Key Deal Facts
BNNano owns the IP portfolio, protecting our Boron Nitride NanoBarb™
2020 Pepperdine Graziadio Business School’s Most Fundable Companies® List Winner (Platinum designation)
Awarded a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with US Naval Postgraduate School (2020)
2020 TechConnect Defense Innovation Awardee
2019: Developed NanoBarb™ Aluminum Master Alloy and patent filed
2018: Developed the Boron Nitride NanoBarb™. Innovated a new and unique process to produce Boron Nitride NanoBarbs™ while reducing cost, increasing purity/quality, and establishing scalability. By the end of 2019, BNNano had produced more boron nitride nanomaterial than all other industry competitors combined. Filed patents filed in March 2018.
2017: Developed the Boron Nitride Nanotube Process.
Grew the customer base domestically and internationally across a variety of industries and applications to include microelectronics, metal, department of defense, textiles, water, and universities (USA and International)
Management Team / Advisory Board Bios
Steve Wilcenski
Founder and CEO
For over 20 years, Steve has been an active member of teams designing and developing technologies and products on the micro and nano-scale. Many of these products have enabled disruptive technologies for markets, including Defense, Aerospace, Biomedical, Automotive, Communications, and Consumer Electronics. Before co-founding BNNano, Steve was the President and General Manager for the MEMS Business Unit of MEMSCAP, SA. Steve earned a B.S. in Material Science and Engineering from North Carolina State University, an M.S. in Chemistry from Clemson University, and an MBA from North Carolina State University.
Jason Taylor
Founder and CTO
Jason began his career as a Process Development Engineer, working to identify critical factors and optimize multilayer GaN epitaxy for LED products initially introduced in the dashboards of cars, cellphones, and video screens. Working directly with customers and internal R&D groups, Taylor helped to develop innovative ways to address market opportunities creating ten patents along the way. During this time, Jason began looking for new materials that could lead to the "next" revolution; he found Boron Nitride Nanotubes. Jason earned a B.S. and M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Virginia Tech.
Theodore Kalmbach
Chief Strategy Officer
Ted began his career as a strategy consultant for Accenture in Munich and Berlin, focused on the automotive/energy sectors. He joined the Institute for Defense Analyses in 2004, supporting the Pentagon's counter-insurgency strategy, then transitioned to the U.S. Department of State in 2006, serving as a diplomat in Afghanistan, the Philippines, and Austria. Ted graduated from Boston College with a B.A. in International Affairs and completed a Fulbright Scholarship in Duesseldorf, where he analyzed the German and Chinese energy markets. Ted later earned a M.A. from Johns Hopkins in National Security Strategy.
Mark Edmond
Director of Operations
Before joining BNNano, Mark helped upstart lighting company LED Lighting Fixtures, Inc. (LLF) develop the first commercially viable LED general lighting products. After Cree purchased LLF in 2008, Mark held roles as Product Development Manager and R&D Researcher in LED lighting, notably inventing concepts for Cree's CR series of LED lamps and developing Cree's line of consumer light bulbs. Mark currently has 31 issued US patents and earned his B.S. in Ceramic Engineering from Alfred University.