Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Polycarbon Biologists Working On Environment

Screen savers depicting snakes, wild turkeys and various other creatures brought life to an otherwise sterile room. Meticulously counting the stitching in a roll of fabric was not exactly what Brian Smith, a former biology student at Henderson State University (HSU), had in mind when he thought about helping the environment.

Instead of stomping through the mud in waders, logging every plant and animal into a catalog, he now works at keeping the environment cleaner through his job at Polycarbon.

Smith, a 1993 graduate, and three other former HSU biology and chemistry majors, work in the quality control lab at Polycarbon in the Clark County Industrial Park.

With highly sophisticated equipment and ovens at more than 950 degrees Celsius, Smith and his co-workers make certain the products produced are up to the rigorous standards set by the company.

Polycarbon manufacturers carbon-based products, such as graphite foils and fibers. Among the applications of such products is the replacement of asbestos with carbon fibers.

Among the applications of such products is the replacement of asbestos with carbon fibers.

Woven graphite fabrics are even used on the United States space shuttles.

These products are more environmentally friendly than their predecessors and they are manufactured in a plant specially designed to minimize waste and eliminate harmful emissions.

Smith and fellow Henderson alumnus, Cindy Goshen, share a cup of coffee and crack jokes about going fishing before donning heavy gloves and face shields and opening the ovens.

Neither one is out in the wilderness cataloging wildlife, but both are working with Polycarbon to make sure industries do its part in insuring that there will be a wilderness for their children to enjoy as well.