Page 42 - Innovation Delaware 2018

ADVANCED MATERIALS/MANUFACTURING
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Q&A DR. NORMAN WAGNER
University of Delaware and STF Technologies LLC
Dr. Norman Wagner is Unidel Robert L. Pigford Chair in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Delaware and is co-founder of STF Technologies LLC.
Dr. Wagner is also very involved with organizations and discussions that address startup companies and entrepreneurial activities in Delaware. We asked him some questions about both his work and his observations.
Q: In addition to your day job as a professor at the university, you also are co-founder of STF Technologies, which provides advanced materials and personal protective equipment. How is business?
NORMAN WAGNER: We spun off about five years ago and are now located at the university’s STAR Campus. Since we
are not a software company that just needs to write code,
we welcomed the laboratory space. Right now, we are working on a Phase 2 contract with NASA for suits for interplanetary travel, with ILC Dover as a partner.
Q: Have you received the type of assistance you needed in Delaware?
NW: Yes. Although we never were located at the Delaware Technology Park, Mike Bowman has been a tremendous resource with his experience and advice. And we may shortly need some space there.
Q: What are some other resources that you think are valuable to startups?
NW: We’ve seen a huge, positive cultural shift here in the last five to 10 years. For example, the work that STRIDE [The Science, Technology and Research Institute of Delaware] is doing at the Experimental Station is a great resource for high- quality consulting. Plus, we have a huge talent pool at the University of Delaware that could be leveraged.
40 DelawareBusinessTimes.com