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DeSimone was 25 when he applied for a faculty appointment at UNC-CH. He had a doctoral degree in chemistry from Virginia Tech but no postdoctoral work under his belt. Still, his adviser at Virginia Tech persuaded UNC recruiters to invite DeSimone for a visit.

"Most of my colleagues didn't want to interview Joe," said Edward Samulski, former chairman of the UNC chemistry department. "When he came, it was clear to everybody that he was a very imaginative guy. He talked about very new things and convinced us that we should join him in what he wanted to do."

In 2004, Samulski, DeSimone and two of DeSimone's postdoctoral students founded Liquidia.

Hits and misses

Joseph DeSimone shot to academic stardom early in his career. But he concedes that his youth led to miscalculation, especially in how difficult it would be for the environmentally friendly technologies he developed to gain traction.

"Guilty as charged," he said.

He still believes in his inventions: a method to dry-clean clothes without harmful chemicals and an environmentally friendly way to manufacture teflon, a polymer critical in the telecommunications, automotive and aerospace industries. But he acknowledges that green dry-cleaning didn't pan out. Despite the idea's promise, getting thousands of unregulated mom-and-pop businesses behind it proved too challenging.

DeSimone's second idea, an eco-friendly manufacturing method for teflon, caught DuPont's attention in 1999. The chemical giant built a $40 million factory near Fayetteville, but plans to add a $275 million plant have not materialized.

At Liquidia, DeSimone is trying to do better. The company, which employs about 40, is developing ways to turn Fluorocur, a clear, nonstick material, into molds so tiny they can only be seen with the most powerful microscopes. The molds, which resemble muffin pans, could be used to manufacture vessels that deliver drugs to cells, cones that improve solar cells and increase electricity production, and optical film for television and cell phone displays -- all growing, multibillion-dollar markets.

It's an opportunity that DeSimone calls uniquely American.

"In Europe, a scientist gets one chance. If it doesn't work out, you're done," he said. "In America, we get second, third and fourth chances."

He keeps the vial with the purple crystals in his office for inspiration.

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