Volume 1  Issue 1 September 8, 2003

Magellan Systems hopes its M5 "super fiber" will bolster the Richmond region's reputation as the world's leading center of innovation in the advanced materials industry.

by James A. Bacon

Between the flags and bunting, the elected officials giving speeches, and the executives mugging for the camera while engaging in an uncharacteristic shoveling of dirt, ceremonial ground breakings are an odd American ritual. But at the dedication of the new Magellan Systems International facility in Chesterfield County this August, the hoopla seemed entirely appropriate – especially when CEO Gene Vetter stood before a draped American flag and proclaimed his 

And like the nation it champions, Magellan draws its talent from the far corners of the earth. Vetter, a former Navy-trained engineer, hails from the Midwest, but many key employees are immigrants. Doetze Sikkema, the chief scientist and inventor of Magellan’s fabulous fiber has recently moved to Chesterfield from the Netherlands. An engineer and a lab supervisor come from mainland China, though they arrived in Richmond by widely divergent paths, one by way of Boston, the other by way of Martinsville, Va.

Magellan’s diverse crew is united by the mission of commercializing a new miracle material known as M5. The polymer fiber is stronger and lighter than Kevlar and Spectra, more heat resistant than Nomex, and impervious to the ravages of acid, ultra-violet light and anything else that man or nature can throw against it. M5 bumps the ceiling of fiber chemistry and physics, says Vetter. Its performance characteristics may never be surpassed. “It’s so strong, it’s scary.”

The defense department craves M5 for use in aerospace applications and body armor for its Objective Force warrior-of-the-future program. Eventually, the fiber will find applications in everything from fire suits to helicopter blades, from satellites to tennis racquets and golf clubs.

Vetter’s fervent, patriotic desire is to recapture business that has migrated overseas. In his view, there are two world-class clusters in the high-performance fiber industry. One is in Osaka, Japan, the other in Richmond, Va. The Japanese are vying for recognition as the world leader. “We at Magellan,” says Vetter, “want to … take back the title for Richmond.”

With 24,000 students and an annual budget of $1.0 billion, Virginia Commonwealth University has long been a major player in Richmond's economy. Having produced its first B.S. graduates in chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering in 2002, the School of Engineering is having and impact as well.

The School is itself an innovative example of public-private cooperation. A private endowment, which made possible construction of the $43 million facility, is managed by a Board of Trustees composed of the CEOs and/or presidents of most of the major corporations in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The School offers the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in chemical, mechanical, electrical, and biomedical engineering, and in computer science, and the enrollment is presently over 1,000 students — a remarkable growth since accepting its first freshmen in the Fall of 1996.

Creating an institution from scratch, the founders chose to distinguish VCU Engineering from the nation's other 300 engineering schools by focusing on seven ideas: (1) more synthesis and creativity to balance the overwhelming devotion to analysis, (2) a strong business orientation, (3) an emphasis upon entrepreneurship, (4) a seamless or multidisciplinary orientation, (5) a devotion to teamwork, (6) development of communication skills, and (7) programs close to industrial practice.

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Wako Chemical USA has dedicated its new Horseshoe Crab Bleeding Facility located in Cape Charles. The facility extracts and processes blood from horseshoe crabs -- for use the in vitro detection  of endotoxin-like substances -- and then returns the crabs to the Chesapeake Bay. (Website; July 29, 2003). More.

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