Liquidmetal Technologies Inc (LQMT)

[LQempty]

Article from 5/31. I don't know if this was already posted but just in case, here's our old friend Doug Smock:

http://www.plasticstoday.com/blogs/liquidmetal-injection-molding-it-disruptive-or-just-disruption05312013

McKinsey & Co., the consulting firm, recently released its list of 12 disruptive technologies: "Advances that will transform life, business, and the global economy". This is always an interesting discussion. Some of it is pretty obvious, such as the "Cloud" and genomics.

One of the categories is "advanced materials." That topic could have gone on the list back to the Stone Age. The specific materials listed this year are grapheme, carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles, and "others", such as piezolelectric materials, self-healing materials, and memory metals.

I'm wondering if injection molded amorphous metals might belong on the list of potentially disruptive advanced materials technologies. From a technology stand point, they definitely belong, but is there enough patience in the engineering development community to support the one company making a stab at commercial development?

That company is Liquidmetal Technologies, which is trying to develop intellectual property invented at the California Institute of Technology in the early 1990s. I won't go into the whole back story here because I have written about this company and its struggles extensively. A few of the articles are listed at the end of this post.

Very briefly, this is the technology: Liquidmetal has an amorphous, liquid-like atomic structure in its solid state, making it significantly stronger than conventional metals, which are semi-crystalline. Very importantly, they can be injection molded, bringing plastics-like production efficiencies to the table.

Global machinery powerhouse Engel was interested enough to develop a machine, which is now making parts for Liquidmetal's contract manufacturer in Denver. Apple and Swatch were interested enough to buy exclusive licensing rights. It's constantly rumored in the vast Apple blogosphere than Liquidmetal will be used for an iPhone housing some day.

Other companies are also interested; particularly promising are aircraft and oil & gas applications. But the product development cycle for very demanding situations are long, and Liquidmetal, the company, seems to float from one financial crisis to another. Another one looms later this year.

I'm hoping the company can generate enough cash this year to start becoming a viable, long-term business. I think that the Engel-Liquidmetal collaboration may well go down as the most important materials' injection molding development of the early 21st Century.

But will it be a technology story or a business story?