Date: Jan 01, 2014 Source: Company Data (
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NanoSonic Timeline
1998 Founded by Rick Claus (then a Virginia Tech professor of electrical engineering), a graduate student and Linda Duncan.
1998 Receives the first of many Small Business Innovation Research program grants.
2001 Moves into a building on Blacksburg's South Main Street.
2003 Invents Metal Rubber, an elastic material with the conductivity of metal.
2004 Signs multiyear contract with Lockheed Martin to tackle nanotechnology projects.
2006 Invents textiles featuring Metal Rubber. Is named Southwest Virginia's small-business leader in nanotechnology by Southern Technology Council and Georgia Tech.
2007 Receives funding from U.S. Navy to develop fire and blast-resistant material.
2010 Trademarks HybridSil, a process that builds from technology developed for a product called Fire/Blast. In August, moves into new, 30,000-square-foot, LEED-certified building leased from Giles County in the county's Wheatland Eco Park near Pembroke.
2011 Linda Duncan, chief financial officer, retires.
2012 Vince Baranauskas of NanoSonic receives Department of Homeland Security SBIR program grant to produce fire protection gloves with improved dexterity. Company teams with Shelby Specialty Gloves in Tennessee.
2013 Company promotes Baranauskas to chief technical officer, Jennifer Lalli to president, and Claus to CEO and director of advanced development. New management team focuses on products, namely HybridShield durable environmental coatings, a commercial version of the military product line, HybridSil. The company invests millions in new production equipment for large volume manufacturing and sales.
2014 Launches online store with defense derived products. HybridShield fabric is manufactured for use within Shelby Specialty Gloves product, Flex-TuffHS.
