BLACKSAND TECHNOLOGY - Key Persons
is the President of Blacksand Technologies. Prior to joining Blacksand, Keshavan was a Technology advisor with Schlumberger Inc. in Houston, Texas. After obtaining his PhD degree in Materials Science and Engineering, Keshavan worked in industrial corporations, including Union Carbide, Smith International, and Schlumberger Inc. Keshavan held positions of Senior R&D Engineer, R&D Manager/Director, and General Manager with P&L responsibility for Megadiamond. Megadiamond, a subsidiary of Smith International before merging with Schlumberger. Dr. Keshavan retired in 2015 after 30 years of service
Job Titles:
- Research & Technology Director
is a co-inventor several Ti metal powder manufacturing technologies that Blacksand has IP rights. He has authored or co-authored more than 30 technical papers in refereed scientific journals on titanium powder metallurgy
Job Titles:
- Chief Technology Officer
- Professor, University of Utah
Zhigang Zak Fang, Professor, University of Utah, is the founder of Blacksand Technology LLC. He is a globally recognized innovator in the areas of cemented tungsten carbide, refractory metals, titanium, powder metallurgy, and metal hydride for hydrogen and thermal energy storage. Prior to joining the University of Utah, Fang had a successful industrial R&D career for over a decade. He has authored/co-authored over 140 peer reviewed publications. He is the named sole or co-inventor in over 50 issued US patents. He founded/co-founded two start-up companies and successfully commercialized several tungsten carbide and titanium technologies. Prof. Fang is a Fellow of National Academy of Inventors, ASM, and APMI respectively. He was the winner of an R&D100 Award in 2009. He is currently serving as the Editor-in-Chief of the Int. J. of Refractory Metals and Hard Materials, an Elsevier journal.
is a veteran VC and entrepreneur with a proven track record. He holds a BS degree in Engineering from Brigham Young University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is a successful entrepreneur, former venture capitalist, and local angel investor. Mr. White cofounded four venture capital funds aggregating over $400 million under management. He was a venture capitalist funding Nextel Corporation along with six other IPOs and spent over 25 years as a director of four publicly-held companies. Mr. White was also the Chairman of Fusion Optics Inc., a materials technology spinoff from MIT, during its formative period up to its venture financing by a consortium led by Goldman Sachs.