Posted on 10/03/2007 5:25:35 PM PDT by SandRat
From a nondescript former storefront in the heart of South Tucson, John Lombardi has waged a campaign against toxic waste, first with a novel green-tea compound to eliminate the use of solvents in the hard-drive manufacturing industry.
Now, the U.S. military has asked him to tackle toxins that threaten troops.
Ventana Research Corp. is developing a nontoxic smoke signaling compound and an anti-contamination dye activated by light and air, under $3.5 million in military contracts, said Lombardi, Ventana's chief executive and principal investigator.
Ventana Research, 2702 S. Fourth Ave., has six employees and is adding office space to accommodate three new researchers.
Ventana's eco-friendly approach began with the creation of a nontoxic, green-tea-based fluid used to polish computer hard-drive components. That research was funded by the National Science Foundation.
The company gained national attention for its green-tea compound and recently landed a spot on the Discovery Science Channel's Eco-Tech program in a segment called "Zero Waste." The segment aired in August and will be rerun later this month.
Using the "most benign materials possible" is a matter of personal responsibility, said Lombardi, who holds a doctorate in materials science engineering from the University of Arizona.
Concern for his own health, as well as that of fellow researchers and eventual customers, has made producing nontoxic compounds one of two major focuses for Ventana, Lombardi said.
The second is a commitment to "only defensive research, and absolutely no offensive research," he said, so no one will be harmed by the compounds produced.
The defensive smoke compound, used for signaling and obscuring enemy vision, is radically different from the current compounds that have been in use since World War I, Lombardi said.
Developed under a $1.5 million contract from the U.S. Marine Corps, the new smoke compound burns about the same or better than other compounds and is completely nontoxic, said Daniel Schwab, a research technician and UA mechanical engineering student.
The anti-contamination dye, which is being developed under contracts from the Naval Air Systems Command and the Air Force Research Laboratory at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, is ideal for hospital garments and bedsheets, he said.
The dye contains molecules called photocatalysts, which change when exposed to light. Oxygen molecules from the surrounding air then interact with the photocatalysts, causing the oxygen to switch from its normal state to a more reactive state.
The reactive oxygen molecules then kill nearby biological agents like bacteria. Similar toxin-killing technology has been used since the 1980s as a cancer treatment called photodynamic therapy.
The dye's development has led to a partnership between Ventana and Kappler Inc., an Alabama-based company that manufactures protective apparel.
The market for antimicrobial products is growing, said Corrine Gangloff, media relations director for The Freedonia Group Inc., a Cleveland-based business-research company.
"There's a much bigger market for industrial antimicrobials — like in paints and plastics — but there still is a demand in textiles," Gangloff said.
The textile antimicrobial market will reach an estimated $30 million by 2009, according to a Freedonia Group report.
Meanwhile, adoption of the green-tea compound in the hard-drive manufacturing industry has been slow, Lombardi said.
But aerospace machining businesses are now showing interest, he added.
Ventana Research on TV
• The Eco-Tech "Zero Waste" program including Ventana Research will re-air Oct. 29 and 30 and Nov. 4 on Discovery's Science Channel (Cox cable channel 102 and Comcast channel 110).
Check your local listings or Discovery online for more information.
● Contact NASA Space Grant intern Michelli Murphy at 573-4197 or at mmurphy@azstarnet.com.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.