35: Thomas Crawford, Experimenting with Entrepreneurism Of Note

With so many diverse uses for data in the modern world, there’s a growing need to store that valuable information somewhere reliable and readily accessible. Thanks to innovators in the technology and science industries, the software continues to adapt to our evolving and expanding needs. Professor Thomas M. Crawford and his lab at the University of South Carolina work to anticipate consumers’ data needs and iterate existing hard drive designs to develop technology that will accommodate them.


The breakthroughs Thomas and his lab experienced along the way have much broader applications than the nanoparticle discoveries’ initial purpose. Thomas shares how he was discovered by USC, applied his previous experience in the disk drive industry to the experimental nanoscaled technology field, and what crucial partner pulled him and his lab out of debt. The professor offers his unique perspective on the relationship between academic and scientific research and reveals what the college and graduate program curriculum won’t prepare researchers for.


In this episode of Of Note, Thomas Crawford joins our hosts Joseph Nother and Kim Christ, and reveals the lesser-known risks of modern research, how to pivot when demand doesn’t support the discovery, and the skill innovators need to be successful. To hear his advice on entrepreneurship, responding to failure and introducing futuristic discoveries to uncertain markets, listen now.