innovate arkansas

The Nanotechnology Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock is serving a growing market, working to create new technology products for entrepreneurs and investors. 

The center hosted an Industry Day on Monday, showing off the research and development is it conducting for businesses throughout the country.

The event allows Arkansas companies to catch of glimpse of what the center offers.

The market for nanotechnology-enhanced materials is predicted to grow 31 percent annually, according to the university. UALR's Nanotechnology Center is applying its research by creating new products and services in that marketplace.

"We are taking every piece of information (from the research) and working to turn it into a company," Tom Walker, director of the center, said.

The center's research has netted six patents in nanotubes. Another is in the writing stage. The center also has a patent in tissue engineering, with two more in the writing phase. Four more patents are also in the works, the university said.

"We would have had to stand in line at Stanford or Berkeley to get the research we need in order to advance our products," Kurt Pfluger of 4DS in Silicon Valley, Calif., said.

Pfluger is one of several business executives who have collaborated with the Nanotechnology Center.

In Arkansas, Peder Jensen, CEO of Orlumet LLC of North Little Rock, said his firm is creating surgical materials based on a UALR-created tissue-engineering platform. The nanotechnology research firm will also help grow skin for burn victims and bone for accident victims.

"Growing coronary arteries is not very far off," Jensen said.

Universities throughout Arkansas and the world participate in research as a part of the Affiliate Scientist Program. UALR students and faculty work with 45 researchers in Romania, France, Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, and from universities in a number of states and throughout Arkansas.