Frank M. Kustas, President

Frank M. Kustas, Ph.D. is the founder and Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of Engineered Coatings, Inc (ECI) and CTO of NanoCoatings, Inc. (NCI). Engineered Coatings, Inc. has been focused on government research, while NCI is currently focused on commercial application of coatings developed under ECI research and development.

Dr. Kustas founded Engineered Coatings, Inc., with the goal of developing and commercializing new cermet and solid lubricant-containing thin film coatings, which has expanded into nanostructured coatings using a unique hybrid triode Physical Vapor Deposition – Chemical Vapor Deposition (PVD_CVD) technique..

In this capacity, ECI has developed a number of value-added surface treatments for U.S Government applications. The customer base being developed at ECI is very diverse, from all of the U.S. DoD branches (Army, Air Force, Navy, DARPA) to non-DoD agencies (e.g., NSF, DOE). NanoCoatings, Inc. is leveraging ECI-developed technology advances for applications to the following industries: biomedical, large coating vendors, cookware manufactures, turbine-engine manufacturers, aerospace, aeronautical/aircraft, pump manufacturers, and advanced materials. Engineered Coatings was successful in obtaining 18 SBIR programs to support DoD agencies in advanced coating development.

NanoCoatings, Inc. has licensed technology from ECI for commercial applications. In addition to the unique vacuum-based PVD-CVD method mentioned above, NCI is investigating a hybrid Atmospheric-Plasma CVD / Nanoparticle Spray method to produce erosion-resistance and superhydrophobic/icephobic surfaces and a novel cyclic high-voltage immersion-anodize process to produce crystalline oxides on complex shaped components.

Dr. Kustas currently has a partial appointment as a Senior Research Scientist in the Arbegast Materials, Processing, and Joining Laboratory (AMP) and an Adjunct Professor appointment in the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (SDSM&T), Rapid City, SD.

Dr. Kustas developed coating technical, management and technical marketing skills while previously serving as the technical lead for Wear Sciences and Coatings (WSC) Group at Technology Assessment & Transfer (TA&T), Annapolis MD.  In this function, Dr. Kustas developed new coatings and helped win programs from both commercial and government customers.  Included were industry programs for coating development/evaluation with a major biomedical company, a glass-forming company, and a major diesel-engine manufacturer.  Also at WSC, Dr. Kustas authored 2 SBIR phase I programs (from the Navy and Air Force) and a BAA procurement from DARPA that were awarded for advanced multilayer coating development.

Prior to employment as WSC group leader, Dr. Kustas was President of a small Colorado business, Colorado Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL), which performed contract R&D for the U.S. government (SBIR) and industry for new surface modification technologies (e.g., ion implantation and ion beam deposited diamondlike carbon (DLC)) and ceramic matrix composite fabrication technology.  Dr. Kustas authored 3 SBIR proposals that were awarded and conducted funded surface modification R&D for a major biomedical company and the U.S. Air Force.

Before the small company (ECI, TA&T, CERL) employment experience, Dr. Kustas was a senior-staff engineer with Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (LMSSC) in Littleton, CO, where he worked for over 25-years.  During his employment at LMSSC, Dr. Kustas worked on several large and small programs as program manager or materials lead.  Program technical areas included:

• Materials lead for NASA In-Space program to develop rigid and inflatable aeroshell technologies for future planetary entry and earth re-entry spacecraft missions
• Materials lead for NASA In-Space program to investigate space-survivable tether technology for spacecraft orbit raising using momentum-exchange
• LMSSC program manager on an AF-sponsored program to develop solid freeform fabrication methods to make ceramic chambers for Hall Thrusters
• Materials lead on a NASA program to develop advanced ceramic materials for leading-edges of reusable launch vehicles
• LMSSC program manager on a NASA program to investigate inflatable shape changing concepts for planetary entry vehicles
• Materials lead on a Strategic Defense Initiative Office (SDIO) program to develop protective shields for spacecraft.

Dr. Kustas received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from the Colorado School of Mines in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado.  Dr. Kustas has authored over 60 technical papers on advanced materials, including a chapter in the ASM Handbook Volume on Friction, Lubrication, and Wear Technology.   In addition, Dr. Kustas has been awarded four patents and numerous idea-disclosures and author awards (including corporation best author), while employed at LMSSC.

Example Publications:

1. F. Kustas, J. Styers, K. Coulter, R. Wei, C. Webb, “Development of High-Temperature Thermocouple Sensors,”  Presented at 57th International Instrumentation Symposium, St. Louis MO, June 22, 2011.
2. F. Kustas, D. Falsone, R. Wei, K. Coulter, A. Kustas, J. Williams, “High-Temperature Sliding Wear Performance of Nanomultilayered PVD Coatings,”  Presented at 37th 2010 International Conference on Metallurgical Coatings and Thin Films, San Diego, CA, April 2010.
3. F. Kustas, M. Newton, A. Kustas, “Nanostructured Erosion-Resistant Coatings for Protection of Instrumentation,” Paper included in conference proceedings:  55th International Instrumentation Symposium, League City, TX, June 1-5, 2009.
4. F. Kustas, P. Molian, A. S. Kumar, M. Besser, D. Sordelet, “Laser Crystallization of Amorphous Sputter-Deposited Quasicrystalline Coatings,” Surface and Coatings Technology 188-189 (2004) 274-280.
5. F. Kustas, B. Mishra, J. Zhou, “Fabrication and characterization of TiB2/TiC and tungsten co-sputtered wear coatings,” Surface and Coatings Technology 153 (2002) 25-30.
6. D. Sordelet, M. Besser, and F. Kustas, “Deposition of Al65Cu23Fe12 and Composite Quasicrystalline PVD Thin Film Coatings,” Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Vol. 643, K9.15.1, Materials Research Society (2001).
7. F. Kustas, B. Mishra, J. Zhou, “Performance Comparisons Between Carbide & Metal Co-Sputtered Coatings,” in Surface Engineering:  In Materials Science I, edited by S. Seal, N. B. Dahotre, J.J. Moore and B. Mishra, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (2000).
8. F. Kustas, B. Mishra, J. Zhou, “Metal/carbide co-sputtered wear coatings,” Surface and Coatings Technology (1999).