Hello AMIC!
Today Dr. Patrick Heaney, founder and CEO of NCD technologies, presented at our AMIC Lunch with Industry Seminar! Dr. Heaney founded his company with an NSF SBIR grant while defending his Ph.D. in Material Science Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2009. Nowadays, NCD has up to 12 employees pivoting to different business models and markets, including a return to SBIRs and the Department of Defense.
Dr. Heaney shared his 18-year experience in vacuum system design and maintenance, coating engineering, and several different vacuum processing techniques commonly used to create coatings such as HF-CVD, PIID, PECVD, magnetron sputtering, and ion-beam evaporation. The seminar audience felt his passion and expertise in diamond-like coatings for novel applications and applications beyond the capabilities of other coating companies.
As a long-term engaging AMIC member, Dr. Heaney greatly appreciates AMIC membership benefits, getting awarded with two AMIC seed projects, utilizing UW-Madison’s shared facilities, and collaborating with faculty members, including Dr. Hamers from the chemistry department. He has developed several surface science analysis techniques, including SEM-TEM analysis, RAMAN analysis, XPS, XRD, ellipsometry, WLI, FIB, ZANES/NEXAFS, TOF-SIMS, AFM, Auger, Nano-indentation, and general lithography using the instrument at the Wisconsin Centers of Nanoscale Technology or in the labs of our faculty members.
Dr. Heaney developed strong business acumen by growing NCD technologies to the next level. Most impressively, his team, advised by his business advisors, obtained an army contract with Senator Tammy Baldwin’s support! As a result, our seminar participants learned the importance of long-term relationships with UW-Madison and trustworthy partnerships.
Thanks go to the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) for sponsoring this inaugural seminar series, and our AMIC community members who contributed to this inaugural seminar series. Please visit our event calendar for an updated schedule, and see you at our next Seminar with DeWitt LLP – Law Firm and Wisconsin Investment Partners in two weeks!