In this file photo, Hunter McDaniel, CEO and owner of UbiQD, shows U.S. Sen. Tom Udall the technology behind the materials his company manufactures for the agriculture and solar industry.

UbiQD strengthens position in the advanced materials industry with strategic partnerships

UbiQD, the Los Alamos Company known for its innovations in agriculture and light tech, has had a very busy summer. According to its co-founder and CEO Hunter McDaniel, the company has entered into two new partnerships that will increase UbiQD’s influence in the advanced materials field. UbiQD specializes in making materials designed to utilize light more efficiently. Some of the company’s main clients are agricultural firms and companies working to make the use of solar energy more efficient, reliable and economically sustainable. The Solvay Group, an international company that specializes in making environmentally sustainable materials for other companies has partnered with UbiQD. Solvay, according to a July announcement, will be working with UbiQD to help the company develop UbiQD’s “Ubigro.” technology. “Ubigro” is UbiQD’s name for the material it makes for greenhouses that is designed to use light more efficiently. “We are only just beginning to see what Ubigro can do for the greenhouse industry, and this exciting new partnership with Solvay will accelerate deployment of a full-cover solution,” McDaniel said. In May, McDaniel and UbiQD also teamed up with quantum dot maker Nanosys to further aid in the development of UbiQD’s Ubigro tech as well. Quantum dots, according to UbiQD, are one of the elements used in its Ubigro tech that makes the material more efficient when it comes to using light to grow plants. Quantum dots are actually microscopic crystals that are capable of transmitting electricity and emit different colors of light depending on their size. UbiQD plans to use its partnerships to meet growing customer demand for its Ubigro product in the greenhouse industry. “The success of Nanosys in the display industry has inspired many of us working to bring advanced materials to market,” McDaniel said. “We plan to leverage Nanosys’ deep domain experience in quantum dot end-product integration, as well as their manufacturing scale, to accelerate our deployment of sustainable quantum dots into agriculture.” Company officials with Nanosys and Solvay are looking forward to the benefits the partnership with UbiQD will bring. “Our innovative solutions have helped drive the growth of the $13 billion greenhouse cover market,” Solvay Vice President Olivier Touret said. “We look forward to partnering with a company equally innovative and committed to growing the market.” Nanosys CEO Jason Hartlove said the agricultural sector remains a vast market that contains many opportunities for partnerships like the one it shares with UbiQD. “Greenhouses represent a massive opportunity for the unique benefits of quantum dot technology. We look forward to working with UbiQD to bring Ubigro to market with our industry-leading scale, cost effectiveness and highest quality manufacturing standards,” Hartlove said. By Tris DeRoma Read the full story on the Los Alamos Monitor. We would like to take a moment to thank the editors and staff of the Los Alamos Monitor for their coverage of the news in Los Alamos over the past 58 years. Although they have closed their doors, we will remember their hard work fondly.