When scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) capture future pictures of Earth’s atmosphere, they might end up using technology containing components manufactured by former Virginia Western Community College faculty and students.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Based in Fincastle, Va.,\nMicro Harmonics Corporation (MHC) is a technology company that specializes in\nthe creation of millimeter-wave components. The parts created by the company\nallow users to access higher frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum, and\ncan be used for a number of scientific and commercial purposes. For example,\nautomated cars, 5g wireless broadband access and airport security scanners all\nutilize millimeter-wave technology. The components are also used by NASA for a\nnumber of applications, including in the instruments that capture images of the\nEarth’s ozone layer.
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\n“We’ve been working under NASA funding through various contracts for the past\nfour years,” MHC chief executive officer David Porterfield said. “NASA’s been a\nbig pusher of all these technologies.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Founded in 2008, MHC is\nheaded by Porterfield and his sister, former Virginia Western professor Diane\nKees. She taught engineering and mechatronics classes before joining the\ncompany full time in 2017. Since acquiring a NASA small business innovation\nresearch grant worth $750,000, Porterfield and Kees have worked diligently to\ndevelop millimeter-wave components that can be used by commercial enterprises\nand government agencies alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company recently won an\nadditional two-year contract worth $750,000 from NASA to further develop some\nof its products; that money will be used, in part, to develop components that\ncan function at cryogenic temperatures. So far, MHC has hired three graduates\nof Virginia Western’s Mechatronics Systems Engineering Technology program to\nwork in its Fincastle laboratory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We actually offer tuition\nreimbursement to employees,” Kees said. “We try to keep our students in school\nso they’ll complete the mechatronics program.”
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\nKees, who continued working at Virginia Western for two years after joining\nMHC, said that the company has had an easy time recruiting talented students.\nThe demand for millimeter-wave technology is expected to grow by 40 percent\neach year over the next seven years, and its applications will only expand with\ntime.
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\n“When I was teaching at (Virginia) Western and … I mentioned that we first got\nthe contract through NASA JPL, all my students’ jaws dropped,” Kees said. “That\nwas so exciting for them, that we got a contract with the Jet Propulsion Lab at\nNASA.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company is also looking\nfor opportunities to improve their marketing and sales strategies. In May 2019,\nMHC was one of six companies to be accepted to the Regional Acceleration and\nMentoring Program (RAMP), a Southwest Virginia business accelerator that helps\nscience, technology, engineering, math and health (STEM-H) companies test the\nviability and marketability of their products. That yearlong program has\nprovided MHC with access to a number of business experts in the area, as well\nas with $20,000 in seed capital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The RAMP program is helping\nus in that transition to become a viable commercial business,” Kees said. “In\nthe meantime, we’re still working with NASA. They like what we’ve given them,\nand they’re giving us more contracts.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Porterfield said that as the company continues to expand its product offerings, it will seek out more talented employees, particularly through the mechatronics program at Virginia Western.
“We’re small now. We’re only five full-time employees and a part-time consultant who lives in the area,” Porterfield said. “But I could see us growing pretty rapidly.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"