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Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, his Cabinet and Business Leaders Tour Luna nanoWorks

Fifth Cabinet Community Day Session, First in Southern Virginia
June 8, 2007



Media Contact Information


Name: Karin Clark
Title: Director, Marketing and Communications
E-mail: kclark@lunainnovations.com
Phone: 1.540.769.8400

Danville, VA - Governor Tim Kaine and his Cabinet conducted their fifth Cabinet Community Day session on Thursday, June 7, 2007. Top Administration officials and members of a Northern Virginia business delegation spent the day in Bassett, Martinsville and Danville, including a stop at Luna nanoWorks.


The mission of the Community Day session in Danville was to showcase stories of innovation and to provide examples of how the economy is changing and diversifying with technological advancement and entrepreneurial spirit. The group visited Luna nanoWorks, a division of Luna that develops products empowered by nanomaterials. Luna nanoWorks is located in a late nineteenth century tobacco storage warehouse that was renovated into an ultramodern, 24,000-square-foot, high-tech manufacturing and research and development facility in 2004 through the collaborative efforts of a federal, state and local government partnership.


"Nanotechnology is the next industrial revolution. It involves a new way of thinking about how to make a product from the 'bottom-up' verses 'top-down,' maximizing the effect material properties at the atomic scale," said Charles Gause, Vice President and a founder of the nanoWorks division. "In the future, it is expected that nanotechnology will impact every business sector."


The visitors heard discussion of the potential of Luna’s exclusive TRIMETASPHERE® carbon nanomaterial, a novel composition of matter with unique physical, biological, optical and electronic properties. An initial application of the TRIMETASPHERE® is focused on medical imaging but product development activities also include pharmaceuticals, solar cells and composites.


The day ended with a Town Hall meeting & reception at Institute for Advanced Learning and Research which was open to the press and the public.


The Cabinet Community Day session occurs four times a year, visiting eight regions of the state twice, over the course of the administration. On Thursday, top Administration officials will spend the day in the Southern Virginia region. For a recap of the agenda, see the Governor’s Schedule.