WFU uses tech work: 2 startups are in nanotechnology

Jul. 21--Wake Forest University said yesterday that it has formed two startup companies that will develop nanotechnology products locally.

The two companies, FiberCell and PlexiLight, are the first companies created from research developed by the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials, Wake Forest officials said.

The companies will use technology based on the center's research to design special solar cells and lighting systems. David Carroll, the director of Wake Forest's nanotechnology center, said that the products could make it easier and more efficient for consumers to use energy.

"We feel that we have a real game-changer here," Carroll said. "These are fundamentally different technologies than what you see out there."

Both companies are overseen by NanoHoldings LLC, a technology-investment company in Connecticut. Daryl Boudreaux, a NanoHoldings partner, will be the president.

The two businesses will move into the Piedmont Triad Research Park in October, Boudreaux said.

Wake Forest licenses most of its research through its Office of Technology Asset Management. Boudreaux and Wake Forest officials declined to say how much NanoHoldings paid for the research.

FiberCell will develop high-efficiency solar cells that can be used to absorb more of the sun's energy.

PlexiLight will create a lighting system using nanotech research to generate light.

NanoHoldings had been in discussions with Wake Forest to license the technologies since last year, Boudreaux said. He said that NanoHoldings will hire chief executives for both companies within the next 18 months.

"The reason that we were attracted to both of these technologies is that they are fundamentally different and fundamentally more efficient than anything else we know about out there," Boudreaux said.

Wake Forest had been performing research into nanotechnology since the 1990s, but brought Carroll from Clemson University in 2003 to ramp up its efforts.

The university's nanotechnology center was created that same year. It is using nanotechnology to create products such as therapies for drug-resistant illnesses and flexible solar energy panels.

Nanotechnology is the science of developing materials on the atomic and molecular level and then using those materials to develop such products as microscopic medical devices, stain-resistant clothing and anti-bacterial treatments.

The region has embraced technology such as nanotechnology to help broaden the economy. For example, in May, Wake Forest, Forsyth Technical Community College and Winston-Salem State University said they are developing a nanotechnology institute that will help create thousands of jobs over the next 10 years.

-- M. Paul Jackson can be reached at 727-7473 or at mjackson@wsjournal.com

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