogan, Jr.
Mr. Cogan is Deputy Chairman and Director of Pioneer Global Asset Management S.p.A.,
headquartered in Milan, Italy. He serves also as non-executive Chairman and Director
of Pioneer Investment Management USA Inc. (Boston), Chairman of the Board, President,
and Trustee of Pioneer's U.S. mutual funds, as well as President, Director, and
Board Member of additional Pioneer affiliates. Mr. Cogan is a Director of Harbor
Global Company Ltd. and the Pioglobal Investment Fund in the Russian Federation.
He is currently a member of the Board of Governors and Executive Committee and a
Director of the Investment Company Institute ("ICI") of which he was also Chairman.
At present, Mr. Cogan is currently of counsel at Hale and Dorr LLP, attorneys at
law, Boston, Massachusetts where he has served as Managing Partner and Chairman.
Mr. Cogan has also been a Member of the Board of Governors of the National Association
of Securities Dealers, Inc. and its Legal Advisory Board as well as Chairman of
ICI Mutual Insurance Company. In addition, Mr. Cogan served as a member of the Russian
Prime Minister's Foreign Advisory Council from 1994 to 1999. He is a Trustee of
the Boston Medical Center and of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and a Chairman Emeritus
of the Museum of Fine Arts. Mr. Cogan received B.A. and J.D. degrees from Harvard
University.
John D. Curtin, Jr.
Mr. Curtin has retired as President, Chairman, and CEO of Aearo Corporation, a leading
provider of safety equipment, in Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Curtin served as Executive
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Cabot Corporation and had oversight
of Cabot LNG, Cabot Performance Materials, and Cabot Safety (which was spun out
to form Aearo Corporation). He served on the Board of Cabot Corporation from 1989
until 1995. Prior experience was as group executive for a major oilfield equipment
and services company and as CEO of a specialty valve/aerospace equipment manufacturer.
He developed the Corporate Finance Department of First of Texas, a regional NYSE
company in Houston, and he founded Curtin & Co., a private investment banking firm,
where he was CEO and principal for fifteen years. Jack Curtin has served as a Director
for many public and private companies and for several nonprofit institutions. Mr.
Curtin has a B.A. from Yale and an M.B.A. from Harvard.
John Grover
Mr. Grover has had a long history as a private investor in a number of successful
companies. He serves currently as the non-executive Chairman of Halifax Corporation
(AMEX), where he has been a Director since 1985. He was Director of TransTechnology
Corporation (NYSE) from 1969 to 1992 and the Axe-Houghton Group of Mutual Funds
from 1982 to 1992. In addition, he continues to serve as director of several private
companies. Mr. Grover was also, until recently, associated with Research Industries,
Inc., a private investment company in Alexandria, Virginia, serving as Executive
Vice President, Treasurer, CFO, and Director until December 2002, and then as President
until July 2003. His prior experience was with Atlantic Research Corporation of
Alexandria, Virginia, one of the leading developers of rocket technology in the
United States, where he served as Chemical Engineer in the Gaseous Combustion Group,
Technical Assistant to the President, head of the Aerothermodynamics Group, and
Financial Manager of the New Products Development Operation. Mr. Grover is the author
or coauthor of several scientific papers and is co-holder of a patent on rocket
motors. He is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology with B.S. (1948)
and M.S.(1949) degrees in Chemical Engineering.
James G. Nichols
Jim Nichols brings to Nano-C 30 years of extensive management experience on an executive
level. Academically trained in biology, chemistry, mathematics and business management,
Jim started his professional career in different positions at Corning Glass Works
before becoming Vice-President of VWR Scientific, a multi-location distribution
company for industrial and medical laboratory chemicals, equipment and supplies.
After a successful appointment as Vice-President of American Optical Corporation,
Jim has been successful CEO of several technology start-ups in the microwave and
medical fields. He has an excellent track record in bringing new technology to market
and building financially successful public companies. More recently, Mr. Nichols
has been owner, President and CEO of Medical Products Manufacturing, LLC and Brunswick
Laboratories, LLC which has been developing procedures for the testing of antioxidant
(free radical scavenging) capacities in a large range of products such as food but
also fullerenes.
Our Advisors
Lawrence T. Scott
Dr. Scott is Professor of Chemistry at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
He received his PhD in Organic Chemistry from Harvard University in 1970 and joined
UCLA as Assistant Professor. In 1975 he joined the University of Nevada where he
became Full Professor in 1980. Dr. Scott joined Boston College in 1993.
His research interests include the rational chemical syntheses of fullerenes and carbon nanotubes along with the synthesis and study of related organic compounds. He is actively engaged in synthesis and study of organic compounds and materials with unusual structures and properties: molecular bowls, baskets, belts, and related nonplanar geodesic polyarenes. Dr. Scott's research area also included the thermal reactions of aromatic compounds.
He has published over 175 papers and been an invited speaker throughout the world on the rational synthesis of fullerenes and carbon nanotubes. Dr. Scott is currently working with Nano-C on the synthesis of a number of new fullerene derivatives for use in photovoltaics, polymer electronics and oxidative applications.
Timothy M. Swager
Dr. Swager is the John D. MacArthur Professor of Chemistry, and Head of the Chemistry
Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
He received his PhD in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in
1988 and was a post-doctoral fellow at M.I.T. from '88 to '90. He joined the University
of Pennsylvania in '90 as Assistant Professor of Chemistry & later promoted to Full
Professor. He joined M.I.T. as Full Professor in 1996. From '02 to '05 he was the
Associate Director of the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN).
Dr. Swager's research is broadly focused on supramolecular and materials chemistry. He is interested in a spectrum of topics with an emphasis on the synthesis and construction of functional assemblies. Molecular recognition pervades a great deal of his research. Chemosensors require recognition elements to discriminate chemical signals. Electronic polymers are one of the areas that his group is well known for having made many innovations. Dr. Swager's group is constantly developing new electronic structures, properties, and uses for these materials. He and his group continue to be key contributors to the ISN. Dr. Swager is working with Nano-C in the area of dispersion of nanotubes in polymeric materials and is interested in applications such as actuators and transparent conducting films.
John B. Vander Sande
Dr. Vander Sande is Professor Emeritus and former Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished
Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dr. Vander Sande has a Ph.D.
in materials science from Northwestern University (1970). He was a Fulbright Scholar
at the University of Oxford prior to joining M.I.T. in 1971.
Dr. Vander Sande's areas of expertise include observation of the structure of materials through the use of various forms of electron microscopy. His research seeks to establish the relation between the ways in which a material is processed and the structure and properties the material exhibits. He has been investigating carbonaceous material produced by combustion processes with an orientation toward correlating particle structure and composition with the particle source. He has investigated fullerene formation in flames and is currently working with Nano-C on characterization of single-walled nanotubes. In addition, Dr. Vander Sande has been involved in high temperature superconducting oxides first discovered in 1986. He is co-founder of American Superconductor Corporation of Westborough, MA.
Ed Wasserman
Dr. Wasserman has had a distinguished career in the chemical industry with a particular
focus on the management of innovation and the creation of new materials and chemicals.
Since receiving his PhD from Harvard University in 1957 Dr. Wasserman has worked
with Bell Labs ('57-'76) and served as Director of Corporate Research for Allied
Corp. (now Honeywell) from '76 to '81. He joined DuPont Company in '81 as Associate
Director, Chemical Sciences and in '93 became the Science Advisor, Central Research
and Development until his retirement in 2004. During his tenure at DuPont he was
active in its 15-year R&D program for fullerene chemistry, particularly the free
radical chemistry of C60 and halogen reactions and in the oxidation of organics.
He has served on many industry and scientific panels and is a former President of the American Chemical Society. He currently serves on the Boards of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, the NSF Science & Technology Center at the University of Washington, and the Nanoscience Center of Columbia University. He continues to consult with industry on improving the management of corporate research.
Michael Strano
A renowned carbon nanotube scientist and one among the top 1% of highly cited researchers serves as associate professor in the chemical engineering department at MIT. Prior to his move to MIT, Michael was a faculty member in the department of chemical and bio-molecular engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, preceded by a post-doctoral position with Professor Richard Smalley at Rice University. His work has been recognized with numerous awards and honors, most notable being the Unilever award of the American Chemical Society (2007), Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2006) and the DuPont Young Investigator Award (2004). Michael has published more than 50 papers in peer reviewed journals and is an inventor/co-inventor on key patents/patent applications. Michael serves on the editorial board of many professional journals and serves as a consultant to industry majors. Michael holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware. He brings to this project his vast expertise on fundamental processes that define the optical and electronic properties of single walled carbon nanotubes.