he benches
in Matt
Kim’s Tempe
laboratory form
an odd city of
little structures made from
metal chunks, laser displays
and home-grown crystals that
look like mirrors.
Kim constructs the high-tech
tools as he needs them in his
“poor man’s lab.” That shaves
millions off the cost of the
lasers his nanotech company,
Quant Tera, is developing for the
government and industry.
When Kim points out a piece
of equipment that looks like
R2-D2 the “Star Wars” robot,
suspicions arise that this is the
lair of a mad scientist.
The physicist says he’s
actually more like Felix Unger,
the neatnik from “The Odd
Couple”, although he describes
one laser he’s working on as
“crazy” science. Of course, you
have to be a physicist to know
why it’s crazy.
Keeping a lid on things
couldn’t hurt as Kim juggles his
roles as president of Quant Tera
and chairman of the Arizona
Nanotechnology Cluster,
a 200-member nonprofit
t
group that promotes the
multidisciplinary new science.
Kim, 49, a Philadelphia
native, studied engineering at
Cornell University and earned
a Ph.D. from the University of
Illinois physics department,
known for having produced 13
Nobel laureates.
After working as a Motorola
research scientist in Arizona,
in 2000 Kim co-founded
MicroLink Devices, a leading
Chicago maker of transistors
for cell phones. A chance to
create a new transistor for the
U.S. Air Force brought Kim
and his wife back to Arizona to
start Quant Tera.
As a nano-scientist, Kim’s
strength is in his understanding
of the various enabling
components of laser technology.
Truth is, it’s his passion.
“I like science a lot. I can
be in my lab and I don’t care
what’s going on outside. My
lab used to be in my house.
I liked that,” says Kim, who
works on several education
committees. “I think
education is an equalizer. I
also believe thinking is the
best form of entertainment.”
racing bike group and hikes
whenever he can, sees a strong
link between education,
science and nature.
“Affluent societies squander
their resources. Great societies
don’t leave a big footprint.
You’re supposed to be well-educated to make society
better,” he says.
In fact, Kim thinks Earth is a
special place for science, that
of all the hundreds of millions
of galaxies, earthlings are
special “because we have self
awareness.”
“We’re just a bunch of little
animals on a rock, but we
know what’s going on,” Kim
says, suggesting that awareness
comes with certain obligations.
Recently someone at a party
asked him to explain nuclear
reactions. Thrilled at the
question, the physicist started
explaining. In a few minutes,
though, his questioner lost
interest, so he dropped it. But
he still seems baffled by anyone
who’s not amazed by science.
“When I go outside and look
at the sun or the stars, I think
what people 500 years ago
would have given to know what
we know now,” he says.
I can be
in my lab
and I don’t
care what’s
going on
outside.
-Matt Kim, president
of Quant Tera
